Indianapolis – January 17, 2024. The National Police Association (NPA) supports the Safer Kentucky Act, which seeks to shift statutes toward protecting the interests of crime victims and away from protecting the interests of criminals. It is legislation aimed at enhancing the safety of Kentucky residents, businesses, and law enforcement officers.
Under the Safer Kentucky Act, the new bill supports the state’s law enforcement and holds criminals accountable in an attempt to reduce the terrorism of families, communities, and businesses in urban and rural areas throughout the Commonwealth. Weak on crime policies have left states and cities all across the country in ruins while destroying faith in our justice system and our law enforcement. This package of common sense solutions will help to reverse that trend in Kentucky.
The Safer Kentucky Act includes:
- Increasing the penalty for fleeing or evading the police to a Class C Felony.
- Creating a carjacking statute and making it a Class B felony.
- Increasing the felony class for smuggling contraband substances within a jail, prison, or other type of detention center to a Class B felony.
- Mandating life without probation or parole for those convicted of a third violent felony.
- Allowing the death penalty or life in prison if there is evidence to show that a first responder was intentionally killed while in lawful performance of their duties and requiring the offender pay compensation to the family of the victim.
- Requiring a school employee who knows or has reasonable cause to believe that a person has made threats or plans of violence intended to target a school or students or who knows that a firearm is present on school property, to immediately report the matter to law enforcement.
- Requiring Parents to Attend Juvenile Court Hearings.
- Improving protections for victims of domestic and dating violence by increasing penalties for people who repeatedly violate orders of protection to a Class D felony.
“We greatly appreciate and support Rep. Jared Bauman, the bill’s lead sponsor, in introducing the Safer Kentucky Act”, said Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith (Ret.), spokesperson for the National Police Association.
More information on the bill Act can be found here https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/24rs/hb5.html
About The National Police Association: The National Police Association is a 501(c)3 non-profit Educational/Advocacy organization. For additional information visit www.nationalpolice.org.
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