Former President Donald Trump was at the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office in Michigan Tuesday, talking to supporters about his law enforcement and criminal justice policies.
Trump spoke for close to an hour, touching on his administration's history of support for law enforcement and objectives for addressing violent crime in the U.S.
He said his administration would make a "record investment in hiring, retention and training of police officers."
"I will deliver law, order, safety and peace, and I will protect those who protect us," he said.
Trump's campaign and its surrogates are focused on a message that Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, aren't tough enough on crime. Ahead of Trump's remarks Tuesday, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds said Harris' policies had created "a turnstile for criminals to be arrested and go right back out on the streets."
Trump claimed that Harris, as vice president, was part of an administration that saw a 43% increase in violent crime.
He has repeatedly referenced a Department of Justice report on criminal victimization as a basis for that figure. Its findings differ from those in the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System, which is typically cited as a general measure of nationwide crime. The Department of Justice writes that "estimates from NIBRS and the NCVS in a given year may differ because the two data collections use different methods to measure an overlapping but nonidentical set of offenses."
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More campaign stops planned
Trump is crisscrossing the U.S. this week to highlight policies important to his campaign. He spoke on employment and energy policy during his visit to a manufacturing plant in York, Pennsylvania, on Monday. He is set to discuss national security in North Carolina on Wednesday and immigration in Arizona on Thursday.
