--- title: Trump to Police: 'Don't Be Too Nice' to Criminals in Custody description: President Donald Trump told a crowd of police officers Friday not to be "too nice" to suspected gang members and others under arrest. canonical: https://time.com/4878838/president-donald-trump-police-officers/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-28T19:51:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:26:05.191Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump to Police Officers: Don't Be 'Too Nice' With Suspects og:description: While police departments are under pressure to clamp down on violence og:url: https://time.com/4878838/president-donald-trump-police-officers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b98ccdb98a3397a/6988d79d86f68e38486e5c61/gettyimages-824018660.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Addresses Members Of Law Enforcement On Long Island og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump to Police Officers: Don't Be 'Too Nice' With Suspects twitter:description: While police departments are under pressure to clamp down on violence twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0b98ccdb98a3397a/6988d79d86f68e38486e5c61/gettyimages-824018660.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Tells Police Officers Not To Be 'Too Nice' With Suspects > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=22b4bae9-af95-4bbb-8e96-8600d5c59bc3&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Tells Police Officers Not to be 'Too Nice' to Suspects [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Tells Police Officers Not to be 'Too Nice' to Suspects](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VHP3sJSn.m3u8) (2:01)  _Published 2017-07-28. President Donald Trump told a crowd of police officers on Long Island in New York not to be "too nice" to suspected gang and criminal cartel members being taken into custody. He also seemed to encourage officers to be "rough."_ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 28, 2017 7:51 PM UTC by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 28, 2017 7:51 PM UTC President Donald Trump told a crowd of police officers Friday not to be “too nice” to suspected gang members and others under arrest. “When you see thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in; rough. I said, ‘please don’t be too nice,'” Trump said Friday at a Suffolk County, New York event discussing the administration’s efforts to handle a violent gang known as MS-13\. “Like when you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way you put your hand over it. Like, don’t hit their head, and they’ve just killed somebody. I said, you can take the hand away, O.K.?.” Some in the crowd cheered at Trump’s remarks. But on social media, some observers were quick to accuse the President of encouraging violent behavior among officers at a time when police departments nationwide are under pressure to clamp down on officer-involved incidents. President Trump appeared before federal, state, and local law enforcement officers Friday to discuss his administration’s ongoing efforts to rid the country of illegal immigrants, particularly members of the MS-13 gang. [Police say](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/25/nyregion/trump-long-island-ms-13-gang.html) the gang has been responsible for 17 killings on Long Island since January of 2016. “They kidnap, they extort, they rape, and they rob. They prey on children. They shouldn’t be here,” President Trump said of MS-13, [which first arose in Los Angeles](http://time.com/4783163/ms-13-gang/). “They are animals.” “We cannot accept this violence one day more,” Trump continued. “You’re not going to allow it and we’re backing you up one hundred precent.” Trump said the administration’s goal was to “dismantle, decimate, and eradicate” MS-13 and other criminal groups operating in the U.S. But immigration advocates have expressed concern that the President’s rhetoric and targeting of undocumented immigrants writ large has in actuality emboldened gang members and spread fear among law-abiding undocumented immigrants. ## Transcript It is the policy of this administration do dismantle, decimate, and eradicate MS- 13. And I don't think you know how much the public respects and admires you. You're saving American lives every day. And we have your backs. Believe me. We have your backs 100 %. Not like the old days. Not like the old days. [ APPLAUSE ] It's essential that Congress fund another 10, 000 officers, and we're asking for that. So that we can eliminate MS13 and root out the criminal cartels from our country. Now, we're getting them out anyway, but we'd like to get them out a lot faster. And when you see these towns, and when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough. I said, please don't be too nice. like when you guys put somebody in the car and you are protecting their head. You know, the way you put the hand over like do not hit the head and they have just killed somebody. Do not hit their head. I said you can take the hand away okay. The men and women of VICE are turning the tide in the battle against MS 13. But we need more resources from Congress and we're getting them. Congress is actually opening and really doing a job. They should have approved health care last night, but You can't have everything. Boy boy. They've been working on that one for seven years. Can you believe that? The swamp. But we'll get it done. We're gonna get it done. You know, I said from the beginning. Let Obamacare implode and then do it. I turned out to be right. Let Obama Care unplug. 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