Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake and the Arizona Police Association (APA) have received radio silence from Democrat Katie Hobbs since the association sent her a letter six days ago demanding she denounce her allies’ support for defunding the police.
“Arizona voters are finally seeing who Katie Hobbs really is – a radical BLM activist who signs pledges denouncing law enforcement and fraternizes with dangerous ‘defund the police’ activists on the Left. Maybe that’s why she’s so afraid to share a debate stage with me, because she’ll be forced to defend her extreme anti-public safety positions,” Lake said in a press release.
According to Fox News, the letter sent by the APA requested assurance that Katie Hobbs would support them and law enforcement as a whole if she were to be elected governor. To do this, APA President Justin Harris requested that Hobbs denounce organizations’ positions for defunding the police. Specifically, the two organizations are Planned Parenthood (PP) and NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Although Hobbs’ endorsements page currently leads to a 404 error page, both organizations have Hobbs on their endorsements page. The organizations have also shared support efforts to defund the police, which Harris wrote is cause for alarm. PP also requires that all endorsees reject or return contributions from law enforcement organizations.
As the PP endorsement grew controversial, Axios reported that Katie Hobbs does not support cutting police department budgets.
“As someone who myself has faced death threats and armed protesters outside of my home, I am grateful for law enforcement and their work to protect communities,” said Hobbs.
However, as Lake said, Hobbs has yet to officially denounce the organizations’ stances on defunding the police.
“How can Arizona’s law enforcement community trust Hobbs to have their back as governor when she can’t even speak up for them now? Arizona needs smart, tough leadership to support our police and fight back against Biden’s crime wave and the surge in violence in our communities. Katie Hobbs isn’t it,” Lake said, concluding her statement.
As The Arizona Sun Times reported, Lake said she would be the governor to back the blue at a press conference Thursday.
Lake promised to increase pay for officers, protect qualified immunity, and end civilian review boards in an effort to increase staffing for police stations across the state.
Lake’s words of support come when Arizona needs more police officers and violent crimes are on the rise.
AZ Family reported that many crimes in Arizona are going unsolved as the backlog for detectives grows. Last year, only 11 percent of property crimes like burglary, car theft, and arson were cleared, and just 29 percent of violent crimes were resolved.
To share an understanding of what police officers deal with every day and how crime affects civilians, Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio posts near-daily police report recaps. On Monday, Arizonans made a total of 5,055 calls for service and officers made a total of 89 arrests. Notable crimes from the day included armed robbery, a school threat, aggravated assault, child abuse, and homicide.
9-19-22 / Police Reporting
Our next police report posting, so you can see exactly what happens each day. Crime is on the rise. pic.twitter.com/B8rLdcHt6I
— Sal DiCiccio (@Sal_DiCiccio) September 19, 2022
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Neil Jones is a reporter for The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Neil on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Katie Hobbs” by Secretary Katie Hobbs.
