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Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019s campaign has come under fire after it was revealed that a \u201cleading\u201d law enforcement endorsement she touted was less than credible. On Monday, Harris received support from an organization called \u201cPolice Leaders for Community Safety,\u201d which had been presented as a major law enforcement group.<\/p>\n
However, according to a report from the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF), the organization is only a few months old and run by a Democratic political operative with little to no actual policing experience. The group, which publicly launched on June 11, is led by Gail Hoffman, a long-time Democratic staffer. Hoffman, who previously worked on John Kerry\u2019s 2004 presidential campaign and held various roles in the Clinton administration, has no history of serving with law enforcement, a fact confirmed by her own professional biography.<\/p>\n
The controversy arose when Fox News, which initially described the endorsement as coming from a \u201cleading\u201d law enforcement group, changed its headline after discovering the organization\u2019s lack of credentials. The campaign continued to promote the endorsement, even after the retraction from Fox, claiming the group was a significant law enforcement entity, despite its recent founding and limited reach.<\/p>\n
The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the nation\u2019s largest and most established law enforcement organization, quickly disputed any comparison between themselves and \u201cPolice Leaders for Community Safety.\u201d The FOP has approximately 377,000 members, a large contrast to the smaller advisory board of \u201cPolice Leaders for Community Safety,\u201d which primarily consists of retired law enforcement officers. The FOP previously endorsed former President Donald Trump, which heightened the backlash of Harris\u2019s endorsement from this lesser-known group.<\/p>\n
\nIn a statement to DCNF, a spokesperson for the FOP said, \u201cPrior to Police Leaders for Community Safety announcing their endorsement earlier this week, we were totally unfamiliar with the group.\u201d The spokesperson further said that the FOP is heavily involved in law enforcement issues across the country and had never encountered this organization before.<\/p>\n
The timing of the endorsement and the organization\u2019s connection to the Democratic Party raised more red flags. While the group described itself as \u201cnonpartisan,\u201d the board of directors is composed entirely of individuals with clear Democratic ties, including Hoffman. In fact, David Mahoney, the group\u2019s treasurer, ran for sheriff of Dane County, Wisconsin, as a Democrat, and the chair of the board, Susan Riseling, is known for her social media activity promoting Democratic causes and attacking Republicans.<\/p>\n
Harris has faced backlash for her past comments supporting the defund the police movement, and some believe that her campaign sought this endorsement to counteract that narrative. However, with the group\u2019s credibility now in question, it seems to have backfired. Police Leaders for Community Safety defended its endorsement, claiming that it is the only national police leadership organization that endorses political candidates. A spokesperson for the group told DCNF that they had been organizing informally since 2022 but only went public in June 2024. The group also claimed that its members, though primarily retired, represent a broad range of law enforcement leaders.<\/p>\n
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\n\u201cThis whole movement is about rightly saying, we need to take a look at these budgets and figure out whether it reflects the right priorities,\u201d Harris said in June of 2020, during an episode of the New York-based radio program Ebro in the Morning.<\/p>\n