--- title: President Obama Pens Open Letter to US Law Enforcement: Read description: "Any attack on police is an unjustified attack on all of us," President Obama wrote following a series of shootings and protests canonical: https://time.com/4412856/president-obama-letter-law-enforcement/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-19T16:04:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:21:51.519Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read President Obama's Open Letter to U.S. Law Enforcement: 'We Depend on You' og:description: "Any attack on police is an unjustified attack on all of us" og:url: https://time.com/4412856/president-obama-letter-law-enforcement/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdbe83f3a82fdb8ed/69889c81bc6cfc09013ddda3/gettyimages-576807484.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: President Obama Briefs The Press On Slain Officers In Baton Rouge og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read President Obama's Open Letter to U.S. Law Enforcement: 'We Depend on You' twitter:description: "Any attack on police is an unjustified attack on all of us" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdbe83f3a82fdb8ed/69889c81bc6cfc09013ddda3/gettyimages-576807484.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read President Obama's Open Letter to U.S. Law Enforcement: 'We Depend on You' by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 19, 2016 4:04 PM UTC  President Obama speaks at a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on July 17, 2016 in Washington, DC. Obama remarked on the shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in which three officers were killed and three more wounded by armed suspects. Leigh Vogel—Getty Images President Obama speaks at a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on July 17, 2016 in Washington, DC. Obama remarked on the shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in which three officers were killed and three more wounded by armed suspects. Leigh Vogel—Getty ImagesLeigh Vogel—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 19, 2016 4:04 PM UTC President Obama has faced criticism for his approach to issues [involving police officers and communities of color](http://time.com/4403543/president-obama-dallas-shooting-memorial-service-speech-transcript/?iid=sr-link1) in the wake of a recent series of violent confrontations. Five officers were killed in Dallas earlier this month and another three were killed in Baton Rouge on Sunday, in what authorities say was retaliation for earlier fatal shootings by police officers. This year alone, 31 officers have been [killed by gunfire ](https://www.odmp.org/search/year)in the line of duty. Obama has voiced support for both Black Lives Matter protesters and police officers, but[ some](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/07/18/trump%5Fquestions%5Fobamas%5Fsupport%5Fof%5Fpolice%5Ftheres%5Fsomething%5Fgoing%5Fon%5Fjust%5Fa%5Fbad%5Ffeeling%5Fabout%5Fhim.html) [have criticized him](http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2016/07/18/sheriff-david-clarke-obama-has-led-anti-police-sentiment.html), saying he’s more sympathetic to protesters than police. To combat that view, the [National Fraternal Order of Police](https://twitter.com/GLFOP/status/755188650493771776) on Monday posted the full text of an [open letter Obama](https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/07/19/read-president-obamas-open-letter-americas-law-enforcement-community) wrote to the nation’s law enforcement officers, thanking them for facing danger every day so that Americans remain safe. “Every day, you accept this responsibility and you see your colleagues do their difficult, dangerous jobs with equal valor,” he wrote. “I want you to know that the American people see it, too. We recognize it, we respect it, we appreciate it, and we depend on you.” Read the full text of the letter below: --- > “” --- President Obama Pens Open Letter to US Law Enforcement: Read ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4412856/president-obama-letter-law-enforcement/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4412856/president-obama-letter-law-enforcement/"},"headline":"Read President Obama's Open Letter to U.S. Law Enforcement: 'We Depend on You'","datePublished":"2016-07-19T16:04:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:21:51.519Z","description":"\"Any attack on police is an unjustified attack on all of us\"","url":"https://time.com/4412856/president-obama-letter-law-enforcement/","keywords":["White House","Barack Obama","Obama","justice"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdbe83f3a82fdb8ed/69889c81bc6cfc09013ddda3/gettyimages-576807484.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdbe83f3a82fdb8ed/69889c81bc6cfc09013ddda3/gettyimages-576807484.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Obama Briefs The Press On Slain Officers In Baton Rouge","caption":"President Obama Briefs The Press On Slain Officers In Baton Rouge","creditText":"Leigh Vogel—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4412856/president-obama-letter-law-enforcement/","name":"Read President Obama's Open Letter to U.S. Law Enforcement: 'We Depend on You'"}}]}] ```