Spike Rogan, a former Pennsylvania State Constable, wrote to the Times-Tribune highlighting Congressman Cartwright’s support for law enforcement officers:
Republican hopeful for U.S. representative Jim Bognet might be many things.
But, Sgt. Joe Friday isn’t one of them. Because his campaign ads have not given us just the facts — or facts at all.
I have close to a decade of law enforcement experience, working for more than eight years as a state constable, plus time as a police dispatcher. I earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration and an associate degree in criminal justice.
I can tell you for a fact that U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright has funded the police. In 2013, the then-freshman congressman got the Scranton Police Department federal grant money to put toward new police vehicles. Then in 2016, Cartwright got the Scranton police nearly $100,000 in grant money to purchase body cameras. That benefited police officers and officer safety, as body camera footage can show when the use of force is justified in accordance with the 1985 landmark Supreme Court ruling in Tennessee v. Garner. In neighboring Luzerne County, Cartwright landed federal grants to pay for police training, which benefits officer safety and civilian safety.
The Philadelphia Inquirer and Politifact debunked Bognet’s “defund the police” claim.
Bognet talks about reducing the size of government. Police officers are part of the government — they have government jobs. So, who promotes “defunding” here? I remind people that Republicans are the ones with a “defund the police” track record when it comes to police pensions.
Bognet is about as accurate with the facts as with his field goals, shaky at best. He would be “no good” for Northeast Pennsylvania. I will vote for Cartwright.
