As the 2024 presidential campaign picks up steam following Nikki Haley's entry, former President Donald Trump continues to release his policy plan as he seeks to return to another term in the Oval Office.
On Monday, Trump released his "plan to keep American communities safe," saying "Joe Biden and the ‘Defund the Police’ Democrats have turned our once great cities into cesspools of bloodshed and crime."
In his first term, Trump had success tackling crime and lawlessness with programs such as Operation Legend, and his 2024 plan both expands and doubles-down on similar actions.
Slamming the "Democrats' war on police," Trump said in his policy announcement Monday that he "will sign a record investment in hiring, retention and training for police officers nationwide" and called for such a bill to "also increase vital liability protections for officers because the Democrats want to take those protections away from our police, because we want them to do their jobs, and we want them to do their jobs right."
Trump said he would tie his added investment in police and other federal law enforcement grants to a "return to proven common sense policing measures, such as stop and frisk." It's "very simple," Trump quipped. "You stop them and you frisk them." In addition, the 45th president pledged to direct the DOJ and Department of Homeland Security to "dismantle every gang, street crew, and drug network in America." As added disincentive against participating in such criminal enterprises, Trump said he would seek to subject drug dealers to the death penalty.
The former president will also call for policy ensuring departments receiving federal dollars are "strictly enforcing existing gun laws against convicted felons, cracking down on the open use of illegal drugs, and cooperating with ICE to get criminal aliens off our streets and get them out of our country."
Another issue in the current crime crisis equation are woke district attorneys and other officials with prosecutorial discretion that choose to plead down serious crimes or decline to charge individuals entirely. Trump also has a plan to "go after the radical Marxist prosecutors who are abolishing cash bail, refusing to charge crimes, and surrendering our cities to violent criminals."
In order to do so, Trump pledged to "direct the DOJ to open civil rights investigations into radical left prosecutor's offices...to determine whether they have illegally engaged in race-based enforcement of the law." In addition, Trump said he would seek legislation that would give Americans affected by lenient prosecutors "the right to sue local officials for harm and suffering."
For example, "[i]f your small business is pillaged because shoplifting foes unpunished, if you're brutally attacked by a violent felon released without bail or bond," Trump said he would pursue a policy that would entitle such victims to "massive damages."
Trump also said he would "not hesitate to send in federal assets including the National Guard" to restore safety in "cities where there has been a complete breakdown of law and order."
When it comes to addressing crime in cities such as Washington, D.C., where an epidemic of carjackings and assaults are being carried out by a shocking number of young people, Trump said he would "end the leftist takeover of school discipline and juvenile justice" to ensure serious crimes result in more than a sealed slap on the wrist that does not serve as a deterrent. "When troubled youth are out of control, they're out on the streets and they're going wild, we will stop it," Trump pledged.
Lastly, Trump plans to empower individuals to protect themselves where prosecutors and law enforcement agencies fall short. He called for "concealed carry reciprocity" saying Americans' "Second Amendment does not end at the state line."
Trump promised more policy prescriptions to deal with homelessness and Americans dealing with drug addiction to mental illness would follow as part of his plan to "bring back public safety to America."