COLUMN

THE VIEW FROM ALBANY

Democrats Bottle Up

Bill To Discourage

Attacks On Officers

By State Sen. JIM SEWARD • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

Police, firefighters, and emergency first responders are vital to public safety.  The brave men and women who work in these fields put the lives of others first and often risk their own well-being.  I am appalled by recent incidents in New York City of individuals hurling buckets of water at on-duty police officers.  Video of these abuses has spread on the Internet, certain to trigger copy-cat offenses.

This type of disrespect toward our uniformed police officers cannot be permitted to escalate further.  To help thwart this behavior, I have joined with my Senate Republican colleagues in co-sponsoring legislation that would make this type of harassment a class E felony.

The new legislation (S.6641) reads in part:

“The men and women who serve and protect our communities as police officers risk their lives every day. Therefore, it is extremely disheartening that there are members of communities harassing these officers with water and at times even assaulting them. Law enforcement in our state deserves better.