WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a co-chair of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus, praised the Judiciary Committee’s passage Thursday of two bills that will help better protect members of our local, state, and federal law enforcement: the Officer Safety Act of 2012 and the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2012.

“Police officers look out for our communities and our families every day, risking their own safety to do so,” Senator Coons said. “We need to look out for them, too, and should be doing all we can to ensure they have the tools and resources to do their jobs safely. The bills we passed today will help protect our officers from bodily harm while on the job and will make sure federal agents have access to a fair court process if they ever need it. I applaud my colleagues’ work today and for coming together during National Police Week to support our nation’s first responders. I hope both bills will be considered by the full Senate soon.”  

The Officer Safety Act of 2012, which was introduced by Senator Coons and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in April, would allow federal law enforcement officers who acted to protect the life of a potential victim and were charged with a crime in state court an opportunity to petition to have the agent’s case heard before a federal court. The legislation is modeled after the Good Samaritan Act, but is narrower and applies only to criminal actions. The bill does not provide immunity to federal law enforcement officers, but simply allows for case removal to federal court where the officer will be required to defend his or her actions.

The Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Grant Act of 2012, which was introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) earlier this month and of which Senator Coons is an original cosponsor, is a reauthorization of the competitive grant program from the Bureau of Justice Assistance that provides funding to state and local law enforcement agencies to assist in their purchasing of ballistic-resistant and stab-resistant body armor that complies with National Institute of Justice body armor standards.  Since the BVP program’s first authorization in 1999, it has reimbursed grantees approximately $247 million for their purchases of nearly 1 million vests. In 2011, the BVP program provided police departments in Delaware with $141,027, enough for 1,791 vests; in 2010, the BVP program provided $120,000, enough for 502 vests; and in 2009, the program provided $94,000, enough for 588 vests.

The Senate and House Law Enforcement Caucuses held a briefing earlier this week for Members and their staff featuring a panel presentation on the function and science behind bullet- and stab-resistant body armor. To learn more about the briefing, click here: http://coons.senate.gov/vestsevent

###