Leahy Hails Senate Action On Law Enforcement Amendment
December 4, 2012
WASHINGTON (Tuesday, December 4, 2012) –An amendment sponsored by Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to make improvements to the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (LEOSA) was added to the defense authorization bill Monday night, improving its chances of becoming law this year.
The Webb-Leahy amendment would allow Department of Defense law enforcement officers to meet the criteria necessary to be eligible for coverage under LEOSA, the 2004 law that permits active and qualified retired law enforcement officers to carry concealed firearms across state lines. Senator Leahy was a lead author of the original LEOSA bill, and the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act Improvements Act in 2010 that made it more flexible for active and qualified retired officers and providing more uniform standards for eligibility. This measure continues to build on that effort.
“This law, which has been in place since 2004, gives our law enforcement officers, should they choose, the peace of mind that they are protected wherever they may be,” Leahy said. “The Senate has agreed to extend that trust to the law enforcement officers that serve within our military. They are no less deserving or worthy of this privilege and I am very pleased we have acted to equalize their treatment under the federal law.”
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Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),
On the Adoption of Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (LEOSA) amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act
December 3, 2012
I was very pleased that the Senate adopted last night an amendment to improve the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (LEOSA). I was pleased to join Senator Webb, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, as a cosponsor to strengthen a policy that is important to our nation’s law enforcement community. I thank Chairman Levin and Senator Webb for their efforts.
The amendment we adopt today will place military police and civilian police officers within the Department of Defense on equal footing with their law enforcement counterparts across the country when it comes to coverage under LEOSA. The LEOSA law permits active and qualified retired law enforcement officers to carry a concealed firearm across state lines. This law, which has been in place since 2004, gives our law enforcement officers, should they choose, the peace of mind that they are protected wherever they may be.
One of the qualifications required of active or retired officers to be covered by the LEOSA law is that they must have “statutory arrest authority”. Some law enforcement personnel within the Department of Defense do have such statutory arrest authority. Others do not. For example, civilian police officers that conduct law enforcement activities on military bases or installations derive their authority from the Uniform Code of Military Justice. This authority, while statutory, is “apprehension” authority. Due to that difference between the LEOSA law’s specific enumerated requirements, and the authority pursuant to which civilian police in the military operate, these law enforcement officers have not been able to obtain the law’s benefits.
To remedy this, the amendment we have adopted will expressly include within the LEOSA statute currently non-covered civilian police officers and military police. It will do so by adding a statutory citation within Title 18 of the United States Code to the relevant portion of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. This will provide legal certainty for the Department of Defense, and will provide the needed LEOSA coverage for currently non-covered law enforcement personnel within the military.
The Senate has agreed unanimously to extend LEOSA to the law enforcement officers that serve within our military who are currently not eligible for coverage under LEOSA. They are no less deserving or worthy of this privilege and I am very pleased we have acted to equalize their treatment under the federal law. Given the productive discussions we have had with the Department of Defense Office of Law Enforcement Policy and Support, and with Chairman Levin in developing this amendment, I expect that it will be will be implemented without delay so that those intended to be covered may gain the law’s benefit quickly. These police officers, who largely perform the same duties as their counterparts elsewhere in the Federal Government and at the state and local level, deserve the equal treatment this amendment will provide.
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