UVA law professor Rachel Harmon, who studies police interaction with the public, says there are also "substantive" reasons for the police backing of Trump. She cites the administration's early opposition to federal "pattern and practice" reviews of allegations of excessive force by police departments. Harmon says police liked the administration's message that "individual police officers were being tainted and undermined, and there was undermining of the effectiveness of law enforcement by these overly aggressive investigations of police departments." She says she doesn't agree with that view.