Police officers are going through so much these days.

As if the impact from “defund the police” wasn’t already hitting our beloved male and female officers like a ton of bricks, they’re also dealing with foolhardy decisions from Democratic leaders who feel their jobs need to be hampered. Just look at what Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson did, demanding that officers not work with federal officials on cracking down against illegal immigration. Ridiculous.

But hang on, it’s about to get a lot worse.

Apparently, California Mayor Karen Bass reportedly told the LAPD to assist other officers in providing protection detail for former Vice President Kamala Harris after Donald Trump pulled the extensive Secret Service agents that Biden assigned to protect her.

You read that right—public officers doing private protection duty.

Let’s break down how this all started.

Usually, after leaving office, a Secret Service detail is provided for a period of six months, as officials settle back into a public life of sorts. Which is fine. But, for some reason, former President Joe Biden decided to bend the rules in Harris’s favor, extending her Secret Service protection to July 2026.

After defeating her (and rightfully so) for the White House, current President Donald Trump saw this favoritism from a mile away and had the Secret Service detail revoked. Fair is fair, after all. Why should Harris get special treatment when so many officials in the past have only received that protection for a certain amount of time?

But then you have Mayor Karen Bass, who decided that the LAPD needed to assist the California Highway Patrol in protecting Harris. They were pulled from active cases for protection duty and even had the nerve to call out Trump’s Secret Service removal as “political retaliation.”

First off, Karen, no. No, it isn’t. Again, this is about balance. Why was Harris’ detail extended to begin with? And secondly, she’s a millionaire. She’s got tons of money. She can’t hire her own security detail for her upcoming book tour? You have to provide hard-working officers to stand around her doorstep and keep her safe while criminals run rampant in your city? Really?

As expected, backlash grew horrendously within the department. Why are public officials being used in a case of political backlash? And it wouldn’t take long before the LAPD officers were pulled from that duty, despite criticism from Democrats that, surprise, Trump was being unfair.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League minced no words when it came to this poor decision on the local government’s part. “Pulling police officers from protecting everyday Angelenos to protect a failed presidential candidate who also happens to be a multi-millionaire … and who can easily afford to pay for her own security, is nuts,” they noted.

It really is. And let’s be honest, if they had allowed the officers to remain in place, what would’ve happened as Harris started on her book tour? Would other cities have asked other hard-working officers to follow her around on her stops? No. That’s not what they signed on for. Not at all.

And what is Governor Gavin Newsom doing? Well, he’s the one who put the California Highway Patrol on this duty to begin with, which is a mess.

Let me make this perfectly clear. The Police Protective League is absolutely right in stating that Harris can get her own security. She’s a private citizen now. She’s had her Secret Service protection long enough; she can get her own.

And the sworn duty of a police officer is to protect and serve everyone. When they go to an event, they make sure that all surrounding parties are safe, and not one particular person over everyone else. What Newsom and Bass have asked is that Harris get extra special treatment not only because of who she is, but because of what Trump “put her through,” so to speak. Come on.

At the end of the day, these two need to be reminded of just what police officers are supposed to do. There are thousands of private bodyguards and security agencies to call that can provide protection for a certain person. Let these hard-working men and women do their sworn duty.

Michael Letts is the Founder, President, and CEO of InVest USA, a national grassroots non-profit organization that is helping hundreds of communities provide thousands of bulletproof vests for their police forces through educational, public relations, sponsorship, and fundraising programs. He also has over 30 years of law enforcement experience under his belt, hence his pro-police stance for his brothers and sisters in blue. Those interested in learning more about Letts can visit his official website here.