Cops head to Capitol Hill

Fraternal Order of Police, National Sheriffs Association plan lobbying blitz in DC.

In the face of calls to re-imagine public safety following high profile police murders of Tyre Nichols and Manuel Tortuguita Teran, police from around the country are traveling to Washington, DC to make their case on Capitol Hill. The Fraternal Order of Police, the Major Counties Sheriffs of America and the National Sheriff’s Association will all hold major lobbying summits in DC this week, bringing hundreds of law enforcement officers to push back against even the most modest reforms to the criminal Justice system, like the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. 

The lobbying blitz will kick off on January 30 with the Major Counties Sheriffs of America Winter Legislative Meeting at the JW Marriott. The MCSA is headed by Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma, a Florida Republican and regular in Ron DeSantis photo-ops, who made headlines by proclaiming that he would not enforce an amendment requiring an assault weapons registry if it passed. 

Later in the week, more Sheriffs will roll into town for the National Sheriff’s Association Winter Conference. Much of that event will also take place at the JW Marriott where delegates will attend workshops on drug enforcement, using social media for intelligence collection and border security (interestingly the workshop on border security is being led by the sheriff of Canyon County ID, who lives more than 900 miles from the US-Mexico border). On the final day of the conference, Tuesday, February 7, the sheriff’s will head to Capitol Hill for the association’s annual lobbying blitz. 

The conference will be headlined by right-wing commentator Heather Mac Donald. Mac Donald is the author of “The War on Cops: how the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe” and “The Diversity Delusion: How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine Our Culture.”

Then, February 6-8, the Fraternal Order of Police will hold its annual “Day on the Hill.” That event will kick off with briefings at the FOP DC Lodge #1 Hall (711 4th St. NW) on the 6th, followed by two days of meetings with Members of Congress on the hill. Other events during the visit are planned at the Phoenix Park Hotel (520 North Capitol St), where out of town delegates will be staying. 

The major legislative priority FOP members will be pushing during this visit is passage of the “Protect and Serve Act,” A bill that would expand existing hate crime legislation to make certain crimes aimed at police officers hate crimes. In the past week, FOP lobbyists have met with staff from offices of Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chuck Grassley, (R-IA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Tom Tillis (R-NC), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chris Coons (D-DE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) to lobby for support on the Protect and Serve Act.