(CNN) President Donald Trump nominated a top police official on Friday to serve as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, elevating a key supporter of a White House-backed sentencing measure to the federal agency.

The White House said Trump would nominate Kenneth Charles "Chuck" Canterbury, currently president of the National Fraternal Order of Police, to the post. It's being vacated by Thomas Brandon, who is retiring.

Canterbury bucked other national law enforcement figures in supporting the administration-backed measure that granted leniency on minimum sentencing rules, which passed late last year.

It was a push spearheaded by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner that gained rare bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. But many law enforcement groups opposed it, saying it would release dangerous criminals back into society.

Despite some initial concerns, the Fraternal Order of Police stood behind it, and Canterbury participated in several events at the White House focused on law enforcement issues.

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