For those who support funding the police who live their lives to serve and protect instead of defunding them, Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley has a solution: give officers a raise. Hawley submitted a bill to Congress today to authorize “the Justice Department to raise the salaries of state and local police forces all across the country – except in cities that have chosen to defund law enforcement in the wake of nationwide protests and riots” reported Fox News.
Backed with heartfelt sentiment, Hawley is proposing “The David Dorn Back the Blue Act” in honor of the retired police captain who was shot and killed in June allegedly by an armed George Floyd protester. “Dorn, who was Black, had served his community for almost 40 years and reportedly died protecting a friend’s store from violent rioters in St. Louis” according to Fox News.
Stated front and center of the proposed Bill mentions it is “to subsidize the salaries of State and local law enforcement officers and promote officer hiring and retention, and for other purposes.” Augmentation of wages is addressed in the Bill: “A law enforcement agency or organization that receives funds under this part may use the funds to augment the salaries of law enforcement personnel, up to an amount equal to 110 percent of the State real median household income of the preceding year, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau.”
Senator Hawley told Fox News “Police departments across the country are under siege – underfunded, facing increased retirements and struggling to make new hires.” “But” Hawley added, “as violence and rioting sweeps across American cities big and small, our courageous law enforcement officers are more vital now than ever.” Echoing the sentiments of conservative Americans, Hawley added, “Democratic politicians are bending to radical activists who want to defund the police. We should do just the opposite. Our officers deserve a raise, not defunding. They deserve our unqualified support, and this bill would give it to them.”
