On behalf of the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO), representing over 241,000 law enforcement officers across the country, I am writing to express our serious concerns with the editorial cartoon by Mike Luckovich published in the Boston Globe on Monday.

The cartoon depicts two white police officers, showing “Miranda Rights’’ for white people and “Last Rites’’ for black people. This cartoon is offensive and anti-police. By publishing this cartoon, the Boston Globe is supporting the falsehood that all police are racist and aiming to use force against African-Americans. By promoting this opinion, you are further endangering officers on the street, officers who put their lives on the line every day to protect our communities. The Dallas and Baton Rouge shooters were inspired by such anti-police rhetoric.

While NAPO supports an individual’s right to free speech, we do not support speech that condemns an entire community for the acts of a few. You should be ashamed of publishing Mr. Luckovich’s cartoon and the hate that it endorses.

William J. Johnson

Executive Director

National Association of Police Organizations