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When it comes to Gary Blankinship, I just wanted to point out one thing. He is the union president. I mention this because of a conversation I had a long time ago. Many cops were wondering why the police unions were endorsing a specific candidate for office that none of the cops were known to support. I asked the union president about it. He explained to me that unions exist for one thing only, and that is labor negotiations. They support candidates that will benefit labor. They endorse these candidates (and take political positions) based on this labor position.

So, I asked how come they keep getting identified as police endorsements. This leads the public to believe that they are endorsed based on their crime/criminal/public safety attitudes and not on their labor attitudes. He said he understood that and that this is one of the reasons so many politicians ask for police labor endorsements. It gives them a lot more political clout because the politicians cannot afford to be seen as anti-police or soft on crime. And cops keep electing these type of labor leaders because they do what they are supposed to as labor leaders. They get better contracts and benefits for the officers. Cops are human and like better paychecks as much as anyone else.

So, when you see a union president making a statement like "we don't like this law", remember that this is a political statement made from a labor perspective. It may have been a favor called in or being laid out. It is not what the cops on the street necessarily feel. And, for future reference, remember this any time you see a politician claiming an endorsement from a police union. It is almost always going to be based on their labor relations positions and not on their crime positions.