In honor of the late St. Louis police captain David Dorn, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation Tuesday would allocate federal money to give police officers a raise, according to a press release.
If the bill becomes law, then the David Dorn Back the Blue Act will amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to give more money to the Justice Department.
The Attorney General would receive $15 billion to promote hiring and retaining police officers at the state and local level.
“Police departments across the country are under siege—underfunded, facing increased retirements, and struggling to make new hires,” Hawley said. “But as violence and rioting sweeps across American cities big and small, our courageous law enforcement officers are more vital now than ever.”
“Democratic politicians are bending to radical activists who want to defund the police. We should do just the opposite,” he said. “Our officers deserve a raise, not defunding. They deserve our unqualified support. And this bill would give it to them.”
With the money received from the Justice Department, state and local law enforcement agencies could increase the salary of officers, as long as they do not exceed 110 percent of median earnings in the local area.
Cities that are defunding their police departments would not be eligible to receive increased federal funding.
The Austin City Council cut the police deparment’s budget by one third or $150 million.
New York City cut its police department’s funding by $1 billion, and Los Angeles cuts its police budget by $150 million.
Hawley’s bill is named after David Dorn, who was murdered on June 2, 2020 while he defended a friend’s pawn shop during the Black Lives Matter-Antifa riots in St. Louis.
He served in St. Louis law enforcement for 38 years before retiring as police captain, then had a brief tenure as police chief in the town of Moline Acres.
The bill would increase state and local dependence upon the federal government and further disconnect local government from local funding sources.
