Former President Donald Trump has landed his first slate of law enforcement endorsements in the Empire State.
Seven Suffolk County police, probation and sheriff unions are expected to formally back the ex-president on Saturday, in what one leader told The Post was an “easy decision.”
“So we have one candidate in Vice President Kamala Harris, who wants to defund the police, and we have another in President Trump who has defended the police over and over again,” Suffolk County PBA Vice President Lou Civello said Friday.
“So for us, you know, this decision was an easy one.”
Civello will join leaders of the county’s Superior Officers Association, Detectives Association, Probation Officers Association, Detective Investigator’s PBA, Deputy Sheriffs PBA, Court Employees Association and Police Conference on Saturday afternoon to make the endorsement.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is slated to accept the endorsement for the former president at the state’s Conservative Party’s nominating event.
The PBA VP told The Post that his union felt Harris’s support for the George Floyd Act was a deal breaker for him and his members, saying the added potential financial liability would exacerbate the current crisis of recruitment and retention in law enforcement.
“The act would limit qualified immunity, which means police officers who make these split-second life and death decisions would not only have to worry about getting killed but also that the family would be sued,” he said.
Civello also pointed to Harris’ prior criticism of the feds 1033 program that provides local law enforcement agencies with unused military equipment, which ranges widely in supplies from bullet-proof vests to massive armored vehicles.
“If we’re not adequately prepared to deal with active shooter situations… then we’re going to see more and more loss of life and I think President Trump understands that,” he said.
“In contrast, Kamala Harris has used those opportunities to demonize us and make it look like we’re an occupying force, which could not be further from the truth.”
Over the last few elections, the political tides have shifted to the GOP across Long Island with a number of Republicans winning office at the county and local level, The Post previously reported.
“I think he may be competitive here,” Civello said, adding, “I think he’s going to have long coattails in New York State the same way Zeldin did.”
The endorsement comes even though Harris was once California’s “top cop” as the state’s attorney general — and after Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in a Manhattan court in May as part of a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments.
Despite the uptick in GOP support out on the island, the majority of voters across the state still lean to the left and Harris is expected to carry the state.
