Allowing the federal government to insidiously take over local police departments is dangerous. And yet, that is exactly what the left hopes to do with several radical bills that recently passed in the House.
H.R. 6448, the Invest to Protect Act of 2022, sponsored by Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and cosponsored by 59 Democrats and 27 Republicans, passed the House on 9/22/2022. A Senate companion bill, S. 3860, sponsored by Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada was also introduced in the Senate with 11 Democrats and 7 Republican cosponsors.
If you think it’s bad that 27 Republicans cosponsored the bill, consider that it passed the House with 153 Republican votes despite its radical and unconstitutional nature. The bill offers millions in the form of grants to local agencies but only to spend on specific issues such as de-escalation training, victim centered training, signing bonuses for new hires and retention bonuses to low the number of resignations. While some of the funds may be used for needed or wanted police equipment, training, and retention programs, the grants are still inappropriate because the Constitution makes no provision for funding local law enforcement.
And let’s face it, federal grants always come with strings attached, which will then be used to “mold” and then govern the conduct of local law enforcement in order to meet unconstitutional and arbitrary “federal standards,” which is paramount to a gradual federal takeover of local police departments, sheriffs’ offices, and other local law-enforcement agencies. Ultimately, H.R. 6448 would strengthen the federal government’s stranglehold over local police departments, further reducing their independence.
H.R. 4118, “Break the Cycle of Violence Act,” sponsored by Steven Horsford of Nevada with 95 Democrat cosponsors, would not only create federal grant programs that would ultimately support community violence initiatives, it would also create several new federal offices in the Department of Health and Human Services thus enabling the federal government to further meddle in local police matters. The House voted 220-207 in favor of this bill on 9/22/22.
H.R. 8542, “Mental Health Justice Act of 2022,” sponsored by Katie Porter of California, passed the House on 9/22/22 by 223-206. This bill would create a federal grant program for states, local municipalities, and Indian tribal governments enabling the federal government to replace local police officers with mental-health personnel to respond instead to certain criminal incidents.
H.R. 5768, “VICTIM Act of 2022,” which also passed the House on 9/22/22 was sponsored by Val Demings of Florida with 37 cosponsors, 4 of which were Republicans from NY, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Puerto Rico. This bill would create a federal grant program to provide forensic technology to state, local municipality, and Indian tribal governments to solve cold cases. The House voted 250-178 in favor of this bill. Republican politicians threaten local police autonomy just as much as leftist Democrats. Many voted for one or more of the above bills, and several prominent Republicans have supported federalized police in the form of the FBI. Furthermore, the House Republican “Commitment to America” campaign platform
Republican politicians threaten local police autonomy just as much as leftist Democrats. Many voted for one or more of the above bills, and several prominent Republicans have supported federalized police in the form of the FBI. Furthermore, the House Republican “Commitment to America” campaign platform calls for radical police-federalization measures, most prominently having the federal government indirectly hire 200,000 local police officers.
Local police and county sheriffs are the key to protecting citizens against tyranny. Not only were they at the forefront of nullifying state and federal Covid/vaccine mandates, they also have protected against state and federal gun-control measures. In countries with federalized police, i.e. Canada, China, and socialist-run European countries, nothing is stopping the central government from violating people’s God-given rights.
The drafters of the Constitution clearly intended the states to bear the responsibility for public safety. Concerns about oppressive use of governmental power motivated the leaders of our country to make a clear distinction between where the police power was to be rested. As a matter of fact, to reassure the states that the federal government would not usurp state sovereignty, Alexander Hamilton wrote in the Federalist Number 17 that law enforcement would be the responsibility of the states.
National police are the hallmark of dictatorships and oppression around the world. The autonomy of our local police is paramount to the survival of our Republic.
Source: Congress Considering Police-federalization Bills, Could Pass Them After Midterms, by Peter Rykowski, the New American; Federalism in Law Enforcement, Criminal Law & Procedure Practice Newsletter, Vol. 2, Issue 1, The Federalist Society
