Beasley touts sheriff support, opposes ‘defund the police’

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM
Associated Press/Report for America

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina U.S. Senate candidate Cheri Beasley is pitching herself as a bridge between law enforcement and the Democratic party in her latest appeal to moderate voters in one of the nation’s most competitive races for a seat in the narrowly divided chamber. Joined by more than a dozen current and former law enforcement officers at a news conference in Durham on Monday, Beasley announced new legislative priorities to strengthen public safety and mend the frayed relationship between her party and the police force. She also joined other Democratic candidates in distancing herself from the “defund the police” movement — a progressive push to divest funds from police department budgets and reallocate them to social services and other community resources.