Rep. Tenney to Newsmax: Police Reform Bills Proving Problematic

Many cities that defunded police departments are now looking to fund them again because of growing crime rates, including shootings and homicides, but reform bills such as the measure New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo passed recently to eliminate cash bails are problematic, Rep Claudia Tenney said Saturday on Newsmax 

“(It has) wreaked havoc on our local governments and on our local police departments,” the New York Republican said on Newsmax TV’s “The Count.” 

But while crime is rampant, the primary objective of the government is to protect its citizens, and there has been this “vilification of police, which is unfortunate,” said Tenney. 

“They don’t talk about the 264 officers last year who were killed in the line of duty,” she continued. “I think over 50 at this point have now been killed this year alone.”

Meanwhile, “everyone watched” the killing of George Floyd, Tenney said, adding that while it was a tragedy, “that doesn’t mean you eliminate all police. You know, we have a bad doctor or bad lawyer, or someone in a professional position that doesn’t mean we eliminate them entirely and end the entire profession.”

Sending in more funding is what’s needed as police need to be better trained, said Tenney. 

“We need to work with our communities better to understand them and have more recruitment for police departments out of the communities,” she said, adding that there has been some crime reduction in some places. 

Meanwhile, the George Floyd policing bill is “well-intentioned” but it still eliminates qualified immunity that gives officers protection, and that is a problem, said Tenney. 

“We will probably have no police officers willing to serve because they would be exposed to personal liability and the trial lawyers would be feasting on them,” she said. “The solutions that have been offered are not the answer. We need to actually give more money to our police departments for better training so that they know how to handle these tough situations. It’s a difficult job. It’s very stressful, and I think that our police officers first deserve respect.”