Former police chief slams 'Defund Police' movement in bid for Congress
La'Ron Singletary, a former police chief in Rochester, NY, explains his decision to run for Congress as a Republican.
FBI Director Christopher Wray completely ignored the movement to defund police on Sunday when addressing the skyrocketing rate of murders against police officers on "60 Minutes," and veteran CBS journalist Scott Pelley didn’t bother to ask him about it, either.
The total murder rate rose 29% last year, Pelley noted when discussing a staggering rise in violent crimes. Wray responded that the COVID-19 pandemic "didn’t help" the crime surge before listing a variety of potential causes, while overlooking calls to defund the police that forced some cities to struggle to increase police forces to combat the violence.
AS DEFUND THE POLICE MOVEMENT TRICKLES DOWN FROM BIG CITIES, SMALL-TOWN AMERICA PAYS THE PRICE
"We’re seeing more and more juveniles committing violent crime, and that’s certainly an issue. We’re seeing a certain amount of gun trafficking, interstate gun trafficking, that’s part of it. And we’re seeing an alarming frequency of some of the worst of the worst getting back out on the street," Wray said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray completely ignored the movement to defund police on Sunday when addressing the skyrocketing rate of murders against police officers on CBS News’ "60 Minutes."
Pelley then said murders of police officers rose 59% in 2021, but the "60 Minutes" correspondent and Wray both continued to ignore the movement to defund the police.
"Violence against law enforcement in this country is one of the biggest phenomena that I think doesn't get enough attention," Wray told Pelley, adding that officers are being murdered at a rate of nearly "one every five days."
Pelley then asked why more officers are being killed "right now."
"Some of it is tied to the violent crime problem as a whole, but one of the phenomena that we saw last year is that an alarming percentage of the 73 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty last year were killed through things like being ambushed, or shot while out on patrol," Wray said.
DEFUND THE POLICE MOVEMENT STILL HURTING LAW ENFORCEMENT ACROSS THE UNITED STATES
"They were killed because they were police officers," Pelley confirmed.
"Right, wearing the badge shouldn’t make you a target," Wray said.
"60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley didn’t ask FBI Director Christopher Wray of calls to defund the police contributed to a rise of violence against law enforcement.
The movement to defund the police, which was pushed by both Democratic lawmakers and members of the media throughout 2020 and 2021, was never mentioned or referred to during the segment.
Democratic leaders in large cities such as New York, Seattle and Los Angeles cut funds to police departments amid civil rights protests, and the move trickled down to smaller cities, metro areas and counties.
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Calls to defund police were devastating to police departments across the country, hurting recruitment and retention and hindering response times, Dr. Darrin Porcher, a veteran of the New York City police department, said last year.
Porcher also said media coverage of law enforcement gives a perception that skews to the left, creating a negative perception of police that is dangerous for the public and makes them reluctant to do their jobs.
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom, Emma Colton and Kelsey Koberg contributed to this report
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