Brotherhood of Police Officers Director Says Obama Has "Alienated Public Safety Officers"

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The Director of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers says President Obama has "alienated public safety officers across the country with his comments," referring to Obama saying the Cambridge, Massachusetts police "acted stupidly" in arresting Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. The video above gives a synopsis of the story.

Many police officers across the country have a message for President Barack Obama: Get all the facts before criticizing one of our own.

Obama's public criticism that Cambridge officers "acted stupidly" when they arrested black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. could make it harder for police to work with people of color, some officers said Thursday. It could even set back the progress in race relations that helped Obama become the nation's first African-American president, they said.

"What we don't need is public safety officials across the country second-guessing themselves," said David Holway, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, which represents 15,000 public safety officials around the country. "The president's alienated public safety officers across the country with his comments."

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama stood by his assertion that police did not need to arrest Gates after he had proved it was his own home. . . . . MORE

Obama is continuing to stand by his remarks on the police, even acting shocked that there has been such an uproar about his words.