Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Crime and justice

Donald Trump announced his presidential run on June 16, 2015.

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This page was current as of the 2016 election.

See below what Donald Trump and the 2016 Republican Platform said about crime and justice.

Trump on crime and justice

• At a campaign event in Colorado on September 22, 2016, Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, discussed police shootings in Oklahoma and North Carolina. He said, “Donald Trump and I believe there's been far too much of this talk of institutional bias or racism within law enforcement. That police officers are human beings. In difficult and life threatening situations, mistakes are made and people have to be held to strict account. … we ought to set aside this talk about institutional racism and institutional bias.”

• Donald Trump commented on the police shooting deaths of two black men, Terence Crutcher in Oklahoma and Keith Lamont Scott in North Carolina, in mid-September 2016.
  • At a campaign event in Ohio on September 21, 2016, Trump commented on Crutcher’s death, saying, “I must tell you, I watched the shooting in particular in Tulsa and that man was hands up, that man went to the car -- hands up -- put his hand on the car. To me, it looked like he did everything you're supposed to do. And he looked like a really good man -- and maybe I'm a little clouded because I saw his family talking about him after the fact ... but he looked like somebody who was doing what they were asking him to do. This young officer, I don't know what she was thinking. I don't know what she was thinking, but I'm very, very troubled by that and we have to be very careful. Did she get scared? Was she choking? What happened? But people that choke, maybe they can't be doing what they're doing.”
  • Regarding rioting in the city of Charlotte that followed the death of Scott, Trump said in an interview on "Fox and Friends" on September 22, 2016, “There's a lack of spirit between the white and the black. It's a terrible thing that we're witnessing. There's a lack of something. Something is going on that's bad. What's going on between police and others is getting worse. You have to have law and order. At the same time, you have to have a level of spirit, a level of unity. There's no unity. You look at the level of hatred, the rocks being thrown.” At a campaign event in Pennsylvania on September 22, Trump said, “If you're not aware, drugs are a very, very big factor in what you're watching on television at night. … There is no compassion in tolerating lawless conduct. Crime and violence is an attack on the poor and will never be accepted in a Trump administration. Never, ever.”

• In a Fox News interview on September 21, 2016, Trump responded to a question about what he would do to cut down on inner-city crime by advocating the use of stop-and-frisk, a policing technique known for its use in New York City. He said, “I would do stop-and-frisk. I think you have to. We did it in New York, it worked incredibly well. And you have to be proactive and, you know, you really help people sort of change their mind automatically. You understand. You have to have – in my opinion, I see what’s going on here, I see what’s going on in Chicago, I think stop-and-frisk, in New York City, it was so incredible, the way it worked. Now, we had a very good mayor. But New York City was incredible the way that worked. So I think that would be one step you could do.” A federal judge ruled stop-and-frisk unconstitutional in 2013. The next day, Trump clarified that he was talking specifically about the city of Chicago, telling Fox and Friends, “Chicago is out of control, and I was really referring to Chicago with stop-and-frisk. They asked me about Chicago, and I was talking about stop-and-frisk for Chicago.”

• At a campaign event in North Carolina on September 20, 2016, Trump discussed African American communities and inner-city crime, saying, “African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape they've ever been in before. Ever, ever, ever.” He added, “You take a look at the inner cities, you get no education, you get no jobs, you get shot walking down the street. They're worse, I mean honestly, places like Afghanistan are safer than some of our inner cities. And I say to the African-American communities, and I think it's resonating, because you see what's happening with my poll numbers with African Americans. They're going, like, high. With the inner cities I say to the African American people who have to suffer in these inner cities, I'm going to fix it, I'm going to fix it. We're going to fix it.”

• At a campaign event in Iowa on August 27, 2016, Trump said, “I’ve spoken a lot in recent days about the deplorable conditions in many of our inner cities. As a father, as a builder, as an American, it offends my sense of right and wrong to see anyone living in such conditions. Almost 40 percent of African-American children are living in poverty – including 45 percent of children under the age of six. … Failed Democratic policies – the policies of Hillary Clinton – have created this high crime and crushing poverty. … I am running to offer a better future – to the citizens of Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago, and all across this great land.”

• Following the shooting death of Nykea Aldridge, a cousin of professional basketball player Dwyane Wade, in Chicago in late August, Trump tweeted, “Dwayne [sic] Wade’s cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!” Later in the day, Trump tweeted out condolences to the family and spoke about the shooting at a campaign event in Iowa, saying, “This shouldn’t happen in our country.”

• In an interview with The Miami Herald on August 11, 2016, Donald Trump said that he would accept American civilians suspected of terrorism being tried by a military tribunal in Guantánamo. “I would say they could be tried there, that would be fine,” he said.

• On July 27, 2016, after State's Attorney for Baltimore, Maryland, Marilyn Mosby dropped the three remaining cases against police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray. Trump said, "I think she ought to prosecute herself. I think it was disgraceful what she did and the way she did it, and the news conference that she had where they were guilty before anybody knew the facts. I give a lot of credit to those police officers, who probably could have made a deal. You had victory after victory after victory, and she had no chance. She should prosecute herself. She should be held accountable. ... I think she is a disgrace to the world of prosecutors for what she did."

• Responding to the deadly shooting of police officers in Baton Rouge on July 17, 2016, Trump tweeted, “President Obama just had a news conference, but he doesn't have a clue. Our country is a divided crime scene, and it will only get worse!” In another tweet, he wrote, “Our country is totally divided and our enemies are watching. We are not looking good, we are not looking smart, we are not looking tough!”.

• Trump described himself as “the law-and-order candidate” during a campaign rally in Virginia on July 11, 2016. He discussed law enforcement and veterans affairs during the speech. Trump continued, “We need to clean up the corruption in government, and Hillary Clinton will never be able to do it. She’s incompetent and has proven time and time again that she doesn’t have what it takes.”

• The New York Times Magazine published a profile of Donald Trump on May 18, 2016, covering the changes in his presidential campaign over the past few months.Trump was asked to name the most dangerous place he has ever visited. He replied, “Brooklyn. No, there are places in America that are among the most dangerous in the world. You go to places like Oakland. Or Ferguson. The crime numbers are worse. Seriously.”

• In 2000, Donald Trump recommended in his book, The America We Deserve, that judges be elected to hold them accountable for being too soft on criminals.

• In 1989, in reaction to the brutal assault and rape of a woman in Central Park, allegedly by minors, Trump released an ad in four New York newspapers demanding capital punishment be reinstated.

• Although the juveniles were convicted of the crime and served several years in prison, they were later exonerated and received a settlement from the city worth about $1 million for each year spent in prison in 2014. Trump called the settlement "the heist of the century" and stated the falsely convicted men did "not exactly have the pasts of angels."

• Read what other 2016 presidential candidates said about crime and justice.

The 2016 Republican Party Platform on crime and justice

“ Ensuring Safe Neighborhoods: Criminal Justice and Prison Reform The men and women of law enforcement — whether patrolling our neighborhoods or our borders, fighting organized crime or guarding against domestic terror — deserve our gratitude and support. Their jobs are never easy, especially in crisis situations, and should not be made more difficult by politicized second-guessing from federal officials. The current Administration’s lack of respect for them, from White House intervention in local arrests to the Attorney General’s present campaign of harassment against police forces around the country, has been unprecedented. With all Americans, we mourn those whom we have lost to violence and hatred. To honor their sacrifice, we recommit ourselves, as individuals and as a party, to the rule of law and the pursuit of justice. The conduct of the Department of Justice has included refusal to enforce laws, stonewalling congressional committees, destroying evidence, reckless dealing with firearms that led to several deaths on both sides of our border, and defying a citation for contempt. It has urged leniency for rioters while turning a blind eye to mob attacks on peaceful citizens exercising their political rights. A new administration must ensure the immediate dismissal and, where appropriate, prosecution of any Department officials who have violated their oath of office. The next president must restore the public’s trust in law enforcement and civil order by first adhering to the rule of law himself. Additionally, the next president must not sow seeds of division and distrust between the police and the people they have sworn to serve and protect. The Republican Party, a party of law and order, must make clear in words and action that every human life matters. Two grave problems undermine the rule of law on the federal level: Over-criminalization and over-federalization. In the first case, Congress and federal agencies have increased the number of criminal offenses in the U.S. Code from 3,000 in the early 1980s to more than 4,500 today. That does not include an estimated 300,000 regulations containing criminal penalties. No one, including the Department of Justice, can come up with accurate numbers. That recklessness is bad enough when committed by Congress, but when it comes from the unelected bureaucrats of the federal agencies, it is intolerable. The power of career civil servants and political appointees to criminalize behavior is one of the worst violations of constitutional order perpetrated by the administrative state. To deal with this morass, we urge caution in the creation of new “crimes” and a bipartisan presidential commission to purge the Code and the body of regulations of old “crimes.” We call for mens rea elements in the definition of any new crimes to protect Americans who, in violating a law, act unknowingly or without criminal intent. We urge Congress to codify the Common Law’s Rule of Lenity, which requires courts to interpret unclear statutes in favor of a defendant. The over-federalization of criminal justice is one of many ways in which the government in Washington has intruded beyond its proper jurisdiction. The essential role of federal law enforcement personnel in protecting federal property and combating interstate crime should not be compromised by diversion to matters properly handled by state and local authorities. We applaud the Republican Governors and legislators who have been implementing criminal justice reforms like those proposed by our 2012 platform. Along with diversion of first-time, nonviolent offenders to community sentencing, accountability courts, drug courts, veterans treatment courts, and guidance by faith-based institutions with proven track records of rehabilitation, our platform emphasized restorative justice to make the victim whole and put the offender on the right path. As variants of these reforms are undertaken in many states, we urge the Congress to learn from what works. In the past, judicial discretion about sentences led to serious mistakes concerning dangerous criminals. Mandatory minimum sentencing became an important tool for keeping them off the streets. Modifications to it should be targeted toward particular categories, especially nonviolent offenders and persons with drug, alcohol, or mental health issues, and should require disclosure by the courts of any judicial departure from the state’s sentencing requirements. The constitutionality of the death penalty is firmly settled by its explicit mention in the Fifth Amendment. With the murder rate soaring in our great cities, we condemn the Supreme Court’s erosion of the right of the people to enact capital punishment in their states. In solidarity with those who protect us, we call for mandatory prison time for all assaults involving serious injury to law enforcement officers. We call on the Congress to make the federal courts a model for the rest of the country in protecting the rights of victims and their families. They should be told all relevant information about their case, allowed to be present for its trial, assured a voice in sentencing and parole hearings, given access to social and legal services, and benefit from the Crime Victims Fund established under President Reagan for that sole purpose. Public officials must regain control of their correctional institutions, some of which have become ethnic and racial battlegrounds. Persons jailed for whatever cause should be protected against cruel or degrading treatment by other inmates. Courts should not tie the hands of prison officials in dealing with these problems. We encourage states to offer opportunities for literacy and vocational education to prepare prisoners for release to the community. Breaking the cycle of crime begins with the children of those who are prisoners. Deprived of a parent through no fault of their own, youngsters from these families should be a special concern of our schools, social services, and religious institutions. The internet must not become a safe haven for predators. Pornography, with its harmful effects, especially on children, has become a public health crisis that is destroying the lives of millions. We encourage states to continue to fight this public menace and pledge our commitment to children’s safety and well-being. We applaud the social networking sites that bar sex offenders from participation. We urge energetic prosecution of child pornography, which is closely linked to human trafficking. ” —2016 Republican Party Platform

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Donald Trump crime justice. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016/Crime and justice - Google News

See also

• Donald Trump
• Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016

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