Talking tough on illegal immigration and violent crime, President Donald Trump has apparently advocated rougher treatment of suspects in custody.
Visiting Suffolk County, New York on Friday to highlight administration law and order efforts in a community terrorised by street gang MS-13, Trump spoke dismissively of the police practice of shielding the heads of people in handcuffs as they are placed in patrol cars.
"Don't be too nice," he said.
The president urged Congress to find money to pay for 10,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers "so that we can eliminate MS-13".
Trump said gang members were being removed from the United States "but we'd like to get them out a lot faster and when you see ... these thugs being thrown into the back of the paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, I said, 'Please don't be too nice."'
Trump then spoke dismissively of the practice by which arresting officers shield the heads of handcuffed suspects as they are placed in police cars.
"I said, 'You could take the hand away, OK,"' he said.
The audience included federal and New York-New Jersey area police, some of whom applauded Trump's remarks.
The president offered no details on when and where he would have made those comments.
The Suffolk County Police Department said in a statement after Trump's speech it had strict rules and procedures about how prisoners should be handled.
"As a department, we do not and will not tolerate roughing up of prisoners."
Trump talks regularly about cracking down on MS-13 or Mara Salvatrucha.
The gang is believed to have originated in immigrant communities in Los Angeles in the 1980s and then entrenched itself in Central America when its leaders were deported.
It is known for violent tactics that include torturing victims and hacking them with machetes.
Authorities estimate the group has tens of thousands of members across Central America and in many US states.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has instructed the Justice Department's agencies and prosecutors to prioritise the prosecution of MS-13 members, as directed by an executive order Trump signed in February.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Tom Homan says the Department of Homeland Security has arrested 3311 gang members nationwide during targeted operations this year.
