Fellow FLEOA
Members,
On January
18th, 2021 we were happy to see that the outgoing Administration acted
on an issues that FLEOA had been pressing them and Congress to address due to
the importance to the law enforcement community, that being the personal safety
of law enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges, and their families.
An Executive
Order (E.O.) titled, Protecting Law Enforcement Officers, Judges,
Prosecutors, And Their Families
was issued and provided some overdue tools and protocols to federal law
enforcement officers, federal prosecutors, federal judges and their families to
help them enhance their safety amidst this dangerous threat environment.
The impetus
of this stemmed form the violent attack and death of the son of U.S. District
Judge Esther Salas in New Jersey by a criminal that obtained their home address
from the internet and decided to attack the federal judge and her family at
home. Their heinous crime was just the
latest in a series of threats law enforcement officers around the nation have
faced from the unfettered proliferation of personally identifiable information
(PII) on the internet. That PII has been
used to identify, track, doxx and attack law enforcement officers, prosecutors
and judges at work and home as it was used last summer during the riots by
radical domestic violent extremist (RDVE) groups that obtained federal law
enforcement officers’ information in Oregon and used it to track, doxx and
threaten those officers and their families.
Agreeing
that this threat was real, the Administration issued this E.O. which provides
in part:
- Removing
Obstacles to Federal Law Enforcement Officers Qualifying For Concealed Carry
Under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 and ordering all
federal law enforcement agencies to ensure LEOSA is being fully complied with.
- Authorizing
Concealed Carry By Federal Prosecutors. Within 30 days of the date of
this order, the Attorney General shall propose a regulation revising section
0.112 of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations, to provide that the special
deputation as a Deputy United States Marshal shall be granted upon request to
any Federal prosecutor when the Federal prosecutor or his or her family members
face risk of harm as a result of the Federal prosecutor’s government service
and as appropriate.
- Expanding
the Federal Government’s Protection of Judges, Prosecutors, and Law Enforcement
Officers. Specifically, the order requires the Attorney General to direct
the Director of the Marshals Service to prioritize the protection of Federal
judges and Federal prosecutors.
-Minimize
the use of home address by federal law enforcement officers and allow the use
of a P.O. Box in lieu of a home address.
-Proposing
legislation to both enhance the protection of Judges and increase the breadth and
scope of LEOSA. Directing the federal government to work to prevent
State and local governments from obstructing the ability of qualified law
enforcement officers and qualified retired law enforcement officers, as those
terms are defined by the LEOSA, from carrying a concealed firearm pursuant to
the LEOSA, including by refusing to issue identification documents.
While this
E.O. only directs specific actions for the federal government to take, it is a
major policy statement and lays the groundwork for the federal government,
including Congress, to make a stronger effort towards ensuring federal law
enforcement officers, prosecutors, judges and their families have the means
necessary to stay safe.
Fraternally,
Larry Cosme