05.14.21

Sullivan Reintroduces Bill to Protect Law Enforcement Heroes

WASHINGTON—In honor of National Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day, U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) on Thursday reintroduced the Protect Our Heroes Act, legislation to make it a federal crime to assault or kill a public safety officer and add a penalty in the event an officer is lured to a location for an ambush attack. Sen. Sullivan also cosponsored the Probation Officer Protection Act, legislation that gives arrest authority to probation officers for third parties who assault, resist, intimidate, or interfere with the performance of a probation officer’s official duties, as well as a Senate resolution recognizing National Police Week.

“In the course of an average day, the men and women of law enforcement can find themselves in any number of precarious—often dangerous—situations, enforcing our laws, holding criminals accountable, resolving disputes, and protecting the safety of our families,”  said Senator Sullivan. “In addition to these risks, our brave public servants should not also have to fear being assaulted or ambushed in the course of performing their duties. Most Americans are absolutely sickened by the rise in attacks in recent years on policemen, troopers, judges, firefighters, and other first responders. This National Police Week, I’m glad to reintroduce the Protect Our Heroes Act, amend our criminal laws to reflect how abhorrent these kinds of attacks are, and show our courageous public safety officials that we have their backs.”

The Protect Our Heroes Act will: 

  • Create a federal crime for the assault or killing of public safety officers.
  • Create a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years for attempted murder, and 30 years for the murder of an officer with the possibility of capital punishment.
  • Create a mandatory minimum for assaulting a public safety officer with increased sentences for serious bodily harm inflicted on an officer. 
  • Add severe sentencing enhancements for luring an officer into an ambush attack.

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund reports that 108 officers were killed in the line of duty so far in 2021, already more than the 105 killed in all of 2020. In 2019, more than 56,034 law enforcement officers were assaulted while performing their duties. In 2019, two officers were killed and 245 officers were assaulted in ambush situations. Between 2015 and 2019, 44 officers have been killed in ambushes.

On September 17, 2020, Sen. Sullivan attempted to bring the Protect Our Heroes Act up for a vote on the floor of the U.S. Senate, but the measure was blocked by Senate Democrats. 

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