The president of the Nassau County police union on Wednesday praised President Trump’s tough stance on the violent MS-13 street gang — and bashed the Democratic county exec for supposedly not supporting the department.
“The thing I can say about the president is that he understands the gravity of the situation. I don’t believe that our county executive does,” said James McDermott, the Republican president of the Police Benevolent Association, which backed County Executive Laura Curran’s GOP opponent in the election.
“I am glad he is here. We have been asking the county for help. Behind me are pictures of police officers that have died in the line of duty. MS-13 wants to put another officer on the wall and I can’t let that happen,” he said during a press conference at county police headquarters.
“I believe the president is the one person who understands what we are going through.”
There are 34 photos of officers slain in the line of duty on the department’s Wall of Honor. None was killed by an MS-13 member, though the gang had recently called for the assassination of a county cop in retaliation for a crackdown on the ultra-violent thugs, who have carried out a number of grisly murders on Long Island.
“We need more resources, we need more training, we need more uniformed personnel and we need it now,” said McDermott, who has been locked in a battle with Curran over her plan to cap longevity pay cops receive under a deal cut in September with the scandal-scarred administration of her predecessor, Ed Mangano, who is on trial for corruption charges.
McDermott also took a shot at Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo — but insisted that his remarks weren’t political.
“I don’t want to start getting political but I think the governor has a different point of view. He looks at immigration differently than the president,” he said.
“I’m not a politician, I don’t want this to be about conservative or liberal, but lately our county executive has been talking about cutting resources and cutting manpower,” he charged.
Asked about Trump’s description of MS-13 members as “animals,” the PBA chief said the question should be posed to families of victims.
“I think that would be a better question to ask the families of the victims of MS-13. That’s who you should be asking if it’s OK that he called them animals. Because I think the president understands and feels for these families,” he said.
Trump was set to participate in a roundtable with law enforcement and local leaders on Long Island later Wednesday.
Curran said in a statement she would attend the roundtable and would seek help from the feds to fight gangs.
But she also said that more needed to be done to stop gangs from forcing young people to join.
“In many cases these children are high school-aged, or even younger, and pressured to join a gang. We need to help our community groups and family members reclaim their children who have been lured by or forced to embrace gang activity. Any and all help will always be appreciated in our fight to protect and save our youth from gang violence,” Curran said.
