First Step Act
signed into law
On Dec. 21, President Trump signed
the First Step Act into law. With the en-
actment of the First Step Act, NAPO re-
mains concerned that the greatest ben-
efits of the act go to high-recidivism
offenders — most notably drug traf-
fickers, the most serious of whom also
receive reduced mandatory minimum
sentences. If history tells us anything,
this will create more crime in our communities and impose a
greater resource burden on law enforcement. Additionally, it
will put the lives of officers and citizens at risk.
In an effort to throw a bone to the law enforcement com-
munity, which nearly unanimously opposed the First Step Act,
the act includes a provision expressing the sense of Congress
that a portion of any savings from the release of thousands of
federal prisoners into our communities should be reinvested
into state and local law enforcement, including for the hiring
and training of officers. A sense of Congress does not equate
to actual federal support and resources that will be necessary
to deal with the increased stresses on state and local depart-
ments and agencies as a result of the release of these federal
prisoners.
This new law will lead to increased crime in our commu-
nities and NAPO strongly believes that it is incumbent on
Congress to provide states and localities with the support and
resources needed to keep our officers and communities safe.
Rest assured that we will let members of Congress know they
are squarely to blame for any rise in violent crime as a result
of the enactment of the First Step Act and that they must go
above and beyond the sense of Congress and actually fund
state and local law enforcement programs adequately to pro-
tect our communities. We will also continue to work with the
Justice Department as it implements the act, particularly with
the creation of the risk assessment tool, to ensure that high-
risk criminals, including drug traffickers, are appropriately la-
beled and not able to obtain good time credits.
NAPO protects Blue Alert Network and ensures passage of
Ashanti Alert Act
In a victory for NAPO, the Senate amended and passed by
unanimous consent the Ashanti Alert Act (H.R. 5075) on Dec.
6. NAPO opposed the version that passed the House because
it would have integrated a new, unrelated alert system into the
National Blue Alert Network that would have diminished the
impact of the Blue Alert.
NAPO supports the underlying goal of the Ashanti Alert,
which is to help law enforcement find missing persons, so we
worked closely with Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), who spon-
sored the Ashanti Alert Act in the Senate, to amend the leg-
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islation to remove it from the National
Blue Alert Network. We also included pro-
visions in the new language to strength-
en the privacy protections of missing
persons to ensure the safety of domestic
abuse victims. The House passed the NA-
PO-endorsed Ashanti Alert Act by voice
vote on Dec. 19.
NAPO’s opposition to the Ashanti
Alert’s inclusion in the National Blue Alert Network is due to
our extensive efforts to pass the Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu
National Blue Alert Act — named after two NYPD officers and
NAPO members who were ambushed and executed in 2014 —
to help protect our nation’s law enforcement officers from vi-
olent individuals who want to inflict harm on officers or have
already injured or killed officers and are on the run.
The Blue Alert’s success depends on officers, departments
and the public recognizing that a Blue Alert is solely an officer
safety issue. Integrating the Ashanti Alert into the Blue Alert
would have risked confusion among governmental entities,
broadcasters and the public at large regarding the vital mes-
sage that is being sent, and also strains already-thin resources
meant to protect officer safety.
With Senator Warner’s amendment, the Ashanti Alert will be
its own alert program with its own identity, management and
resources. NAPO was proud to support the Ashanti Alert Act of
2018 and believes that its passage is a victory for law enforce-
ment, as it will help ensure that agencies and departments
have the information necessary to swiftly recover missing per-
sons and accurately inform the general public about breaking
news of a missing or endangered adult.
NAPO’s Legislative Scorecard for the 115th Congress
Find out how your representatives and senators voted on
NAPO’s priority issues by reviewing NAPO’s Legislative Score-
card for the 115th Congress online: http://www.napo.org/
washington-report/legislative-scorecard/.
The results include all recorded votes that impacted NAPO’s
members in the House of Representatives and Senate during
the 115th Congress (2017- 2019). The Legislative Scorecard in-
cludes the following documents:
• Description of the votes studied during this Congress, as
well as NAPO’s stance on each of the votes;
• Spreadsheets that detail House and Senate support by
member and state;
• A map depicting the level of Congressional support for
the law enforcement community across the country;
• A chart reflecting support by political party; and
• A table detailing the average level of support in the
House and Senate by state.