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President Donald Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office on Monday to strengthen America’s law enforcement.
The president signed the order while surrounded by law enforcement leaders to celebrate the event.
“Safe communities rely on the backbone and heroism of a tough and well-equipped police force. My Administration is steadfastly committed to empowering State and local law enforcement to firmly police dangerous criminal behavior and protect innocent citizens,” the order stated.
“The result will be a law-abiding society in which tenacious law enforcement officers protect the innocent, violations of law are not tolerated, and American communities are safely enjoyed by all their citizens again,” it added.
The Attorney General is instructed to establish a mechanism to provide legal resources and indemnification for law enforcement officers who incur unjust legal expenses as a result of actions taken during their official duties. This includes leveraging private-sector pro bono assistance to support officers.
Federal agencies are directed to maximize the use of federal resources to provide new best practices for aggressive policing against all crimes, improve the quality of training for state and local law enforcement, increase officer pay and benefits and legal protections for officers.
The Attorney General must review all ongoing federal consent decrees, out-of-court agreements, and post-judgment orders involving state or local law enforcement agencies.
The order follows efforts by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in February to stop federal lawsuits from the Biden administration against police and fire departments over diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring policies.
The Justice Department’s Office of Civil Rights sued local first responders for hiring based on merit only instead of implementing the Biden administration’s requirements.
“Despite no evidence of intentional discrimination—only statistical disparities—the prior administration branded the aptitude tests at issue in these cases as discriminatory in an effort to advance a DEI agenda,” the Justice Department wrote in a press release.
“And it sought to coerce cities into conducting DEI-based hiring in response and spending millions of dollars in taxpayer funds for payouts to previous applicants who had scored lower on the tests, regardless of qualifications,” it continued.