Burns seeks co-sponsors for reintroduction of Blue Lives Matter bill
Rep. Frank Burns December 6, 2016 | 4:01 PM
EBENSBURG, Dec. 5 – As promised after his initial bill failed to move through the Republican-led House last year, state Rep. Frank Burns, D-Cambria, is seeking co-sponsors from both parties for his planned reintroduction of a Blue Lives Matter bill in January.
Burns’ legislation would classify crimes committed against law enforcement and corrections officers as hate crimes in Pennsylvania, something he believes is long overdue. His bill would add employment as a law enforcement officer to the categories of race, color, religion and national origin currently protected by the state’s hate crime law.
“Law enforcement personnel have been singled out for attacks across the country, just because they wear the uniform,” Burns said. “While these incidents have taken place from Dallas to Des Moines, they also have hit close to home, with a suspect firing on two police officers in Canonsburg, Washington County, leaving one dead.”
Mirroring his H.B. 2261 from the last legislative session, which had 22 co-sponsors, Burns’ upcoming bill would seek to give law enforcement officers of the commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions, as well as corrections officers at state or county institutions, protected status under the state's ethnic intimidation law. Probation and parole officers also would be covered.
Burns said his legislation has the support of the Pennsylvania chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, which has 40,000 members.
“Law enforcement officers risk their lives daily so the people of this commonwealth can enjoy peace and security,” Burns said. “They deserve the highest level of protection from targeted acts of violence the law can provide.”
Burns’ bill would stiffen penalties for assaulting a law enforcement officer, making the offense one degree higher than current law. A crime that is a first-degree misdemeanor, for example, would become a third-degree felony.