Police Vote Could Sway Presidential Election, Retired Chief Weighs In

Retired Riverside, Illinois, Police Chief Tom Weitzel says the 2024 election pits lawlessness against law and order, and the votes of law enforcement professionals and their families will determine the outcome.

Retired Riverside, Illinois, Police Chief Tom Weitzel believes that the 2024 presidential election will be a crucial battleground in the fight against lawlessness and in support of law and order.

Weitzel, who served in law enforcement for 37 years, including 13 years as Riverside police chief, argues that the votes of the nation's 1.5 million law enforcement officers and their families could sway the election.

Police Vote Could Sway Presidential Election, Retired Chief Weighs In

"I read a story the other day that there's over 710,000 police officers, full-time police officers in the United States, over [840,000] if you take in federal law enforcement and specialized agencies, such as colleges and universities," Weitzel said. "Those are votes and most of those law enforcement officers you know, their spouses, their children, their friends, that there could be 1.5 million votes there, easily, if not more."

Weitzel's comments come just days after high-profile Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, flooded Chicago for the Democratic National Convention, where Harris officially accepted her party's nomination for president.

Police Vote Could Sway Presidential Election, Retired Chief Weighs In

In her acceptance speech, Harris touted her military and law enforcement background as San Francisco's district attorney and California attorney general, but she did not offer full-throated support to police or first responders.

Weitzel said Harris made a "huge mistake" by not trying to build a bridge with police during her speech, pointing to how former President Donald Trump conversely made further inroads with law enforcement and first responders during his Republican National Convention (RNC) speech in July, when he paid an emotional tribute to retired fire chief Corey Comperatore.

Police Vote Could Sway Presidential Election, Retired Chief Weighs In

"Corey, a highly respected former fire chief ... was accompanied by his wife, Helen ... and two precious daughters," Trump said during his convention speech. "He lost his life selflessly acting as a human shield to protect them from flying bullets ... what a fine man he was."

Trump also walked over to Comperatore's firefighting jacket and helmet, which were sent to the convention by his family, and held a moment of silence for the Pennsylvania dad.

Police Vote Could Sway Presidential Election, Retired Chief Weighs In

Weitzel said Harris not honoring first responders in her speech was a mistake while arguing Trump's "human touch" of honoring Comperatore spoke volumes to those who work in public safety.

Weitzel said the election comes down to "lawlessness vs. law and order" and that police support of Trump's run will only increase as the election cycle spills into the fall.

Police Vote Could Sway Presidential Election, Retired Chief Weighs In

"They're very concerned. And make no mistake, you know, Trump isn't perfect. Nobody's saying everything he does is fantastic. … I'm just talking from a public safety perspective. And yes, they are concerned that if Kamala Harris was to become president and her administration would not be supportive of police, and that would be a huge deal," he said.

Harris' career, up until she was sworn in as a senator in 2017, focused on law enforcement. She launched her legal career in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office as a deputy DA in 1990. In the late 1990s, she moved over to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office as assistant DA, then to the San Francisco city attorney's office before running in 2004 to become San Francisco's top cop. She was elected as San Francisco DA and served in the role for about seven years, in that time building a friendship with then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and rubbing elbows with fellow Californian, Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

Police Vote Could Sway Presidential Election, Retired Chief Weighs In

Weitzel pointed to Harris' promotion of the bail fund, as well as her failure to prosecute some criminals when she served as San Francisco DA and California attorney general.

"There's a very well-known case in 2004 where there was a San Francisco police officer brutally murdered with an AK-47, and she, three days after he was buried, came out with a statement that she would not seek the death penalty, and even her own Democratic Party in California did not support her on that one," he said.

Police Vote Could Sway Presidential Election, Retired Chief Weighs In

Espinoza's family members have since said they will not support Harris in her 2024 presidential run, the New York Post reported.

As law enforcement officers – and loved ones of cops – head to the polls this year, Weitzel called on them to weigh the "lawlessness" that has played out on the streets of America since 2020 and vote on the platform of public safety.

Police Vote Could Sway Presidential Election, Retired Chief Weighs In

"Lawlessness is absolutely flooding this country. You can see it. All you have to do is follow any social media accounts. You can see it in local news," he said. "... We see politicians put out that you can pretty much do what you want and disregard the police. And I can tell you that there are more and more police officers being assaulted, battered, attacked than ever before."

"In fact, there was just a study that came out that there's a police officer shot, not killed, but a police officer shot in the line of duty every 22 hours in America. If that continues, we will have more shootings of police officers and more police officer deaths by the end of 2024 than ever."

Police Vote Could Sway Presidential Election, Retired Chief Weighs In