Pushing the Law Enforcement Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act
NAPO met with Senator Joe Manchin( D-W. Va.), Senator Chris Coons( D-Del.) and Senator Bob Menendez( D-N. J.) to discuss the reintroduction of the Law Enforcement Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act. This legislation, last introduced in 2009, would establish standards to guide law enforcement agencies to develop and operate a fair and effective investigative process. Individuals should have the right to file a complaint, to have the complaint investigated and to be informed of its final disposition, including learning the outcome of the investigation and any resulting disciplinary action.
Many of NAPO’ s members face attacks to their due process rights from activists who believe that the due process rights given to officers, either through their collective bargaining agreements or their state’ s law enforcement officers bill of rights, creates a double standard and gives officers unwarranted protections against criminal investigations.
Sworn law enforcement officers are held to an extremely high standard of personal and professional conduct, due to the enormous responsibilities they exercise. However, many officers are denied the same basic due process rights shared by other citizens. In approximately 50 percent of the states, officers enjoy some legal protections against false accusations and abusive conduct. Nevertheless, this leaves hundreds of thousands of officers with limited or no due process while facing limitations or retaliation when exercising these rights.
The Law Enforcement Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act would ensure that all states have at least a minimum of standards and procedures in place to guide both state and local law enforcement agencies and law enforcement officers during internal investigations, administrative hearings and evaluations of citizen complaints.
Probation Officer Protection Act
NAPO joined the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association( FLEOA) in meetings with the offices of Senate Judiciary Committee members Senator Amy Klobuchar( D-Minn.), Senator Ted Cruz( R-Texas), Senator Richard Blumenthal( D-Conn.) and Senator Mazie Hirono( D-Hawaii) to discuss the Probation Officer Protection Act.
Probation officers in the United States have experienced a significant increase in their workloads due to the recent changes in federal sentencing guidelines, but they are being asked to do more with the same amount of resources. With these officers spread thin, it is important that they have every means available to protect themselves when put in harm’ s way. The Probation Officer Protection Act narrowly expands current law to grant federal probation officers the authority to arrest any third party who forcibly assaults, resists, intimidates or interferes with the officer in the performance of his or her official duties.
Currently, when a federal probation officer is assaulted or threatened by a third party, they must retreat and call local law enforcement. This not only places the probation officer in danger, particularly if there is no way to withdraw from the situation, but it is a strain on local law enforcement agencies, many of which do not have enough officers just to patrol their communities. NAPO believes that the Probation Officer Protection Act is a sensible solution that ensures the safety of the officer, the probationer and the community.
New study provides facts on public pensions The National Conference on Public Employee Retirement
Systems( NCPERS) released a study entitled“ Economic Loss: The Hidden Cost of Prevailing Pension Reforms” that documents the costs to the economy if the public sector abandoned defined benefit( DB) pension plans. NCPERS is a member of the Public Pension Network along with NAPO and is an important ally in the fight to protect public pension plans. The study was split into three parts: In Part 1, the study highlights how opponents of public sector DB plans have little to no understanding of how public pension plans are funded, which results in their promoting wrong and harmful“ reform” policies. The end goal of these policies often is not the reform of public pensions, but rather to ultimately replace DB plans with defined contribution plans such as 401( k) plans.
In Part 2, the study provides figures, including state-by-state data, for the projected rate of economic growth, the projected rate if DB plans continue to be eliminated, the projected size of the economy and the magnitude of the economic losses due to the dismantling of public pensions. One of the starkest findings of the report is that the disappearance of public pension plans could reduce the nation’ s rate of economic growth by up to 18 percent.
Part 3 of the study looks at ways to adequately fund public pension plans without dismantling them and offers several options for governments to consider. It also highlights examples of local governments that have successfully created dedicated revenue funding streams for their public pensions.
NAPO believes it is vital to get the correct information out there about the importance of public pension plans, not only to the individuals relying on them for their retirement but also to the economy at large.
NAPO on the Hill: Kelsey Smith Act
On June 13, NAPO met with staff of Senator Pat Roberts( R-Kan.) and Congressman Kevin Yoder( R-Kan.) as well as Greg and Melissa Smith, the parents of Kelsey Smith, who was tragically abducted and murdered in June 2007. The meeting pertained to the reintroduction of the Kelsey Smith Act, which would require telecommunications companies to give law enforcement information about the location of a subscriber’ s phone when there is an emergency involving the risk of death or serious physical injury.
While current law does not prohibit these companies from giving location information to police in emergencies, it does not require them to do so and there is no uniform standard in the industry for responding to such requests.
It took Verizon four days after the initial emergency request to give law enforcement the geographic coordinates of Kelsey Smith’ s phone. After the information was received, it took only 45 minutes for law enforcement to find her body. Unfortunately, the Kelsey Smith case is not uncommon. Problems with service provider responsiveness to law enforcement requests are real and widespread.
Twenty-three states have passed their own versions of the Kelsey Smith Act, thanks to the dedication and hard work of the Smiths. NAPO is working to ensure that Congress passes a federal minimum standard for telecommunications companies to respond to law enforcement emergency geolocation requests so that law enforcement in every state has speedy access to this vital information in emergency situations. d
20 new jersey cops ■ JULY 2017