Everyone deserves to feel safe in their community. I have heard from police chiefs, police officers, constituents and elected officials about concerns of rising crime rates and officer staffing shortages felt across our district. That is why I have championed investments into local police departments to ensure our communities stay safe and secure. Listening to the needs of our local officers, I am proud to have supported increases in law enforcement funding and public safety investments including grants for small departments to hire and retain new police officers, body worn cameras, and de-escalation and domestic violence response training. We must ensure that our police departments have the resources and training they need to keep themselves and families across their communities safe. 

Our police officers stepped up to protect and serve, but many times the complex issues of mental health crises, drug overdoses, or homelessness require assistance beyond what is in law enforcement’s scope of practice.We need to get the right resources to police and move to models that ensure people get the help they need. With the right policies, we can strategically and safely deploy mental health workers with police officers where necessary and allow local police officers to focus more of their attention on fighting crime. Ultimately, we all want to do what’s right for our families and our communities. I will continue to work with my colleagues in both parties to ensure our police have the resources they need to keep everyone safe.