the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Paterson NJ, Congressional candidate Billy Prempeh questions police support for Congressman Bill Pascrell who along with the rest of the Democrat party have turned their back law enforcement .
In a Facebook post Prempeh lays out his position:
“The left has gone militant in their mission to defund the police. So militant that they are leading society off a cliff. Just take a look at new York city for example. The police haven’t been fully de-funded, yet crime has shot up %200+! Gang violence is spiking accross the country and the main people affected are the minority communities.
Ever since “Basement” Bill Pascrell aligned himself with radical left politicians such as Ilhan Omar, AOC, and the rest of the squad, crime in Paterson is at an all time high!
Yes, our police are not perfect. They are human just like all of us, but de-funding them will not make our communities any safer. Don’t buy into the dangerous progressive Utopian fantasy that getting rid of the police will somehow make all the criminals disappear and transform the world into Kumbaya land. It’s not gonna happen!
What we need is reform. Increase the funding for police to get them the tools they need to protect our communities.
Require mandatory annual retraining and re-certification for police in areas such as:
1. Deescalation tactics
2. Firearm discipline, use of force, firearm proficiency
3. Annual retraining on constitutional law
4. Mental health crisis management
5. Community engagement
6. First aid and much more.
Our police should be required to go through these refresher courses every single year in order to maintain the honor of wearing a badge. With mandatory training and support, our officers would have no reason to fail in their duties.
If for what ever reason an officer is involved in police brutality, misconduct, or any criminal offense there needs to be accountability from outside of the internal affairs of police departments.
Even when police are cleared of wrongdoing people are still reluctant to believe the police side of the story. To resolve this I am calling for a national police force to be created under the department of Justice that has no allegiance to municipal and state police. The sole purpose of these Justice officers is to investigate and prosecute officers involved in misconduct and crime.
If there is any misconduct the Justice officers will find out out, prosecute those officers and weed out the bad apples.
To keep our communities safe the community needs to trust the police. And the police also need to be able to trust the community so they can get their job done effectively.
The left has been so focused on attacking our police and dividing the country to the point that their demands have become impractical and dangerous.
So, my message to the police of the 9th district is this.
After 20+ years you’ve supported Bill Pascrell. And now he has turned his back on you in favor of party politics and following trends such as defunding our police.
I know that it’s not easy being a police officer and you put your lives at risk, defend the vulnerable and keep us safe. I’ve lived in Paterson my entire life and it has never been more dangerous than it is today. We need you now more than ever!
Pascrell supported you. Now he has turned his back on you. Will you turn your back on his?
I’ve created a video outlining in detail all of what I would like to accomplish in the 9th district. You can find that video here: https://www.billy2020nj.com/issues “
I thought Pascrell retired 5 years ago…