https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQzJxvbtkfc&feature=youtu.be
(Video above: Sens. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) host a press conference on the Thin Blue Line Act)
WASHINGTON — In the wake of numerous anti-police crimes around the country, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) on Thursday vowed to America’s first responders that he and his conservative senate colleagues have their back.
Flanked by law enforcement officials and family members of officers killed in the line of duty, Sessions and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) touted the Thin Blue Line Act, which would impose harsher penalties on individuals targeting police officers and first responders.
“We have this huge number of state and local law enforcement officers that are out there on the streets every day, between us and disorder, trying to preserver safety and the lives of good and decent people in neighborhoods all throughout this country,” Sessions said. “The front lines of the war to protect the American people from crime and murder and death is the state and local law enforcement.
“Now we are seeing city after city with record murder rates, record surges in crime. We have 120 people a day die from drug overdoses. Addiction goes with it, which will also create more crime. And in this time of rising crime,” Sessions said directly to the law enforcement community, “we’re going to be with you once again.”
According to a report by the Washington Post, police chiefs in some of the nation’s largest cities say their officers are afraid to simply do their jobs, fearing a video clip taken out of context could end their careers.
New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton has called it the “YouTube effect,” and it has already surfaced as a concern for police officers in Alabama.
In August, an Alabama cop was pistol-whipped with his own gun. Instead of lending a helping hand, a crowd of bystanders posted photos on Facebook and Twitter with anti-police captions. The officer later admitted he did not defend himself because he was scared of being labeled a racist by the media.
The law currently states that if a murder victim was a federal law enforcement officer or prosecutor, that fact shall weigh as an “aggravating factor” in favor of the death penalty. Sessions’ Thin Blue Line Act adds that distinction to local law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and firefighters killed in the line of duty as well.
The bill also enhances the penalty when a defendant targets a police officer, prosecutor, or firefighter solely because of their job.
A lengthy list of groups have come out in favor of the Thin Blue Line Act, including:
• Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.)
• Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association
• Fraternal Order of Police
• International Union of Police Associations, AFL-CIO
• Major County Sheriffs’ Association
• National Association of Police Organizations
• National District Attorneys Association
• National Sheriffs’ Association
• National Troopers Coalition
• Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association
• Alabama State Troopers Association
• Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police
• Alabama District Attorneys Association
• Ron Tyler, Chief of Police, Florence, Alabama
• Corrections USA
• Sergeant’s Benevolent Association of New York City
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— Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) June 9, 2015
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