Acting DEA chief says President Trump 'condoned police misconduct' in staff memo 
 
 Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE President Donald Trump appeared to advocate rougher treatment of people in police custody during a speech in New York. He spoke dismissively of arresting officers who protect suspects' heads while putting them in police cars. (July 28) AP 
 
 After President Trump made controversial comments that appeared to support police violence, the acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration sent a memo instructing agents to maintain core values of respect and compassion when dealing with suspects. 
 
 In the memo sent Saturday, acting DEA chief Chuck Rosenberg said the president had "condoned police misconduct regarding the treatment of individuals placed under arrest by law enforcement." 
 
 Rosenberg noted that he did not want to advance any sort of agenda, nor did he believe that his agents would mistreat defendants. 
 
 Still, he listed "core values" for agents to follow, including: rule of law, respect and compassion, service, devotion, integrity, accountability, leadership and courage and diversity. 
 
 "This is how we conduct ourselves," Rosenberg said in a memo, provided to USA Today by a source who is not authorized to share internal communications. "This is how we treat those whom we encounter in our work: victims, witnesses, subjects and defendants. This is who we are." 
 
 Trump last Friday told an audience of law enforcement officers in Brentwood, N.Y., not to be "too nice" when throwing "thugs" into the back of a "paddy wagon." 
 
 “Like when you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head... I said, ‘You can take the hand away, OK?’" Trump said. Also during the speech, the president referred to members of the international MS-13 street gang as "animals" who have "transformed peaceful parks and beautiful quiet neighborhoods into blood-stained killing fields." 
 
 After the speech, law enforcement agencies said they did not tolerate "roughing up" prisoners. 
 
 Yet Trump spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that the president was likely joking during his speech. "I believe that he was making a joke at the time," she said. 
 
 Attorney General Jeff Sessions, speaking Tuesday to the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, did not directly address Trump’s remarks but pledged to prosecute officers for abusing their authority. 
 
 “We all know the cases of the last several years where, in confrontations with police, lives have been cut short,’’ Sessions said. “Just as I am committed to defending law enforcement who used deadly force while lawfully engaged in their work, I will also hold any officer responsible (for) breaking the law. 
 
 “You and I know that all it takes is one bad officer to destroy the reputations of so many who work day in and day out to build relationships in these communities and serve with honor and distinction.’’ 
 
 Rosenberg, in his memo, told agents to "act honorably" to "earn and keep the public trust and continue to hold ourselves to the very highest standards" 
 
 "I write because we have an obligation to speak out when something is wrong," he said. "That's what law enforcement officers do. That's what you do. We fix stuff. At least, we try." 
 
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 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2vqcFEy ||||| Story highlights "When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon. You just see them thrown in -- rough. I said, 'Please don't be too nice,'" Trump said Friday 
 
 DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg in email to employees: "I write to offer a strong reaffirmation of the operating principles to which we, as law enforcement professionals, adhere." 
 
 Police departments have criticized Trump's comments 
 
 Washington (CNN) Less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump told an audience full of police officers in New York to be "rough" on suspects, the acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration sent his employees an email that rebuked the President's suggestion. 
 
 "The President, in remarks delivered yesterday in New York, condoned police misconduct regarding the treatment of individuals placed under arrest by law enforcement," DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg wrote in a message to DEA's "Global Distribution" list Saturday. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Trump to police: Don't be too nice to suspects Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Trump to police: Don't be too nice to suspects 06:08 
 
 "In writing to you, I seek to advance no political, partisan, or personal agenda. Nor do I believe that a Special Agent or Task Force Officer of the DEA would mistreat a defendant. I know that you would not," Rosenberg added. "So, why do I write? I write to offer a strong reaffirmation of the operating principles to which we, as law enforcement professionals, adhere. I write because we have an obligation to speak out when something is wrong. That's what law enforcement officers do. That's what you do. We fix stuff. At least, we try." 
 
 Trump, in a speech meant to focus on effort to combat the brutal gang MS-13 Friday, told police officers to be "rough" with suspects. 
 
 "When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon. You just see them thrown in -- rough. I said, 'Please don't be too nice,'" Trump said to applause, referring to officers shielding prisoners' heads with their hands. "Like, don't hit their head and they've just killed somebody, don't hit their head. I said, 'You can take the hand away, OK?'" 
 
 Read More ||||| Chuck Rosenberg, the acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, told staff members on Sept. 26 that he is planning to step down from his post. (Alex Brandon/AP) 
 
 Acting Drug Enforcement Administration head Chuck Rosenberg, a veteran attorney and law enforcement official who has found himself at odds with the Trump administration in recent months, told staff members Tuesday he is planning to step down from his post in less than a week. 
 
 Rosenberg, an Obama administration holdover, said he would resign as acting administrator on Oct. 1. In an email to his staff, Rosenberg said he was proud to have led the "remarkable agency." 
 
 "The neighborhoods in which we live are better for your commitment to the rule of law, dedication to the cause of justice, and perseverance in the face of adversity," he wrote. "You will continue to do great things. I will continue to root for you, now from the sidelines." 
 
 His departure is not completely surprising; President Trump has always been expected to nominate someone of his own choosing to lead the nation's premier agency on narcotics enforcement. 
 
 Rosenberg, who had been running the agency in an acting capacity since 2015, had earned a reputation as someone willing to put himself at odds with his bosses in the White House and the Justice Department. 
 
 [Acting DEA administrator says Trump ‘condoned police misconduct’ in comments about how cops handle suspects] 
 
 A former U.S. attorney and senior counselor to then-FBI Director James B. Comey, Rosenberg garnered attention in July when he wrote an email to DEA personnel rejecting Trump's comments suggesting criminal suspects might be treated roughly when being put into police vehicles. "We have an obligation to speak out when something is wrong,'' he wrote in the email. 
 
 It was not immediately clear who would replace Rosenberg, although people with knowledge of internal discussions said Col. Joseph R. Fuentes, the head of the New Jersey State Police, was thought to be a leading contender. A state police spokesman declined to comment. Other s have also been discussed, according to people familiar with the deliberations. 
 
 According to two officials familiar with the matter, Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein had previously asked Rosenberg if he would be interested in serving as the presidentially appointed head of the DEA, and Rosenberg declined. Because Rosenberg was considered a career Justice Department employee, one of the officials said, Rosenstein then asked if he would be interested in another Justice Department job, and Rosenberg said he would not. 
 
 A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, and a White House spokeswoman did not return a message seeking comment. Some at the DEA expressed surprise at how suddenly Rosenberg would be leaving his post. 
 
 Whoever Trump nominates will inherit primary responsibility for handling the DEA's response to the opioid crisis, along with thorny issues involving marijuana enforcement and research. 
 
 Rosenberg also has been at loggerheads with Justice Department leaders over marijuana research. The department, according to officials, has effectively blocked the DEA from taking action on more than two dozen requests to grow marijuana to use in research — to the dismay of Rosenberg and others. 
 
 Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a hard line against marijuana and is generally opposed to easing restrictions on the drug. Rosenberg and Sessions also have different views on the Central American gang MS-13. Sessions has called combatting the gang a major priority for federal law enforcement, while DEA officials have cautioned that other gangs — such as Mexican drug cartels — are far more dangerous when it comes to distributing and selling narcotics because of their financing and organization.
– "We are not thugs. We are professionals," says the leader of a black policing group, addressing a speech in which President Trump urged officers to not be "too nice" when arresting suspects. Perry Tarrant of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives met with AG Jeff Sessions on Tuesday to discuss Trump's comments, which he said could have "potential harm … in detracting from the legitimacy [of police], and detracting from the trust that local law enforcement and communities have," per the Los Angeles Times. Sessions said he would "hold any officer responsible [for] breaking the law," noting it took "one bad officer to destroy the reputations of so many" who "serve with honor and distinction," reports USA Today. Tarrant isn't the only one with a grievance. In a Saturday memo, acting DEA chief Chuck Rosenberg said he had "an obligation to speak out when something is wrong," then addressed how the president had "condoned police misconduct regarding the treatment of individuals placed under arrest by law enforcement." Rosenberg encouraged agents to "earn and keep the public trust and continue to hold ourselves to the very highest standards." Trump has yet to elaborate on his comments made to law enforcement officers in Brentwood, NY, on Friday. At the time, he suggested officers need not shield suspects' heads when placing them in police cars. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday, per CNN, "It wasn't a directive, it was a joke."