Sen. Josh Hawley on Wednesday said he will introduce legislation to combat rising crime nationwide by hiring 100,000 new police officers.
The Missouri Republican released his proposal prior to President Joe Biden's scheduled address to the nation concerning the sharp increase in homicides and other violent crimes.
Hawley said his plan is needed in order to boost low police morale, which is causing departments across the country to struggle with recruiting new applicants.
"American families aren’t safe, but they deserve to be,” Hawley said. “And they can be if we will act. This is not the time to defund the police or vilify them, but to support the brave men and women in blue - and put more of them on the streets. Immediately."
Hawley's legislative plan includes a bill to provide grants to local communities to help them hire 100,000 more law enforcement officers, legislation to boost maximum penalties for assaulting federal officers by 50%, a bill to direct both the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to develop plans to protect the privacy and personal information of judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officials and a proposal to double the penalty for doxing federal law enforcement officials and other federal officials, as well as increasing penalties for damage to federal courthouses and unauthorized access to areas where federal judges work, reside, or visit.
It will also include a bill to amend the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act in order to extend concealed carry rights to federal judges and prosecutors and a proposal to increase funding for family services, stress reduction, suicide prevention, and other programs for federal officers as part of a bill to expand the Supporting and Treating Officers in Crisis Act of 2019, which itself was proposed by Hawley.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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