President Donald Trump on Thursday told a law enforcement crowd in New York he was OK with police officers being a little less gentle in their handling of the people they take into custody.

"When you see these towns, and when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, I said, 'Please don't be too nice,'" Trump told officers during a speech on Long Island. "Like, when you guys put somebody in the car, and you're protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over – like, don't hit their head, and they've just killed somebody, don't hit their head – I said, 'You can take the hand away, OK?'"

The remarks received applause, including from rows of white-gloved officers standing behind the president as he spoke.

Trump, earlier in his speech, also praised federal immigration officers he also characterized as "rough guys."

"The laws are so horrendously stacked against us, because for years and years, they have been made to protect the criminal," Trump added. "Not the opposite. You do something wrong, you are in more jeopardy than they are. These laws are stacked against you."