Today U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) will introduce the David Dorn Back the Blue Act to raise police officer salaries and increase officer hiring and retention. Senator Hawley’s bill would amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize $15 billion for the U.S. Attorney General to fund more officer hiring and salary increases for state and local law enforcement.
Senator Hawley said, “Police departments across the country are under siege—underfunded, facing increased retirements, and struggling to make new hires. But as violence and rioting sweeps across American cities big and small, our courageous law enforcement officers are more vital now than ever. 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.”
Senator Hawley’s bill would allow recipients to use federal funds to increase the number of officers on their forces and raise the salaries of officers up to 110 percent of the local median earnings, and would exclude cities that defund their police.
David Dorn, a retired St. Louis Police captain, was killed on June 2, 2020, while protecting a friend’s store during a violent night of rioting in the city of St. Louis. He served for 38 years with the St. Louis Police Department.
Background
America’s law enforcement officers are under siege:
- Police departments across the country face increasing retirements and separation of officers, while they struggle to hire new officers.
- Many state and local law enforcement agencies report decreasing morale among officers as they face increasing violence and their work is vilified.
- Police departments struggle to pay officers a salary commensurate with the challenging work as officers face increasing rioting and violence.
- Meanwhile, in the face of growing crime, many liberal cities are threatening to “defund the police” and slash law enforcement budgets.
To address these crises, the federal government must assist with the hiring and funding of additional police officers to protect our communities
The David Dorn Back the Blue Act
- Authorizes $15 billion through the Department of Justice to help state and local law enforcement departments to boost their department personnel.
- Provides funding for additional officer hires and officer retention for departments that need more manpower on their police forces.
- Gives pay raises to officers by allowing recipients to use federal funds to raise the salaries of officers up to 110 percent of the local median earnings.
- Excludes cities that defund their police by not allowing any department to receive money for pay raises that recently cut officer salaries.