QUOTES
05:46 "We do all the things that we can to protect her and it does have an impact on the officers. It has an emotional impact. It makes them angry and just the human side of things."
06:00 "After a while it's like why do we want to do the right thing if the system's going to fail in the back end? And that's a challenge to me as a leader on law enforcement right now."
07:43 "I'm not necessarily against PR bonds in limited situations but to me, if you've already got one, you don't get another one. Violent crime is another one. I don't think we should be giving PR bonds for violent crime."
16:18 "You've got to have that credibility with your community so they can look at your agency and say okay, well that may have happened but that's not who they are."
21:17 "At a time like this, we cannot turn our back on our community. They have supported us through thick and thin, good and bad, and we owe it to them to continue to give them the service that they deserve."
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SUMMARY
In this episode of the National Police Association Podcast, Sgt. Betsy Smith interviews Josh Bruegger, Chief of the Pasadena, TX Police Dept. Today, Josh discusses the havoc that bail reform has wreaked within the state that he has sworn to protect.
Josh provides actual cases where the system failed and allowed violent offenders to commit worse crimes while out on multiple personal recognizance (PR) bonds. He also discusses the lack of accountability that comes with it and the devastating loss to community policing that defunding will do.
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HIGHLIGHTS
01:24 Real world examples on the failure of PR bonds
06:20 The lack of accountability in giving PR bonds for violent crimes
13:50 Citizen realization that defunding the police is not the solution
17:44 Defunding exposes the vulnerability of communities
19:22 Educating citizens on the consequences of defunding
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RESOURCES