Indianapolis – April 19, 2024. The Pennsylvania House has adopted Resolution 378, a call to honor law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in 2022 and 2023. The resolution acknowledges that police officers are courageous, selfless public servants who are vital to upholding laws and keeping communities safe. The resolution was introduced by Rep. Barry Jozwiak (005) this month in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The resolution’s text can be found here.
“At a time when police officers are being killed in greater numbers and are navigating a toxic landscape, we thank Rep. Jozwiak for introducing this resolution and the House for approving it,” said Paula Fitzsimmons, Legislative Director, National Police Association. “The Pennsylvania legislature might also consider introducing legislation to mitigate these tragic deaths,” Fitzsimmons added.
Last year the Pennsylvania House introduced four bills intended to help keep police officers safer. These individual bills would: mandate that officers be accompanied by a partner in critical crime areas; require officers to wear high-grade body armor while on duty; create a grant program to fund gunshot detection technology; and authorize video data technology to better identify perpetrators. Although these bills are well-intentioned, they don’t go far enough in protecting police officers.
While investing in crime-fighting technology is essential for twenty-first century policing, these tools have little impact if offenders are free to re-offend once they’ve been apprehended. Officers are often shot at and attacked by repeat offenders who haven’t been indicted for previous crimes or who have been released without bail. Requiring officers to be accompanied by a partner isn’t always logistically possible, especially in an environment where police staffing shortages have become the norm.
It would behoove the Pennsylvania legislature to draft a bill that strengthens the penalties for assaulting a law enforcement officer. As an example, the Florida legislature passed a set of bills that includes a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison for aggravated battery on a police officer.
These laws signal to would-be offenders that harming police officers will not be tolerated in a nation based on laws. They also aid in improving officer morale, which has been severely damaged by a lack of support from elected officials, zealous prosecutions, attempts to eradicate qualified immunity protections, and burnout from mandatory overtime.
The National Police Association thanks Rep. Jozwiak for recognizing the vital role police officers have in keeping people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania safe and in protecting their civil liberties. We ask that the Pennsylvania legislature build on this by introducing meaningful legislation that has the potential to save officers’ lives.
About The National Police Association: The National Police Association is a 501(c)3 non-profit Educational/Advocacy organization. For additional information visit NationalPolice.org
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