WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Kerry, speaking in Washington recently with uniformed police officers arrayed behind him, praised the officers ÿwho put their life on the line every single dayÿ as he accepted an endorsement from the National Association of Police Organizations.þþJust days earlier, the head of the Fraternal Order of Police called President Bush ÿone of the very best friends that rank-and-file law-enforcement officers have ever hadÿ and awarded Bush the group's formal backing.þþPoliticians have always loved associating with police officers, and that has been especially true this year, when the post-Sept. 11 glow surrounding police has made them especially desirable political bedfellows.þþBut controversies over the just-expired ban on assault weapons and Bush's budget cuts also have complicated the candidates' pursuit of these endorsements, splitting the law-enforcement community and preventing either candidate from making a clean sweep.þþIn some ways, the fight to win approval from the nation's police mirrors other campaign battles as candidates seek the endorsement of groups ranging from doctors to business leaders to retired generals.þþBut police, who risk their lives to protect citizens from crime, also differ from those groups.þþMany police applauded Bush's performance after the Sept. 11 attacks, when he identified with them as fellow warriors against terrorism. But many police leaders also pushed hard to extend the ban on assault weapons, which expired this month, and are angry over Bush's tepid endorsement of the ban.þþSimilarly, many officers complain that Bush has slashed funding from programs to hire local police. Others say the president's anti-terrorism initiatives have resulted in more money for law-enforcement equipment and training.þþEssential dualityþþIn some ways, the division reflects the dual nature of police organizations: They are labor unions, which tend to back Democrats, and anti-crime groups, which often lean Republican.þþÿPolice cut both ways,ÿ said Paul Brace, a political scientist at Rice University. ÿA Democrat can get police behind him because a lot of police are unionized, and a Democrat would be more sympathetic to them as organized workers. But ideologically, Bush may espouse policies closer to the orientation of a lot of police. So there are attractions on both sides of the aisle.ÿþþWhile endorsements from police always have been coveted, the image of New York's officers selflessly rushing into the burning World Trade Center towers burnished their image to its brightest luster in recent memory. That has not been lost on Kerry or Bush, and neither has been shy about courting police officers.þþIn accepting the endorsement from the National Association of Police Organizations, Kerry blasted ÿa president who takes cops off the street with one hand and puts military assault weapons back on with the other.ÿ Behind him were uniformed officers, their badges gleaming, and a woman wearing a ÿCops for Kerryÿ T-shirt.þþKerry even canceled a speech last June before the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Boston because he didn't want to cross a picket line organized by local police, who were fighting with the city over a contract.þþAs for Bush, he spoke in July at the Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy in Glenview, among other such appearances.þþÿWe are counting on those who wear the uniform here at home--the police, the firefighters, the emergency rescue personnel and others who risk their lives each day to protect our homeland and its citizens,ÿ Bush told the crowd.þþThe candidates' wooing of police groups has essentially yielded a split decision. The International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the International Union of Police Associations and the National Association of Police Organizations support Kerry. The Fraternal Order of Police and the National Troopers Coalition have endorsed Bush.þþSome back Kerry because they are angry that Bush did not push to renew the assault-weapons ban, which they blame on the influence of the National Rifle Association. Bush said he would sign legislation to extend the ban if Congress passed it, but he has not lobbied for such an extension.þþÿPresident Bush has chosen sides between the law-enforcement officers in this country and the NRA, and he has come down on the side of the NRA,ÿ said David Holway, national president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers.þþOther police leaders cite Bush's cuts to the COPS program, President Bill Clinton's initiative to put 100,000 officers on the street. The Bush team says the program reached its goal, and the money is going to other law-enforcement needs.þþOvertime changes an issueþþSome police unions also complain that Bush's proposed changes in overtime rules would make it harder to pay police for extra shifts.þþÿIn our opinions, the platform represented by Sen. Kerry does much more for state and local law-enforcement,ÿ said Bill Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations.þþIn some cases, Bush backers have split off from parent groups. While Johnson's association endorsed Kerry, a group of New York police sergeants left the group recently to back the president.þþSimilarly, the first major union to endorse Kerry was the International Association of Fire Fighters, and its members are ever-present at Kerry rallies. But the New York affiliate endorsed Bush.þþThe police officers who support Bush tend to be less opposed to the assault-weapons ban; many are conservative and support gun rights. They argue that while Bush may have cut the COPS program, he spent the money on law enforcement in other ways.þþBut much of the support for Bush in the law-enforcement community seems to be based broadly on his image as a tough leader against crime generally and terrorism specifically.þþEssentially, police officers, like others in the nation, are split between those who see Bush as a politician who cares little about people and those who see him as a leader with strong security credentials.þþÿIt's hard to put in words, but I think the public in general is more willing to believe that police are out there doing the best we can,ÿ said Johnson of the National Association of Police Organizations. ÿThey are less likely to second-guess the police since Sept. 11.ÿ
Source: Chicago Tribune
