President Donald Trump on Friday told a cheering crowd of police officers that they shouldn’t be afraid to rough up suspects during arrests.

“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 said during a speech at Suffolk County Community College. “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, okay?”

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In the wake of Trump’s remarks, the International Association of Chiefs of Police released a statement reiterating that police officers should not use needless violence while arresting suspects.

“Law enforcement agencies develop policies and procedures, as well as conduct extensive training, to ensure that any use of force is carefully applied and objectively reasonable considering the situation confronted by officers,” the association writes. “Law enforcement officers are trained to treat all individuals, whether they are complainant, suspect, or defendant, with dignity and respect.”

Read the full statement below.