Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said on Sunday that there are not enough "good people" applying to be officers citing the "defund the police" movement as a reason why.
"The other thing that needs to frankly happen is we're not getting enough good people applying because of the of the disparagement on police officers," Jordan told Chuck Todd on NBC's "Meet the Press" in the wake of the death of Tyre Nichols.
"They don't get enough people applying, taking the test to enter the academy, to be an officer because there's been this defund the police concept out there," he continued. "There's been this attack on law enforcement, and you're not getting the best of the best."
Five officers were fired from the Memphis Police Department and charged with second-degree murder in Nichols's death, who died after being pulled over and then beaten by the group of police officers. Jordan said those officers "did not have any respect for life," but that he did not know whether more reform would have prevented this incident.
"These five individuals did not have any respect for life," he said. "And again, I don't think these five guys represent the vast, vast majority of law enforcement. But I don't know if there's anything you can do to stop the kind of evil we saw in that video."
He said that he does not know whether banning chokeholds, like what was outlined in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, would solve the problem. He said he prefers reform to come from local authorities.
"You want to keep this at the state and local level," he said. "This is a law enforcement issue."
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