WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. – A special resolution was passed Thursday by the Wayne County Commission -- they want to make sure law enforcement knows they have their full support.
“And what I heard from, from the chiefs and others, was sad and disheartening. I had one chief that told me, he said ‘I felt like I’m on an island and I had enough and I’m going to retire,’” said Commissioner Raymond Basham.
Wayne County Commissioner Raymond Basham said that’s just part of the conversation he had with several law enforcement officers recently. All of this is because of recent Tweet posted by Representative Rashida Tlaib.
Tlaib posted on her Twitter account April 12 in response to the shooting death of Daunte Wright. She tweeted “It wasn’t an accident, policing in our country is inherently and intentionally racist.” She ended the tweet with “No more policing, incarceration, it can’t be reformed.”
Thursday, Commissioner Basham introduced a resolution to the board, proudly supporting law enforcement officials, “And I said, well if you’re on an island, I’m on the island with you. I just want you to know that we support our police departments.”
But the board also introduced a resolution on police reform. It expresses support for the Federal George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would establish a series of reforms on a national level.
“You’re not saying that you do not support police officers when you call for police reforms. We all agree that there needs to be more training. I absolutely do believe that we need police reform, but for people to take it out of context and talk about how that also means to basically eliminate police departments, that’s lunacy,” said Commissioner Jonathan C. Kinloch.
Representative Rashida Tlaib’s office released this statement to Local 4.
“The Wayne County Commission is free to take whatever action they see fit. Congresswoman Tlaib has been clear that her support for moving funds away from over-policing and mass incarceration to programs that address the root causes of crime, is about systemic change so that every person can feel safe and have the opportunity to thrive. She will continue that push.”
READ: ‘Defund the police’: What it means and why activists are calling for it