Expressing support for America’s law enforcement professionals.
Whereas more than 800,000 law enforcement officers in the United States risk their lives daily to serve and protect their communities;
Whereas the law enforcement officers of the United States perform their difficult and dangerous job honorably and professionally, with the overwhelming majority of Americans having a positive opinion of their interactions with police;
Whereas innovative and dedicated efforts by law enforcement officers successfully brought down crime rates over the past 3 decades from the historic highs experienced in the 1990s;
Whereas there are more than 24,000 names of fallen law enforcement heroes listed on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, dating back to the first death in the line of duty in 1786;
Whereas the environment for officers has become increasingly more hostile and their safety more precarious;
Whereas 2023 saw the highest officer assault rate of the past 10 years, with more than 79,000 law enforcement officers assaulted by criminals;
Where, in the past 3 years, 1,055 officers have been shot and 172 killed in the line of duty;
Whereas more than 2,500 law enforcement officers in the United States have died in the line of duty during the past decade;
Whereas a law enforcement officer will typically encounter between 400 and 600 traumatic events during the career of the officer, compared with 3 or 4 traumatic events encountered by the average citizen;
Whereas the unusually high number of traumatic events experienced by law enforcement officers has contributed to a 54 percent higher suicide rate among officers than among other workers in the United States;
Whereas the number of full-time State and local officers dropped by 5.3 percent between 2019 and 2021, the equivalent of nearly 37,000 fewer officers, leaving behind a dangerously low level of sworn officers to serve and protect communities throughout the United States; and
Whereas supporting law enforcement officers with the equipment, training, and funding needed to protect communities from criminal violence has long received overwhelming public support across the political spectrum: Now, therefore, be it
That Congress—
(1)
highly respects and values United States law enforcement professionals and greatly appreciates all that those officers do to protect and serve our communities;
(2)
remembers and honors those officers and their families who have experienced a death or injury in the line of duty;
(3)
calls for increased measures to be taken to maximize the safety and well-being of officers, including more policing personnel, improved training and equipment, tough penalties for assaulting or killing a law enforcement professional, and increased mental health resources for officers; and
(4)
calls on all levels of government to ensure that law enforcement professionals receive the support and resources needed to keep the United States safe.