Thursday, March 28, 2024
51.9 F
Oxnard
More

    Latest Posts

    Two Visions of America by Don Jans

    Ford to Continue Making Police Cars Amid Pressure Campaign: CEO

    BY ZACHARY STIEBER

    Ford will keep making vehicles called Police Interceptors that are used by law enforcement agencies across the nation, CEO Jim Hackett said.

    If Ford were to stop making the cars, law enforcement would not be as safe and would not be able to do their jobs as well, Hackett argued in a memo sent to employees.

    He also said: “It’s not controversial that the Ford Police Interceptor helps officers do their job. The issues plaguing police credibility have nothing to do with the vehicles they’re driving. In fact, as we imagine the future power of our connected vehicles, smarter Ford vehicles can be used to not only improve officers’ ability to protect and serve, but also provide data that can make police safer and more accountable.”

    Ford will “continue to be a powerful voice for Black Lives Matter, holding ourselves accountable for significant change, while also continuing to help keep communities safe by producing Police Interceptors and partnering with law enforcement in new ways to strongly support the safety for all members of society,” Hackett added.

    Dozens of Ford employees signed onto a letter to Hackett and Ford Chairman Bill Ford.

    The employees wrote that throughout company history, vehicles Ford designed and built “have been used as accessories to police brutality and oppression.”

    “We know that while many join, support, or supply law enforcement with good intentions, these racist policing practices that plague our society are historic and systemic—a history and system perpetuated by Ford for over 70 years—ever since Ford introduced the first ever police package in 1950,” they wrote.

    According to Ford’s website, it became in 1950 the first manufacturer to officer a custom police vehicle.

    “As an undeniable part of that history and system, we are long overdue to ‘think and act differently’ on our role in racism,” the employees added.

    Workers who signed the letter urged Ford to stop developing, producing, and selling all police vehicles and products by July 15.

    Some 13,000 people also signed an online petition asking Ford to remove its Police Interceptors from “Law Enforcers using violent tactics.”

    In Hackett’s response, he says he believes in the idea of systemic racism in law enforcement. Hackett promised to personally review the company’s “Diversity and Inclusion rituals, practices and behaviors.” And he thanked people for speaking up, telling them their thoughts helped him “generate this note to explain why we are continuing our commitment to police forces all over the world in our trusted products.”

    Follow Zachary on Twitter: @zackstieber

    Republished with Permission The Epoch Times    SUBSCRIBE


    Get Citizensjournal.us Headlines free  SUBSCRIPTION. Keep us publishing – DONATE

    - Advertisement -

    1 COMMENT

    0 0 votes
    Article Rating
    Subscribe
    Notify of
    guest

    1 Comment
    Newest
    Oldest Most Voted
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    ExCaliExpat
    ExCaliExpat
    3 years ago

    Kudos to Ford CEO Hackett not capitulatiog to the woke mob in his midst and balancing support for the majority of law enforcement officers who do the right thing and not the tiny minority who do not…
    Sounds like the woke Ford snowflakes need to go work elsewhere…

    Latest Posts

    advertisement

    Don't Miss

    Subscribe

    To receive the news in your inbox

    1
    0
    Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
    ()
    x