All of us have the right to live and work in a safe city or town. Unfortunately, over the last few years, there has been a misguided, and in many cases, a deliberate push to “reimagine” the role of law enforcement in society, and to frankly denigrate the Men and Women of Law Enforcement. The assault on law enforcement has been all-encompassing and sustained now for several years, and the results…..have been an unmitigated failure and disaster! Violent crime, murder, rape, assaults, gun violence, shoplifting, theft, etc… is up all over the country. And consequently, the constant disparaging talk directed towards law enforcement has had the net effect of leaving our ranks dangerously low. We now see a severe shortage of law enforcement personnel (in the field and at our academies). Ask yourself, who would want to sign up, when the profession as a whole, is attacked daily by extremists?My opponent has levied many of the same attacks on law enforcement. Equally troubling, she voted for the police reform bill and didn't even understand what she was voting for!A major flaw with that law is that there are not enough actual law enforcement professionals that make up the Police Officer Standards and Training Commission (POST), just bureaucrats who know what is best for all of us! This commission has also had meetings in secret, which has resulted in new policy. The actions of this Commission should be fully transparent to all, and not a secret commission that works under the cover of darkness. I also believe that law enforcement professionals - our police in uniform and respective Chiefs of Police - know what is best for our law enforcement agencies, not extremist politicians or other special interest groups. Let us leave the job of serving our communities and keeping us all safe, to actual Law Enforcement Professionals.As your State Representative, I will work tirelessly to make sure all necessary resources are available to our police departments so they can do what they do best - fight crime, get criminals off the street, and build a safer tomorrow for all of us.

• Demand that the POST Commission meets in public and is subject to Massachusetts Open Meeting Law.

• Increase state funding for the hiring of local police officers.

• Create a hiring bonus for new police officers in the form of a payment or tax credit.

• Invest in the best police training for all of our police departments in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

• Always be an advocate for Law Enforcement. Encourage the men and women of law enforcement, who as we know, have one of the hardest jobs imaginable.