As Congress considers whether to add more federal border agents and contemplates lowering hiring standards to do so, I offer my perspective as a career law enforcement officer and police chief. Integrity is central to policing. If you forsake it for expediency, you undermine public safety and public trust.

Public safety is the mission of all law enforcement, whether local or federal, and public trust is what we depend on to fulfill our mission. Law enforcement officials rely on the community to report crimes and help solve them, which makes policing a partnership built on trust. Lowering standards in law enforcement in order to hire more candidates is a failed experiment that can only harm our noble profession and more importantly hurt the communities we serve.

This article was written by National City Police Cheif Manuel Rodriguez and originally posted in The Hill on May 18, 2017. To read the full article, click here.