Police Leaders for Community Safety (PLCS) is an advocacy organization founded in 2024 that promotes left-of-center criminal justice and gun control policies. The group has supported the presidential campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Gun control activist Gail Hoffman is the president and CEO of the group. ^{1 2 3}

Founding and Leadership

Police Leaders for Community Safety (PLCS) announced its formation in June 2024, claiming membership of “more than 50 prominent police leaders from across the country.” ^{4 5} The group’s formation within the state of Wisconsin had taken place earlier in March 2023. ⁶

It describes itself as “the only national police leadership organization specifically focused on advocacy.” ⁷ Its founding chair was Sue Riseling, the former chief of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Police. ^{8 1}

Gun control advocate Gail Hoffman serves as the PLCS president and CEO as of 2024. ^{1 2 9 3} She was previously the legislative director of Handgun Control (now known as the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence) as well as the co-chair of the Crime and Drug Policy Task Force for Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. ² She worked in the Office of the White House Chief of Staff and U.S. Department of Justice during the Clinton administration, and held a leadership role in the 2004 presidential campaign of then-U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). ²

Advocacy

In October 2024, three months after its founding, Police Leaders for Community Safety (PLSC) endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. ¹⁰

PLCS’ firearms policy positions include support for universal background checks, expanded “assault weapon” regulations, limitations on magazine sizes, opposition to homemade “ghost guns” and Extreme Risk Protection Orders, known as “red flag” laws. ¹¹ It also supports funding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to research gun violence as a “public health” issue, a position that firearms rights organizations view as an effort to sidestep Second Amendment protections for firearms ownership. ^{12 11}

In September 2024, PLCS supported the Biden administration’s executive orders on firearms policy, including the creation of new federal task forces on “emerging threats” such as 3-D printed weapons and kits to convert guns to full-automatic fire. ^{13 14}

It opposed the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling overturning the Justice Department’s practice of applying federal laws regulating automatic weapons to guns equipped with “bump stocks” that allowed semi-automatic weapons to achieve high rates of fire. ¹⁵

1. “Board of Directors.” Police Leaders for Community Safety. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://policeleaders.org/board/.
2. “Gail Hoffman – President/CEO – The Hoffman Group.” LinkedIn. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gail-hoffman-2417702b/.
3. “Our Team.” The Hoffman Group, June 10, 2022. https://www.hoffmangroup.com/our-team-2/.
4. “Police Leaders for Community Safety Launched.” Police Leaders for Community Safety. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://policeleaders.org/police-leaders-for-community-safety-launched/.
5. Wright, Wendy. “Police Leaders Hope to Create Change at the Federal Level with New Organization.” Spectrum News 1, June 11, 2024. https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2024/06/11/there-is-a-new-organization-made-up-of-police-leaders-from-around-the-country-hoping-to-create-change-at-the-federal-level-.
6. “POLICE LEADERS FOR COMMUNITY SAFETY, INC. (P087762).” State of Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, March 13, 2023. https://apps.dfi.wi.gov/apps/CorpSearch/Details.aspx?entityID=P087762&hash=24010292&searchFunctionID=c5a834c8-8ced-4db4-9b39-25314619430f&type=Simple&q=Police%2BLeaders%2Bfor%2BCommunity%2BSafety.
7. “About Police Leaders.” Police Leaders for Community Safety. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://policeleaders.org/police-leaders/about-us/.
8. “New National Group for Police Leaders Endorses Kamala Harris for President.” Police Magazine, September 24, 2024. https://www.policemag.com/command/news/15684627/new-national-group-for-police-leaders-endorses-kamala-harris-for-president.
9. Schmad, Robert. “‘Leading’ Police Group Backing Harris Actually Run by Dem Political Operative.” The Daily Caller, September 27, 2024. https://dailycaller.com/2024/09/27/leading-police-group-backing-harris-actually-run-by-dem-political-operative/.
10. Cervantes, Fernando. “National Law Enforcement Group Endorses Kamala Harris for President.” USA Today, September 23, 2024. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/09/23/kamala-harris-police-endorsement/75354660007/.
11. “Issues.” Police Leaders for Community Safety. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://policeleaders.org/police-leaders/issues/.
12. Chappell, Bill. “The U.S. Has a Surgeon General, for the First Time in 17 Months.” NPR, December 15, 2014. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/12/15/371035779/the-u-s-has-a-surgeon-general-for-the-first-time-in-17-months.
13. Tarinelli, Ryan. “Biden Administration Announces New Actions to Curb Gun Violence.” Roll Call, September 26, 2024. https://rollcall.com/2024/09/26/biden-administration-announces-new-actions-to-curb-gun-violence/.
14. “Police Leaders for Community Safety Commends New White House Executive Orders Addressing Gun Violence and Emerging Firearms Threats .” Police Leaders for Community Safety. Accessed October 7, 2024. https://policeleaders.org/police-leaders-for-community-safety-commends-new-white-house-executive-orders-addressing-gun-violence-and-emerging-firearms-threats/.
15. Reilly, Emily. “Local Police Leaders Respond to SCOTUS Bump Stock Ruling.” https://www.wbay.com, June 15, 2024. https://www.wbay.com/2024/06/14/local-police-leaders-respond-scotus-bump-stock-ruling/.