An important federal program that helps local police officers buy bulletproof vests to wear on the job protecting our communities is at risk of ending, but Senator Coons teamed up with Dover police Sgt. David Spicer on Tuesday to urge senators to reauthorize the program.
Senator Coons, who is an original cosponsor of the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act, called on his Senate colleagues who are blocking the program’s reauthorization to drop their holds and allow the important program to continue.
Sgt. Spicer, who could come to the Capitol on Tuesday only because of the Kevlar soft body armor that saved his life, shared his extraordinary story:
In addition to serving on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chris is co-chair of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus.
This weekend, Senator Coons attended the inaugural Lt. Joseph Szczerba 5KRun/Walk at Salesianum School in Wilmington. Lt. Szczerba was a 1985 graduate of Salesianum and a New Castle County Police Officer who died in the line of duty last year. Proceeds from the run will benefit a scholarship fund in his name and assist sons of police officers and first responders who wish to attend Salesianum.
WASHINGTON – Tens of thousands of law enforcement officers from around the world traveled to Washington, D.C., this week to honor colleagues who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the protection of their communities. President Obama and U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined officers and their families on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday for an event to mark National Police Week and honor those whose names have been added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, including New Castle County Police Lieutenant Joe Szczerba, who was killed in the line of duty in September.
“The police officers who protect our communities have earned our profound respect and deep gratitude, and National Police Week is an important opportunity to honor their work and remember the sacrifices of those who have fallen in the line of duty,” Chris said. “National Police Week serves as an important reminder to Congress that we must continue to work to ensure that our agencies receive the resources they need to effectively protect our communities.”
The names of the 163 police officers killed in the line of duty in 2011 have been added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, including Lt. Szczerba’s.
“Joe Szczerba was a good person and great police officer whose spirit has been carried on by his family and his colleagues on the New Castle County police force,” Chris continued. “As our nation pauses today to honor his memory, we are reminded that Delaware is truly blessed to have such great men and women risking their lives to protect our communities.”
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy signed a proclamation designating May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day and the week in which that date falls as National Police Week. Between 25,000 and 40,000 people from departments throughout the United States and agencies around the world come to Washington to mark the day.
WASHINGTON – To mark National Police Week, Senator Chris Coons, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a founder of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus, will host a briefing on Tuesday for members of Congress and their staff to experience wearing bullet-resistant and stab-resistant body armor and attend a panel presentation on the function and science behind this critical safety equipment. The event will be held in SVC-200 of the Capitol Visitors Center and is open to the public.
The “Protection through Innovation: Bullet– and Stab-Resistant Body Armor and Our Nation’s Law Enforcement Officers” briefing is sponsored by the Senate and House Law Enforcement Caucuses and features speakers from local and national law enforcement agencies and the technology industry. Issues that will be addressed during the briefing include body armor wear rates and special fit issues concerning body armor worn by females, the scientific testing process for body armor, and efforts to minimize the risks of backface signature injuries.
The briefing will highlight the importance for the Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Grant Act of 2012, which is scheduled to be voted on by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Senator Coons is an original cosponsor of this legislation that provides funding to state and local law enforcement agencies to assist in their purchasing of ballistic-resistant and stab-resistant body armor through competitive grants from the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
In addition to Senator Coons, the briefing will be co-hosted by Senator Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Representative Dan Reichert (R-Wash.-8), and Representative Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.-8). Senator Coons will deliver keynote remarks followed by a panel presentation by: Chief Jeffrey Horvath, Lewes, Delaware, Police Department and Chairman of the Delaware Police Chefs Council; Retired Chief Ron McBride, IACP/DuPont Kevlar Survivors’ Club; Stephanie Garlock, National Sheriffs’ Association; and Jeff Fackler, DuPont Protection Technology.
As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a fierce advocate for the prompt reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, Senator Coons commended a new report on improving police response to sexual assault.
The recent study, released by the Police Executive Research Forum, focused on the progress being made in investigating and prosecuting sex crimes. Chris believes this type of research is an example of the “force multiplier” effect the Violence Against Women Act has in our communities. Although the legislation did not fund the new report, VAWA builds on the latest techniques in law enforcement and officer training to reduce the incidence of domestic violence.
The report, conducted with support from the Motorola Solutions Foundation at the direction of PERF President Charles Ramsey, highlights the importance of updating the definition of forcible rape used in the Uniform Crime Reporting system. It also includes discussion of unwarranted "unfounding" of sexual assault cases, special considerations for serial rapist cases, differences in the handling of sexual assaults on college and university campuses and DNA issues in sexual assault investigations, such as the DNA backlog of rape kits.
For more on Chris’ work on the Violence Against Women Act, please click here.
For more on his work as a member of the Judiciary Committee, click here.
Senator Coons hosted an event kicking off the first ever Senate Law Enforcement Caucus on Wednesday. The goal of the caucus is to educate and inform senators and staff about the programs and initiatives that are keeping our communities safe, while advocating for the policies and resources law enforcement agencies need to carry out their missions.
“There has always been deep bipartisan support for law enforcement in Congress. Our aim in forming the caucus is to focus it on a meaningful conversation that reinforces the federal commitment to assisting state and local law enforcement,” Senator Coons said during his introductory remarks.
The Caucus has received an outpouring of support from senators of both parties. Prior to its announcement on Wednesday, the caucus had 16 additional senators join.
The event was held in the Capitol and attended by members of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. In addition to remarks by the caucus co-chairs, Senators Coons and Blunt, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Justice Programs Mary Lou Leary, and National Fraternal Order of Police President Chuck Canterbury also gave remarks on their perspective on how federal, state, and local law enforcement can work more closely to protect the public.
The Senate Law Enforcement Caucus will primarily serve as a forum for officials, community groups, and other stakeholders to meet with legislators, staff, and one another to share experiences and develop strategies for fostering effective law enforcement. It will highlight ways in which the federal government can better assist agencies at the state and local levels, and will help circulate proven best practices in administering law enforcement programs during a time of severely limited budgets.
The caucus plans to hold regular briefings on pressing law enforcement issues for U.S. senators and staff, as well as to meet regularly with law enforcement officials to learn about best practices and the tools they need to keep our communities safe.
U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) and U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) will host an event on Wednesday, October 12 in the Capitol Visitors Center to kick off the first ever Senate Law Enforcement Caucus. The bipartisan caucus will work to educate and inform senators and staff about the programs and initiatives that are keeping our communities safe, while advocating for the policies and resources law enforcement agencies need to carry out their mission.
Senator Coons and Senator Blunt will serve as co-chairs of the caucus.
The senators will be joined by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, U.S. DOJ’s Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Mary Lou Leary, and National Fraternal Order of Police President Chuck Canterbury, who will share their perspective on how federal, state, and local law enforcement can work more closely to protect the public.
The event is Tuesday at 3 pm in Room SVC-201 of the Capitol Visitors Center.
Senator Coons had the pleasure of welcoming more than 150 Delaware veterans to Washington, DC, during the veterans’ stop at the World War II and Korean War memorials on Thursday. The trip was sponsored by the Delaware Police Chiefs’ Council, the Delaware Police Chiefs’ Foundation, the Delaware State Troopers Association, and the State Lodge- Fraternal Order of Police. During his visit, Chris expressed his gratitude for the Delawareans’ service, sacrifice, and commitment to our country.
“Congress must meet its commitment to the men and women who have served our nation in uniform,” Chris said in brief remarks to the group. “This includes ensuring that veterans have access to quality, affordable health care and that military retirees receive their promised retirement benefits. The members of our armed services protect our nation and our liberties every day. We must support them while they serve and after they return home.”
Following his welcome, a small group of veterans were asked to assist in the placing of a wreath at the Delaware Pillar of the World War II Memorial, while members of the Delaware State Police played the bagpipes and bugle.
A similar ceremony was then held at the Korean War Memorial to honor the Delaware veterans who served in Korea. A wreath was placed at the memorial and the veterans heard from retired Colonel Warren Wiedhahn of the United States Marine Corps.
To learn more about Senator Coons’ work to help veterans, click here.
WILMINGTON — Senator Coons chaired a field hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Carvel State Building today, focusing on collaboration between federal, state, and local law enforcement. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, information-sharing between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies has been increasing to meet our new security challenges and to help make local communities safer from crime. The hearing explored both federal funding for state and local law enforcement as well as information-sharing and operational coordination.
Testifying before the committee were five witnesses representing all three levels of law enforcement: Richard McFeely, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Baltimore Division; James Burch, Principle Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance; Col. Robert Coupe, Superintendent of the Delaware State Police; James Hosfelt, Chief of the Dover Police Department; and Drewry Fennell, Executive Director of the Delaware Criminal Justice Council.
Chris took the opportunity to question them about the challenges to coordination and how best law enforcement agencies can overcome obstacles and work more closely to share information, resources, and best practices. In his opening statement, Chris spoke about why Delaware was a logical choice of location to hold this hearing, saying:
“Being a small state, Delaware’s police face unique opportunities and challenges. Delaware’s size lends itself naturally to a closely-knit, adaptable law enforcement community. At the same time, many of our police departments are small and, as a result, lack the resources to develop specialized techniques or units that might be needed to deal with organized crime or other relatively rare crimes that have serious consequences. Meeting these challenges requires collaboration with our federal partners.”
Over the past decade, the FBI and local law enforcement agencies have made it a priority to work closely. In Delaware, the center of federal-state-local information-sharing is the Delaware Information Analysis Center (DIAC), which is led by the State Police and is staffed with four civilian employees and two analysts from the Delaware National Guard. At DIAC, information about threats and potential hazards are collected and distributed, and DIAC closely coordinates local agencies activities with those of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, FBI, ATF, ICE, Delaware National Guard, Coast Guard, Dover Air Force Base, U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Department of Homeland Security. It is just one of several similar centers operating nationwide to ensure that critical law enforcement data reaches those who need it.
Specifically, the hearing explored five federal grant programs that assist law enforcement in Delaware, including: the Bulletproof Vest Program, which provides direct funding for bulletproof vests for law enforcement officers; the Justice Assistance Grant Program, which provides states, tribes and local governments with critical funding to support a range of program areas including prevention and education, drug treatment and enforcement, and crime victim and witness initiatives; the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, which aims to reduce the cost of corrections and related criminal justice spending and reinvest savings in strategies designed to increase public safety; the Justice Information Sharing Program, which supports grants designed to promote innovative and cost-effective implementation of state, local and tribal justice information systems; and the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative, which is working to establish a national capacity for gathering, documenting, processing, analyzing, and sharing suspicious activity reporting.
Joining Chris this morning was Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who attested to the importance of federal, state, and local law enforcement working closely together. He said:
“Interagency coordination and information sharing is more important than ever. We must continue to ensure that we are able to effectively piece together the information our government agencies – federal, state and local – collect on terrorist and criminal threats. Ensuring adequate information sharing among law enforcement has been one of my highest priorities as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Senator Coons has become a partner in this effort. I was delighted when he approached me about holding this important hearing in Delaware, to hear from people on the front lines in this partnership about the challenges state and local law enforcement face today.”
To learn more about Chris’ work on the Senate Judiciary Committee, click here.
WASHINGTON – Tens of thousands of law enforcement officers from around the world traveled to Washington, D.C., this week to honor colleagues who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the protection of their communities. President Obama and U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined officers and their families on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday for an event to mark National Police Week and honor those whose names have been added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, including New Castle County Police Lieutenant Joe Szczerba, who was killed in the line of duty in September.
