FLEOA Supports the Senate Introduction of the Protect and Serve Act
Honorable Thom Tillis
United States Senate
113 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Tillis,
The recent spate of attacks against law enforcement officers has been violent and deadly.
Across our nation, we’ve seen protests for social justice co-opted by violent riots and
destruction. We’ve seen coordinated groups of individuals attack law enforcement officers
who in many instances are simply in place to protect the protesters. Arguably the most
heinous of this violence has been the brazen targeting of law enforcement officers for
assassination, which have in large part been met with ambivalence by many sectors of society.
This is why we strongly support the introduction of the Protect and Serve Act.
As of this date, 100 law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty. Thirty-seven
have been killed in firearms-related incidents, 35 were killed in traffic-related incidents, and
28 died due to other causes such as job-related illnesses. Thousand have been victimized by
violent assaults in every case, these officers deserve justice and in many cases, the federal
courts could be the best place for that justice.
The Protect and Serve Act would simply allow federal prosecutors the opportunity to
prosecute those violent criminals who target and attack any law enforcement officer in the
nation. This would backstop many local prosecutors and jurisdictions that either won’t or
can’t prosecute these violent criminals. It also addresses the question about how truly
dangerous these violent criminals are and that the federal government sees this violence as an
attack against justice itself and can use the full weight of the federal government to bring these
criminals to justice.
In 2018, we supported and saw the passage of the Protect and Serve Act in the House of
Representatives by a vote of 382-35, with the support of 220 Republicans and 162 Democrats.
This common-sense legislation clearly has bipartisan and strong support.
As the nation’s largest non-partisan and non-profit association representing almost 29,000
federal law enforcement officers from across all 65 federal agencies, we see this legislation as
critical to the rule of law. As an association representing law enforcement officers we clearly
see the officers safety issues our member face everyday working in this current environment.
We need to address these attacks immediately or the lack of action will only serve to embolden
these violent criminals.
FLEOA appreciates your leadership with this legislation and looks forward to working with
you on its rapid passage. If we can be of any additional assistance, feel free to contact us at
fleoa@fleoa.org.
Sincerely,
Larry Cosme
National President
Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association
Cc: Senate Judiciary members