For over 14 years, I was a member of the New York City Police Department (NYPD). It was the honor of a lifetime to serve my neighbors. During my time at the NYPD, I worked to safeguard the streets of the city’s most violent neighborhoods where I made close to 700 arrests, most for felonies, including murder, assault, gang activity, and illegal firearms. Upon retirement, I had reached the rank of Detective — and I could not be more proud of that. 

Early on in my career, I was sitting in my police car with the windows rolled up because it was a hot night in July, and a senior cop knocked on my window. He told me to roll down my windows and to always keep them rolled down. He made the great point that it was imperative to keep the windows down at all times in order to be able to better see, hear, and smell what was going on and how it was affecting the people I swore to protect and serve.  

The philosophy I have held my entire career since then has been to “keep my windows down,” to ensure I am hearing and seeing everything so that I can better serve those who have entrusted me, and it is a philosophy that I have taken with me to Congress. 

Unfortunately, what I am seeing and hearing coming out of the extremists in the Democratic Party and its allies is greatly concerning, especially as it pertains to their views on police and public safety. 

The truth of the matter is, my opponent, Laura Gillen, has aligned herself with these same extremists who want to defund the police and implement cashless bail; the implementation of these radical policies would help keep violent criminals on the street. Gillen’s associations with these radicals cannot be ignored. By aligning herself with the Working Families Party, she has opened the door to making radical policies like defunding the police and cashless bail mainstream. 

These policies have gotten innocent people killed — both civilians and officers; they have led to the decimation of police departments across the country thanks to low morale; and they have created chaos right here in New York. 

We cannot let the extremists win. No matter how many ways Gillen tries to distance herself from the Working Families Party, the truth is she has been on their ballots and thus supported their policies. Their policies that are absolutely wrong for Long Island. Their policies that have decimated police departments. Their policies that have immensely hurt police morale. Their policies that, in the name of “equity,” have released violent criminals back on the streets and hurt the most vulnerable among us. Laura Gillen is wrong for Long Island, wrong for New York and wrong for America.

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito represents New York’s 4th District in Congress.