With Election Day just weeks away, the race for the presidency has grown tighter as more and more Americans get a closer look at the candidates — and at their running mates as well. While emails, tax returns, nonprofits — and insults — may rule the headlines, the current issues facing the nation’s police officers are of greater concern to more everyday Americans than certain politicians think.

As tensions have risen across the country and those who protect our communities have continually found themselves in harm’s way, many Americans are looking to understand how a new president would support and protect America’s law enforcement personnel — a pivotal issue — before heading to the ballot box on Nov. 8.

Related: Families Give Pence the Win in VP Debate

More from LifeZette TV

MORE NEWS: Biden Tells Republicans Don’t Confirm President’s SCOTUS Nomination

During President Obama’s eight years in office, race relations in the United States have taken a downturn. A publicity stunt such as a “beer summit” can no longer fix the issues that have been allowed to fester and grow during his time in office. With the professionally offended fanning the flames, law enforcement around the country is on high alert not just for crime in their neighborhoods, but for their own safety.

Police officers know what they can expect from both Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton. Clinton’s history of pandering for votes, her use of law enforcement as a political punching bag, and her outright disdain even for her own Secret Service detail are enough to know that should she be elected, relations between police and their communities are not likely to get better.

Do you agree that protesting is acceptable, but rioting is not? Yes No Email Address (required) By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement Results Vote

“She doesn’t support cops at all, that’s the bottom line,” said a detective from Westchester County, New York, who is also a father. “I think it’s pretty clear. She hasn’t done anything or said anything to come out in support of cops and she won’t. To her audience, it’s toxic to like cops.”

“To Hillary Clinton’s followers, it’s toxic to like cops,” said one police officer.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, has come out firmly in favor of law enforcement, stating in the first presidential debate that law and order must be upheld in this country and throwing his support behind the stop and frisk policy. While debate moderator Lester Holt of NBC News was quick to come to Clinton’s rescue and state that stop and frisk was ruled unconstitutional — the judge assigned to the case, Shira Scheindlin, was removed from the case by the U.S. Court of Appeals. Trump knew that.

MORE NEWS: Ep 48 | Assassination Attempt On President Goes Uncovered, Schools Opt for Silent Lunches

While New York City had a solid appeal and was fighting the case under then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the city settled after Bill de Blasio, a Clinton crony, took over the mayor’s job.

“The statistics show that stop and frisk worked — period. You can say it was used predominately in minority communities, but that is where the calls and the crime was coming from,” said a police officer and devoted dad from New York. “If you have no reports of crime in an area, why would you devote extra resources to policing it? You go where the crime is, and the unfortunate reality was and largely is that minority communities have greater volumes of crime.”

Related: Teaching Kids to Respect Police

“Trump gets that and accepts that it’s a hard job, but we make communities safer by doing it. Clinton sees minorities as voters, not communities. There’s a larger number of them than cops — so she’ll pander. It’s all about votes. She’ll never care about any blood we shed.”

The dangers faced by the blue line on an everyday, ongoing basis would be exacerbated by the prospect of a Clinton presidency. While much has been made about Trump’s volatility — Clinton’s short temper, her disdain for the badge, and the expansion of the disastrous Obama presidency that would occur under her watch are all a far bigger threat to those who protect us. These are the very people who are raising their own children, their own nieces and nephews, their own loved ones, in some of the very communities they work so hard to protect. Their safety matters.

The writer lives in the New York City area and is a former volunteer firefighter and EMS worker.