Sponsor
Daniel Scott Sullivan
Senator · R-AK
Senator · R-AK
The bill strengthens protections and imposes much harsher federal penalties for attacks on public safety officials, improving officer safety and consistency of punishment while increasing federal reach, long prison terms, costs to taxpayers, and risks to civil liberties and local control.
Law enforcement and other public safety officers (including federal employees and judges) get stronger federal protections and much tougher mandatory penalties for targeted killings or assaults, increasing deterrence and more consistent punishments for serious attacks on officers.
Federal and state cases that cross state lines or use interstate facilities can be prosecuted federally, allowing federal authorities to step in on complex or interstate attacks against officers and overcome jurisdictional gaps.
First responders and public safety personnel are formally affirmed as public servants, which can support policies that improve their safety, working conditions, morale, and recognition.
People prosecuted under the new federal offenses face much higher mandatory minimums and guideline enhancements, producing longer prison terms and harsher lifelong consequences with limited ability for judges to tailor sentences to mitigating circumstances.
Broad definitions of covered personnel and commerce-based jurisdiction risk federalizing many local incidents, expanding federal prosecutorial reach and increasing federal caseloads at the expense of local control.
The bill's law-and-order framing and emphasis on targeting attacks on officers could be used to justify tougher policing policies and reduced oversight, raising risks to civil liberties and disproportionate impacts on racial and ethnic minorities.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates new federal crimes and tougher sentences for killing or assaulting judges and public safety officers and orders a 5‑level sentencing enhancement for "luring" offenses.
Official title: Protect Federal, State, and local public safety officers.
Introduced May 14, 2025 by Daniel Scott Sullivan · Last progress May 14, 2025
Creates two new federal crimes making it unlawful to kill (or attempt or conspire to kill) or to assault (or attempt to assault) current or former judicial officers and public safety officers in certain interstate or commerce-related circumstances or when the victim is a federally connected officer. It sets tiered mandatory prison terms (including life or death penalty for killings resulting in death), directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to adopt a five-level sentencing enhancement for "luring" facts, and adds definitions and new chapters to Title 18 of the U.S. Code. The bill defines covered victims (judicial officers, law enforcement officers, public safety officers, and federally funded public safety officers), specifies penalties by injury and weapon use for assault offenses, and creates heightened federal sentencing exposure for crimes that involve luring a covered person to be harmed. It amends Title 18 tables to add the new chapters and offenses.