Donald Trump's pick for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., has picked up support from law enforcement officials, The Hill reports.
Key people within the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the nation's largest police union, the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, the National Association of Police Organizations and the National Sheriff's Association are now backing Sessions.
The Hill notes that many law enforcement officials view Sessions as a traditional law-and-order style enforcement, who brings a "police-first" mentality to the Justice Department.
"We have about a 20-year relationship with Jeff Sessions from his time in the Senate on the Judiciary Committee and our members in Alabama who worked with him, both as state attorney general and a U.S. attorney, and the best way to sum it up is that we don't have anything bad to say about Jeff Sessions," FOP executive director Jim Pasco tells the Hill.
"He has extraordinary insight into the demands and stresses of a police officer's life and also has a real reverence for the rule of law. It sounds corny but it's true, and that's what our members pray for in a prosecutor."
And Pasco and others say he brings a totally different attitude to the Justice Department.
"Early on, particularly during Obama's first four years when (now-Labor Secretary) Tom Perez was the assistant attorney general for civil rights, there was a virtual jihad against police departments and practices," Pasco said.
The New York Times reports that "Sessions is expected to execute an about-face on the Obama administration's policies of immigration, criminal justice and — many critics fear — civil rights."
The newspaper adds that Sessions favors strong mandatory penalties for drug offenses and is convinced the government has grown soft on crime. In addition, he objects to what he sees as unwarranted criticism of police, according to the Times.
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