GOP Senate Hopeful Diehl Rides Along With Cops During Drug Busts

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2018/05/09/gop-senate-hopeful-diehl-rides-along-with-cops-during-drug-busts/

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Geoff Diehl rode along with undercover state troopers in a gang unit and saw them arrest six suspected crack cocaine dealers, a campaign spokesman said.

Diehl, a state representative from Whitman, said if he’s elected he’ll continue doing ride-alongs with law enforcement officers, and he used the opportunity to take a shot at the Democratic incumbent, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren.

“Unlike Senator Warren, I am a supporter of our police. I respect that they have a tough job to do and they are never truly off duty,” Diehl said in a written statement. “As violence against police officers is on the rise, I want to strengthen the relationship between the community and our law enforcement — unlike Warren who has used her rhetoric to divide.”

Warren, who endorsed Black Lives Matter in September 2015, has spoken out against police brutality.

A spokesman for Warren could not immediately be reached for comment.

Diehl rode along with state, local, and federal law enforcement officers on Monday. He accompanied emergency medical technicians in an ambulance on Tuesday, a spokesman said.

Diehl, who is making law and order a major theme of his campaign, has been endorsed by the Norfolk Sheriff’s Office County Correctional Officers Association.

“No one calls the police with good news.  They reach out at a time of crisis. Our law enforcement officials need to know that their Senator will give them the tools and the support they need to keep families safe,” Diehl said in the written statement.

A spokesman for Diehl was reluctant to say where the law enforcement ride-along took place, so as not to compromise police investigations, but described it as a “gateway city” (a term the state legislature uses to refer to mid-size cities that serve as an economic anchor for a region of Massachusetts) south of Boston.

Diehl is one of three Republicans running for U.S. Senate in the September primary. The other two are former Mitt Romney aide and political consultant Beth Lindstrom; and businessman John Kingston.

A not-for-profit organization affiliated with Kingston owns a modest number of shares in Boston Media Networks, the company that operates New Boston Post.