Though most indications are that Gov. Ron DeSantis is running for President, the Governor is contending his multi-city tour to talk to police unions doesn’t have anything to do with aspirations of higher office.
Rather, he says it’s about the “recruitment” of unhappy officers from other states to let them know “they have a home in Florida.”
“We’ve put a lot of money into police recruitment. It’s been very successful. And so we want to let people know we’re here. We’ve got a lot of great benefits. You’ll be appreciated and you’ll have policies that work,” he said on “Fox & Friends,” in a segment recorded at a police union breakfast event in Staten Island.
“It’s important to admit that these left-wing policies have failed. They’ve empowered criminals. They’ve put the public at risk. They put law enforcement officers at risk. And so I think that this experiment has concluded and we need to move in the direction where across the board from sea to shining sea, we have a commitment to respect for law enforcement and for law and order.”
DeSantis said “the foundation of Florida’s success has been law and order and support for the people that wear the uniform, and we’ve done that in Florida.”
“We’re now recruiting more and more people from other states. One thousand different officers have gotten $5,000 signing bonuses since July. We want more people from New York and Chicago, these places that they’re not happy. They know you have a home in Florida,” DeSantis said, setting up a contrast between Florida and what he calls “woke cities” that are “anti-police.”
“Those policies have failed. Florida’s policies have succeeded,” DeSantis asserted, saying other cities have been “putting ideology over public safety.”
“You look at, like, New York City,” DeSantis contended. “It was the safest big city probably in the world under (former Mayors) Rudy Giuliani and under Michael Bloomberg and people loved it and now they’ve thrown that all away and you’ve had crime spike.”
The Governor then turned his ire toward policies pushed by progressive prosecutors.
“You have these officers, their lives are now more at risk because they have to risk their lives to put somebody away. But then the judge just releases them. So they end up having to arrest the same guy a week or two later and risk their lives again,” DeSantis said.
“You’ve also seen places like Chicago where these prosecutors are not going after the people. So this has huge effects on quality of life.”
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