Crime & Safety
Defending Our Defenders Act Today, S.868
Proposed legislation that the murder of a police officer in the line of duty in the United States be a federal crime.
In a most recent report, 99 officers have been shot in the line of duty & 27 officers have been ambushed while serving their communities this year.
Chief Thomas Q. Weitzel (ret.), M.S., C.P.C
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March 22, 2023
The Honorable Tom Cotton
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United States Senator
326 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
RE: DEFENDING OUR DEFENDERS ACT, S.868
Dear Senator Cotton:
I want to start by saying that I fully support your proposed federal legislation entitled “Defending Our Defenders Act Today, S.868” and wanted you to know that since 2011, I’ve been lobbying and fighting to make the murder of a police officer in the United States a federal crime. I want the federal government to put all resources toward the killing of police officers in the line of duty.
My vision for this would be that federal resources would be used to investigate the crime and prosecute the offender(s) of law enforcement line of duty death. This would include the FBI, ATF, and other federal police agencies doing the investigation with the assistance of the local agency, using national resources for evidence collection and evaluation, and prosecuting the murder of a police officer in the line of duty at the federal level through the United States Attorney’s Office. Unfortunately, to date, this has been met with very little support. I lobbied Illinois senators and Presidents Trump and Biden in vain.
I am asking that you add to your proposed legislation that the murder of a police officer in the line of duty in the United States be a federal crime. Please have your staff contact me directly if you wish, as I could provide some background on my proposed legislation.
You should know that several small law enforcement agencies throughout the United States don’t have the resources to investigate the murder of a police officer in the line of duty. With the recent attacks on law enforcement throughout the United States, we must have one uniform way to investigate and prosecute police officers killed in the line of duty.
I have included research and articles on pursuing this federal legislation over the years.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Respectfully,
Chief Thomas Weitzel (Ret.)
Riverside, Illinois Police Department
C: Senator Richard Durbin
Senator Tammy Duckworth
