Ron Hosko, president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, said on "America's Forum" on Friday on
Newsmax TV he struggled to understand why Attorney General Eric Holder would target police for enhanced scrutiny.
Following the incident Aug. 9 in Ferguson, Missouri, where a white police office shot and killed an unarmed black youth, Holder
announced in September the Justice Department would investigate its police department.
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"I struggle to understand [why Holder doesn't back up police]. And, my concern is that the statements that hang in the air from both [President Barack Obama] and from the attorney general are those that suggest that the police are biased, that race plays a significant role in their decision making," Hosko said.
Hosko said an attitude that assumed bias by law enforcement would lead to "greater lawlessness" and "less respect for the role of the police and law enforcement." He said he was concerned that there had been no "outcry" from Holder or Obama in support of law enforcement.
"I can cite at least three instances, and I know there are more, where good, heroic law enforcement officers lay dead and dying in the streets, and were memorialized quietly by their friends and colleagues, with no similar response from DOJ," he said.
The lack of support by federal officials had led to low morale among "good and honorable police," because they now sensed "they are at greater risk of prosecution if they have to use deadly force, or any force for that matter," Hosko explained.
Police could also be "slower to pull their weapon out when they need to," he said, which could pose an additional danger to law enforcement.
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