The largest police labor organization in the country endorsed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for president Friday.
The National Fraternal Order of Police represents some 378,000 police officers across the United States.
In a press release, FOP President Patrick Yoes said, "Public safety and border security will be important issues in the last months of this campaign," he said. "Our members carefully considered the positions of the candidates on the issues and there was no doubt — zero doubt — as to who they want as our President for the next four years: Donald J. Trump."
Yoes said a candidate needs the support of two-thirds of the union's 46 State Lodges, and that former President Trump easily cleared that benchmark.
"During his first term, President Trump made it clear he supported law enforcement and border security," Yoes said. "In the summer of 2020, he stood with us when very few would. With his help, we defeated the 'defund the police' movement and, finally, we are seeing crime rates decrease. If we want to maintain these lower crime rates, we must re-elect Donald Trump."
The release said the union carefully considered the records of each candidate, Trump's responses to a questionnaire, and a letter the Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz campaign sent outlining their positions on criminal justice.
An FOP committee met with Trump, but the Harris-Walz campaign did not grant a meeting.
Yoes concluded, "The National FOP endorsed Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. He led our nation through some very tough times. He provided our nation with strong, effective leadership during his first term, and now that he is seeking election to a second term, we intend to help him win it."
Trump is scheduled to speak Friday at the Fraternal Order of Police's National Board of Trustees fall meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina — one of the key battleground states that could help decide the election.