Robinson unveils public safety plan in race for North Carolina governor

STATESVILLE, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Robinson announced on Wednesday a public safety plan should he be elected billed as focusing on building up police, fighting violence and drugs and keeping criminals behind bars.

Robinson’s campaign said 30 sheriffs stood with the lieutenant governor at a Statesville news conference as he unveiled his proposal.

“We stand behind law enforcement and law and order in this state,” Robinson said, WSOC-TV reported.

The plan in part attempts to fight what Robinson labels left-leaning efforts to scale back police funding and reduce cash bail for people accused of violent crime so they can more easily be released while awaiting trial.

Robinson said in a news release that he rejects such proposals and links a “pro-criminal, anti-law-enforcement agenda” to Democratic rival Josh Stein and party presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

A Stein campaign spokesperson told The Charlotte Observer recently that Stein, the attorney general, hasn’t supported “defunding the police” and has sought more spending for law enforcement.

In May, Stein released a series of legislative proposals that in part would seek to help fill vacancies in police departments and jails. They would include pay bonuses for law enforcement training program graduates and financial benefits to attract out-of-state or military police.

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