Abdul El-Sayed Worked Alongside Law Enforcement to Keep Our Communities Safe—Mike Rogers Has Voted To Cut Law Enforcement Funding

Michigan Independent: Mike Rogers Repeatedly Voted Against Funding Public Safety

MICHIGAN –  The following is a statement from Abdul for Senate campaign spokesperson Cole Wozniak:

“Mike Rogers can’t stop lying to distract from his record of voting against funding for law enforcement and making our communities less safe.” said campaign spokesperson Cole Wozniak. “Mike Rogers repeatedly voted against a program that provided millions to Michigan law enforcement. He voted NINE times to deny healthcare for 9/11 first responders. Meanwhile—Abdul worked hand in hand with law enforcement in Detroit and Wayne County to tackle the opioid crisis and bring crime down. He’s the only candidate Michiganders can trust to keep us safe.”

Abdul El-Sayed supports investing in local law enforcement and prosecuting violent criminals, reducing crime, and fighting the opioid epidemic, which is why hundreds of sheriff’s deputies endorsed his campaign.

  • El-Sayed “worked hand in hand with law enforcement for safer, stronger communities” while leading Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human, and Veterans’ Services, and was endorsed by the union representing hundreds of sheriff’s deputies in Wayne County. 
  • While El-Sayed worked for the City of Detroit and Wayne County, law enforcement funding repeatedly increased year over year. 
  • El-Sayed spearheaded an initiative to combat the opioid crisis by making life-saving naloxone more widely available throughout Wayne County to reduce overdose deaths. 
  • El-Sayed was endorsed by the Wayne County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, which represented hundreds of law enforcement officers serving the broader Wayne County community. 

New reporting from the Michigan Independent shows Mike Rogers has repeatedly voted against millions of dollars in funding for Michigan law enforcement. 

  • Mike Rogers cast votes in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011, and 2012 against amendments to appropriations bills to increase funding for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), a federal program that helps state and local law enforcement and has provided millions of dollars to enable Michigan localities to hire more community police.
  • In 2007 and 2009, Rogers voted against the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a bipartisan effort to expand the federal definition of hate crimes to include attacks motivated by sexual orientation, gender, or disability and to authorize more money to help local police investigate and prosecute all hate crimes.
  • Rogers also voted against a 2006 appropriations bill amendment to fund more security background checks by the FBI and against a 2001 amendment to prohibit the immediate destruction of gun background check records.
  • He repeatedly voted against the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, a 2010 law that provided dedicated health and financial support for first responders who assisted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, even going so far as to call it a “New York problem” when confronted on the House floor by one 9/11 first responder advocating for the bill.