In a surprise move, the new national organization of police leaders has issued support to Vice President Kamala Harris as a candidate for the presidency in the next elections in 2024 under the banner of Police Leaders for Community Safety. The endorsement has come at a period in politics where law enforcement support goes a long way during campaigns, especially in the wake of the National Fraternal Order of Police endorsement of former President Donald Trump only weeks before.
Police Leadership for Community Safety
The organization, which began in June of 2024, is titled Police Leaders for Community Safety and is non-partisan, organized as a 501(c)(4). The organization came together to represent police leadership around the country, seeking policies that further community safety and improvements in policing. On the board are several former law enforcement officials, including Sue Rosing, former chief of the University of Wisconsin Madison Police.
In the formal announcement, Riseling remarked that the endorsement “reflects Harris’s record and steadfast commitment to public safety and the rule of law.” The group said it is a personal experience knowing what it will take to make communities safer, and it will include Harris as president.
Leading members and their backgrounds
The leadership of Police Leaders for Community Safety is populated by some fairly big names from varying backgrounds in police work, including :
- Sue Riseling: The chairwoman brings a strong background in community policing and safety from her time as chief of police at a major university.
- David Mahoney: David Mahoney is the retired sheriff from Dane County, Wisconsin, and served as president of the National Sheriffs’ Association. He believes Harris is committed to protecting victims while holding offenders responsible.
- Cynthia Herriott: Herriott was the former chief of the Rochester Police Department and took part in a number of projects concerning community building and changes in policing relationships.
Put together, these endorsements reflect more or less a sea change from the traditional endorsements for law enforcement that have uniformly gone to Republican candidates.
Law enforcement: A tale of two endorsements
The Kamala Harris endorsement by this new group now comes in opposition to the Donald Trump endorsements by more established groups like the National Fraternal Order of Police. For years, the FOP has represented upwards of 377,000 members throughout the country and has supported Trump through the most recent elections. Among the key drivers of their endorsement were issues like public safety and border security.
Patrick Yoes, the president of FOP, said their members took ample time to carefully vet the positions of candidates on key issues before arriving at Trump. The divide in law enforcement groups is a reflection of wider political divides across the country about approaches to crime and public safety.
Harris’s record and law enforcement support
To some within the ranks of law enforcement, Kamala Harris-a former prosecutor and attorney general-has made that the core of her appeal. Throughout her career, she has stressed policies with the two-fold aim of improving public safety on one hand and supporting criminal justice reform on the other. Her supporters in Police Leaders for Community Safety believe experience has equipped Harris to understand-and battle-the complexity that now troubles law enforcement more than ever.
Board Vice Chair Rick Myers added that most politicians claim to be tough on crime but lack the political will to adopt policies that will make any difference. He said Harris is an extraordinary leader in that she strikes that balance, which most elected leaders cannot: Second Amendment rights with the onerous measures required to deal with gun violence, which indeed has become the bugbear of communities across the nation.
Implications for the 2024 Election
This endorsement, coming from Police Leaders for Community Safety, could potentially prove to be the game-changer in Kamala Harris’s campaign against Donald Trump. Considering that crime is among those leading salient issues on voters’ minds, this kind of endorsement from a national law enforcement group may indeed cut both ways and neuter some claims that she is anti-police or soft on crime.
With this endorsement marking one of the first big boosts to Harris’s campaign, yet to be seen is how she leverages this momentum in messaging and outreach. This endorsement surely underlines not only confidence from law enforcement leaders in her, but also positions her as a candidate who can rise to the occasion in terms of complex issues involving public safety.
