Watch: Tim Scott Warns of the ‘One Thing You Cannot Do’ in Passing Police Reform

Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) appeared on Fox News to discuss a range of issues, including his strong belief that many police reform measures across the country are misguided.

Scott’s remarks: “The one thing you cannot do in police reform is leave the impression that somehow we’re going to demonize police officers,” Scott said. “That is dead-stop not going to happen, [it] can’t happen.”

Watch:

Scott, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, pointed to Baltimore as a prime example of what happens when you defund and demonize the police force. “We can see today in Baltimore…almost 400 officers vacant. In other words, they need 400 more officers so much so that they are asking for 100 federal officers to come in and fill the void.”

This comes in the wake of sweeping police reform in Maryland, which according to a Fox News report, became the first state to terminate its police Bill of Rights. The legislation includes measures that increase the civil liability cap for police officers convicted of excessive force from $400,000 to $890,000, and prevent officers from performing “no-knock” raids at night. 

The Democrat-controlled legislature in Maryland insists that such measures are necessary to provide for accountability in the police force.

Scott, however, is vehemently opposed to this type of police reform, stating, “”When you demonize police officers, when you defund police and you start talking about this war on police and prosecution and not on crime, you’re going to have a reduction in forces. And if you tell officers that their personal liability is on the line, it is a bad decision.”

Worth noting: He conceded that some changes in the police force do need to take place, and expressed hope that legislators are making progress on many issues, such as the use of choke holds, the militarization of the police, and no-knock warrants.

But when it comes to defunding the police, Scott emphasized that this is poor policy. Instead, Scott says, “We need to, frankly, re-fund the police.”