Gore Praises Police, Vows More Hires

Addressing a room of heroic police officers and their families, Vice President Al Gore on Saturday proclaimed that “America is safer than it has been in a generation” and vowed to hire more cops and prosecutors to keep it that way.

“While others flee from danger, your mission is to track it down,” he told the officers who were being honored by the National Assn. of Police Organizations, a coalition of police unions. “Some say the age of heroes is over. I say, no way.”

The speech marked Gore’s second day on the campaign trail since ending a North Carolina vacation that coincided with the Republican National Convention. But while Gore had gone on the offensive Friday in Chicago, attacking the GOP gathering as long on pageantry but short on substance, he was more subdued before Saturday’s appreciative but nonpartisan crowd.

Mixing in a bit of his own family lore--Gore touted his 30-year marriage, his year-old grandson, his brief stint as a police beat reporter for the Nashville Tennessean and his service in Vietnam--the vice president used the event to reiterate his tough-on-crime proposals.

Thanking the officers for a seven-year decline in crime nationwide, Gore said he supports safety locks on guns to protect children and opposes armor-piercing bullets that have been used to kill police officers.

“The first time I see a deer in a Kevlar vest, I’ll change my mind,” he said.

Among those honored was Los Angeles Police Department veteran Cynthia French, critically injured last year in a New Year’s Eve gun battle. After the speech, Gore stopped to meet many of the honorees and their families.

“He had a lot of good points and I back him,” French said. “He was very personable and truly genuine.”

After speaking to the police officers on Capitol Hill, Gore flew to Long Island, N.Y., to attend two Democratic Party fund-raisers.

On Monday, Gore will be in Nashville, where he is expected to put the finishing touches on the speech he will deliver Aug. 17 when he accepts his party’s nomination for president at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. The vice president is drafting the speech mostly by himself, with input from advisors, aides said.

And Tuesday, Gore will formally introduce his running mate. Campaign sources say he is considering six people--and perhaps a “wild card”--for the slot.

In the days leading up to the Democratic convention, Gore will mount a “going the distance” tour of America, his campaign press secretary Chris Lehane said.

The tour will “highlight where Al Gore comes from, who he is fighting for and where he will lead America in the future,” Lehane said.

Gore will stop in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Michigan, speaking at rallies for health care, welfare reform, environmental protection and other issues.

He will get increasingly personal in the coming days, emphasizing his life story. Lehane said Gore wants the electorate to “discover the real Al Gore--not just as a loyal vice president but also as a principled fighter in his own right--from doing his duties in Vietnam to taking on powerful interests on behalf of working families throughout his career.” During the first days of the convention, while Gore is still on the road, there will be “a great deal of synergy” between the events inside Staples Center and Gore’s message on the stump, Lehane said.

“It will contrast Al Gore’s agenda for working families with Bush’s agenda, which benefits the privileged few and special interests,” Lehane said.