Law enforcement officials emerged from a White House meeting on Tuesday praising President Trump for seeking their input on an array of issues, including the groundswell of violent crime in Chicago.
“It’s just a real pleasure to have a president in the White House who cares about law enforcement’s concerns,” Chuck Canterbury, the national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, told reporters.
Canterbury and nine other law enforcement officials met with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and several White House senior aides on Tuesday for what he described as a “refreshing” 45-minute discussion about violence against police and the nation’s opioid epidemic, among other issues.
“Safety of law enforcement officers was one of our primary topics of discussion,” Canterbury said, noting that the law enforcement community is currently facing “a crisis of being able to find qualified police applicants without reducing standards.”
“We want people who have the mental fortitude to do this job … and no criminal records,” he said.
Trump told the group that he intends to preserve federal programs that law enforcement officials believe are beneficial and “wants to work with us to make sure the dollars are spent in the best way,” Canterbury said.
Another participant said he felt confident that the Trump administration “is going to work with [law enforcement] to reduce gun violence, especially in the city of Chicago.”
The president has previously threatened to send in federal law enforcement officials to “fix the horrible carnage” happening in Chicago.
