WASHINGTON, D.C. – In case you missed it, Senator Rick Scott wrote an op-ed for Fox News on his support for police reform that improves community safety, protects law enforcement officers and better serves families. Senator Scott outlines how effective police reform should start with professional accreditation to help hold officers accountable without undercutting their ability to keep communities safe.

In the op-ed, Senator Rick Scott wrote, “Right now, there’s a lot of talk in Washington about police reform. I am 100% behind police reform that improves community safety, protects our brave law enforcement officers and better serves our families. 

But, needed changes in law enforcement won’t come from the Democrats’ radical proposals like defunding the police. Undercutting our men and women in uniform has devastating and dangerous consequences. We’ve seen cities and police agencies across our nation retreat from effective policing and, as a result, violent crime is spiking. 

We can’t weaken law enforcement’s ability to effectively prevent and fight crime.

The villainizing of our men and women in uniform we’ve seen from Democrats in Washington and across America has consequences. When I was governor of Florida, we lost 51 law enforcement officers in the line of duty. Every one of them is a hero. The Democrats’ attack on our police is a disgusting insult to these heroes and all who honorably wear the uniform, and I won’t stand for it.

I sincerely appreciate the good work my colleague and friend, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., has done to advance the cause of pragmatic police reform in this country. I’ll continue to work with him and anyone else in Washington who wants to have a real conversation about finding solutions that create safer communities in Florida and across our nation. 

…

If we want real, sustained and effective police reform that changes agency culture, we need to realize that it won’t come from more lawsuits or transferring liability from officers to their agencies. Creating meaningful change requires accountability. There is, and has been, a robust police reform movement going on in America for decades that has been extraordinarily effective – it’s called professional accreditation. This is just part of the answer, but it’s the right place to start…”

Read the full op-ed in Fox News HERE.

###