Donald Trump on Crime

Police can't act due to disrespect; but weed out bad ones

Q: The FBI director said there's a chill wind blowing through law enforcement because of increased scrutiny. How do you bridge the divide?TRUMP: The police are absolutely mistreated and misunderstood, and if there is an incident--whether it's an incident done purposely, which is a horror, and you should really take very strong action--or if it is a mistake, it's on your newscasts, and it never ends. The police in this country have done an unbelievable job of keeping law and order, and they're afraid for their jobs, they're afraid of the mistreatment they get, and I'm telling you that not only, me speaking, minorities all over the country, they respect the police of this country and we have to give them more respect. They can't act. They're afraid for losing their pension, their job. They don't know what to do. They want to do their job. And you're going to have abuse and you're going to have problems, and you've got to solve the problems and you have to weed out the problems.
Source: 2016 ABC Republican debate on eve of N.H. primary , Feb 6, 2016

The police are the most mistreated people in America

I want security for this country. I want to find out why those two horrible young people in California when they shot the 14 people. Many people saw pipe bombs and all sorts of things all over their apartment. Why weren't they vigilant? Why didn't they call the police? And by the way, the police are the most mistreated people in this country. I will tell you that. The most mistreated people. We need vigilance. There's something going on and it's bad. And I'm saying we have to get to the bottom of it. Source: Fox Business 2016 Republican 2-tier debate , Jan 14, 2016

1989 full-page newspaper ads: "Bring Back the Death Penalty

In April 1989, Trump saw an opportunity to speak his mind when a young white woman was raped and beaten while out for a jog in Central Park. As media reports shocked the city and the victim struggled for survival, police mounted an intense investigation that ended with the apprehension of five black youths between the ages of 14 and 16. The five implicated themselves under interrogation, but would later recant, saying they had been pressured into making false statements. Donald Trump bought full-page advertisements in the city's four big daily papers to proclaim BRING BACK THE DEATH PENALTY. BRING BACK OUR POLICE!Although he avoided naming the accused in the jogger case, Trump's reference to "roving bands of wild criminals" left no doubt about why he had paid for the ads. Newspaper accounts had described "wolf pack" gangs marauding in the park.
Source: Never Enough, by Michael D'Antonio, p.192 , Sep 22, 2015

Black lives matter, but we need strong police presence

Q: Do you see a crisis in the US of white police officers shooting unarmed blacks?TRUMP: It's a massive crisis. It's a double crisis. I look at these things, I see them on television. And some horrible mistakes are made. But at the same time, we have to give power back to the police because crime is rampant. I believe very strongly that we need police.
Cities need strong police protection. But officers' jobs are being taken away from them. And there's no question about it, there is turmoil in our country on both sides.
Q: Do you understand why African Americans don't trust the police right now?
TRUMP: Well, I can certainly see it when I see what's going on. But at the same time, we have to give power back to the police because we have to have law and order. And you're always going to have mistakes made. And you're always going to have bad apples. But you can't let that stop the fact that police have to regain control of this tremendous crime wave that's hitting the US.
Source: Meet the Press 2015 interviews of 2016 presidential hopefuls , Aug 2, 2015

Capital punishment isn’t uncivilized; murderers living is

Civilized people don’t put up with barbaric behavior. Would it have been civilized to put Hitler in prison? No-it would have been an affront to civilization. The same is true of criminals who prey on innocent people. They have declared war on civilization. I don’t care if the victim is a CEO or a floor sweeper. A life is a life, and if you criminally take an innocent life you’d better be prepared to forfeit your own. My only complaint is that lethal injection is too comfortable a way to go Source: The America We Deserve, by Donald Trump, p.102-3 , Jul 2, 2000

Death penalty deters like violent TV leads kids astray

I can’t believe that executing criminals doesn’t have a deterrent effect. To point out the extreme, 100% of the people who are executed never commit another crime. And it seems self-evident (we can’t put numbers to this) that a lot of people who might otherwise commit a capital crime are convinced not to because they know there’s a chance they could die for it. Young male murderers, we are constantly told, are led astray by violent music and violent movies. Fair enough. I believe that people are affected by what they read, see, hear, and experience. Only a fool believes otherwise. So you can’t say on one hand that a kid is affected by music and movies and then turn around and say he is absolutely not affected when he turns on the evening news and sees that a criminal has gone to the chair for killing a child. Obviously capital punishment isn’t going to deter everyone. But how can it not put the fear of death into many would-be killers?
Source: The America We Deserve, by Donald Trump, p.102-4 , Jul 2, 2000

Hold judges accountable; don’t reduce sentences

Criminals are often returned to society because of forgiving judges. This has to stop. We need to hold judges more accountable, and the best way to make that happen is to elect them. Whey they hurt us, we need to make sure we can vote them out of the job. The rest of us need to rethink prisons and punishment. The next time you hear someone saying there are too many people in prison, ask them how many thugs they’re willing to relocate to their neighborhood. The answer: None. Source: The America We Deserve, by Donald Trump, p.106-7 , Jul 2, 2000

For tough anti-crime policies; not criminals’ rights

We can have safe streets. But unless we stand up for tough anticrime policies, they will be replaced by policies that emphasize criminals’ rights over those of ordinary citizens. Soft criminal sentences are based on the proposition that criminals are the victims of society. A lot of people in high places really do believe that criminals are victims. The only victim of a violent crime is the person getting shot, stabbed, or raped. The perpetrator is never a victim. He’s nothing more than a predator.
Source: The America We Deserve, by Donald Trump, p. 93-94 , Jul 2, 2000