# Chris Christie: "I Was a Law Enforcement Officer." Stolen Valor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 25, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725 "2015-10-25T15:06:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/21 "2015-10-25T19:44:52Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Here’s the transcript.](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/face-the-nation-transcripts-october-25-trump-christie-nunes-schiff/) > So sitting in a comfy office is the same as patrolling the streets. This is silly. There’s nothing outrageous about a prosecutor claiming to understand how law enforcement officers need support. I can’t believe I’m defending Christie. He’s a Grade A asshole whose personal history is full of reprehensible or idiotic acts and statements. This particular sentence isn’t one of them. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/22 "2015-10-25T20:49:52Z")
Yeah, this is a stretch but defensible. There’s plenty to mock Christie for without it. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/23 "2015-10-25T22:18:14Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > What error? The one where he asked if the claim was accurate? > > Will you return and admit your error in thinking the OP made an assertion by asking a question? Nope. Because I did not make any such error: > [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > This seems like a clear case of stolen valor… or is that just for pretenders who claim they served in the military? “This seems like a clear case of stolen valor…” is an assertion. The disjunctive clause questions whether “stolen valor” applies to false claims of law enforcement employment in addition to false claims of military service. It does not vitiate the initial assertion that a false claim was made. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/24 "2015-10-25T22:34:40Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > My error that I concede is not being an attornew nor having access to westlaw. Four posts following your accusation refuted it. Only mine relied on case law. The others used web-searchable content. > [@](#): > > I concede that this minor point which is part of NJ law is not shared by 90% of the state’s in the US, 100% of which “Face The Nation” broadcasts to. While you had the misfortune to pick a state in which county prosecutors have an extraordinary role, making refutation absolutely unambiguous, the fact is that local prosecutors are widely considered to be law enforcement, as at least one link above makes clear. > [@](#): > > I WILL concede that this tiny loop-hole may just be the single smallest place his fat flabby-ass has ever been jammed through. And that it’s funny that someone who claims to be presidential would twist that techicallity without any thought to public qualification. It’s not a technicality or a loophole. From how many states would you like to see language that recognizes a prosecutor as “law enforcement” before you would concede that it’s quite common? And what of his role as a U. S. Attorney, the chief federal prosecutor for the district? That’s a federal title for a position which is also called law enforcement in Justice Department material. Is that also a technicality? ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/25 "2015-10-25T22:35:02Z")
It’s silly that he can make this claim. But he can, so it’s a little unfair to bash him for it. On a tangent, I find the media’s use of the epithet “top cop” for the US Attorney General to be completely absurd. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/26 "2015-10-25T22:57:00Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Nope. Because I did not make any such error: Yeah, you did. > [@Bricker](#): > > “This seems like a clear case of stolen valor…” is an assertion. The disjunctive clause questions whether “stolen valor” applies to false claims of law enforcement employment in addition to false claims of military service. It does not vitiate the initial assertion that a false claim was made. Bullshit. Absolute bullshit. You’re taking what he said out of context in order to try and take a cheap shot and score some cheap points. The thread title asks if it is stolen valor; the sentence you partially quote relays the OP’s impression that it seems like a case of stolen valor and follows by asking if his impression is correct. No assertion that it was or is stolen valor was made. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/27 "2015-10-25T23:07:38Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > No assertion that it was or is stolen valor was made. I don’t agree, although your framing is confusing. I say that the OP asserted Christie’s claim of having been a law enforcement officer was incorrect. In other words, Christie claimed he was a former law enforcement officer and the OP asserted that Christie was incorrect. The OP did question if the _term_ “stolen valor” applied to Christie’s purportedly false claim. But that question did not erase the OP’s assertion that Christie’s claim was false. I’d be curious to learn if I’m alone. **Count Blucher** , did you believe you were asserting that Christie’s claim was false? How about other readers? Did you read the OP as asserting that Christie’s claim was false? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/28 "2015-10-25T23:14:40Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > How about other readers? Did you read the OP as asserting that Christie’s claim was false? I read it that way. It’s why I replied with a cite. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/29 "2015-10-25T23:44:46Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > the fact is that local prosecutors are widely considered to be law enforcement This is what I doubt. When _I_ hear the phrase “Law Enforcement Officer”, I think of someone who has a badge and a gun, not someone who has a briefcase and a court date. I’m pretty sure that a lot of people have the same reaction as me, and will be less understanding when the technical definition is pointed out to them. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/30 "2015-10-25T23:49:54Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > This is what I doubt. **When _I_ hear the phrase “Law Enforcement Officer”, I think of someone who has a badge and a gun, not someone who has a briefcase and a court date.** I’m pretty sure that a lot of people have the same reaction as me, and will be less understanding when the technical definition is pointed out to them. This was my first impression. Officer of the Court, I knew about. LEO, no. And I think Christie was counting on that from the general public. Probably not stolen valor but misleading valor. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/31 "2015-10-25T23:51:50Z")
County prosecutors around here get a badge, and I would certainly consider them as part of law enforcement. I hate Christie as much as the next guy, but this claim doesn’t even hit my radar. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/32 "2015-10-25T23:55:40Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > This is what I doubt. When _I_ hear the phrase “Law Enforcement Officer”, I think of someone who has a badge and a gun, not someone who has a briefcase and a court date. I’m pretty sure that a lot of people have the same reaction as me, and will be less understanding when the technical definition is pointed out to them. I think badge and gun but I know it includes the DA and ADAs. And given Christie’s very public resume it would be obvious this is what he’s talking about. This is a very odd nit to pick [this thread]. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/33 "2015-10-26T00:07:38Z")
Is the Police Commissioner a law enforcement officer? In a city like New York, he has a badge, but no reason to carry a gun. He makes no arrests; his job is managing police officers’ overall effort and direction. He may be legally allowed to carry a gun and wear a badge–but then, in many cases prosecutors have badges and are allowed to carry guns. What makes the police commissioner of a major city a law enforcement officer but disqualifies a prosecutor? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/34 "2015-10-26T00:08:05Z")
Maybe he was trying to hit on one of the cameramen. I understand that there are those in the gay male community who find uniformed police officers to be extremely sexy. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/35 "2015-10-26T03:30:48Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I read it that way. It’s why I replied with a cite. Yep, me too. There is no sense of humility in the OP that he might be wrong. It looks like he just wanted to be the one to count coup on Christie. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/36 "2015-10-26T04:26:23Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Is the Police Commissioner a law enforcement officer? In a city like New York, he has a badge, but no reason to carry a gun. He makes no arrests; his job is managing police officers’ overall effort and direction. He may be legally allowed to carry a gun and wear a badge–but then, in many cases prosecutors have badges and are allowed to carry guns. What makes the police commissioner of a major city a law enforcement officer but disqualifies a prosecutor? You’re talking to an audience where “LEO” is a synonym for street level police in the TV shows they watch. Don’t police chiefs usually work their way up from that, or no? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/37 "2015-10-26T05:26:19Z")
It strikes me that Gov Christie wants to paint himself as a tough law and order guy who’s totally on the cops side as they face the menace of Black Panthers…excuse, Black Lives Matter. Which is why the quotation in question takes its place in the same place where Christie says: > [@](#): > > …“Listen, I don’t believe that movement should be justified when they’re calling for the murder of police officers, no,” Christie insisted. > > “But they’re not calling for the murder of police officers,” Dickerson pointed out. > > “Sure, they are,” the Republican presidential candidate said. “They’ve been chanting in the streets for the murder of police officers.” > > “Well, individuals have, but the Black Lives Matter Movement hasn’t,” the CBS News host observed. > > “That’s what the movement is creating,” Christie quipped. “And the president of the United States is justifying that. But not only that, he hasn’t backed up police officers from the minute he’s gotten into office. And we can cite instance after instance.”… Didn’t anybody else read the gorram interview? Stealing dignity is the least of it! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/38 "2015-10-26T10:23:46Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > You’re talking to an audience where “LEO” is a synonym for street level police in the TV shows they watch. > > Don’t police chiefs usually work their way up from that, or no? In smaller forces, I imagine that’s true. But although the New York City Police Commissioner has a badge, shown [here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Police_Commissioner): > [@](#): > > The Commissioner is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the department as well as the appointment of deputies and subordinate officers. The Commissioner is a civilian administrator, and they along with their subordinate deputies are civilians under an oath of office and are not uniformed members of the force who are sworn officers of the law. Howard Safir, a previous NYPD Commissioner, had no prior uniformed police experience, although he served as NYPD Fire Commissioner before moving the the police and previously worked for the federal agency that predated the DEA. Vincent Broaderick was a judge and the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and had no prior experience as a uniformed police officer, before becoming NYPD Commissioner. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/39 "2015-10-26T17:58:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I’d be curious to learn if I’m alone. **Count Blucher** , did you believe you were asserting that Christie’s claim was false? How about other readers? Did you read the OP as asserting that Christie’s claim was false? I read it the same way as **Bricker** and the others, that the OP was not asking a factual question whether “law enforcement officer” included prosecutors. I read it as an accusation that Christie was engaging in stolen valor / résumé padding. And getting to the merits of the question, I have always understood that the term “law enforcement officer” came into use for the specific purpose of including individuals who were not police officers, but were engaged in some aspect of the enforcement of the criminal law. If “Law enforcement officer” is identical with “police”, why is it even needed? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725/40 "2015-10-26T18:27:40Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I read it the same way as **Bricker** and the others, that the OP was not asking a factual question whether “law enforcement officer” included prosecutors. I read it as an accusation that Christie was engaging in stolen valor / résumé padding. Perhaps I should have asked the reverse question: does anyone, aside from **Snowboarder Bo** , share **Bo** ’s interpretation? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chris-christie-i-was-a-law-enforcement-officer-stolen-valor/735725.md?page=3)