Protecting Those Who Protect Us

Protecting Those Who Protect Us

Essentials of College English вЂ" COMM 215

March 2, 2005

Protecting Those Who Protect Us

Would you risk your life for a million bucks? A police officer or deputy does it for a lot less! Those words were displayed on a huge billboard sign located along a Maryland roadway. Law enforcement officers (LEOs) all across the United States do this on a daily basis. However, in the State of Maryland, the penalties for assaulting a police dog are tougher than for assaulting a police dog’s handler (Abruzzese, 2005). In Maryland, assaulting LEOs is considered the equivalent to a citizen assaulting another citizen. An assault not involving serious injury or the use of a weapon is classified as a misdemeanor, which is a second-degree assault. A second-degree assault carries a lesser penalty than a felony assault, which is a first-degree assault. According to the Anne Arundel County Fraternal Order of Police Web site, approximately 34 States, including all of Maryland’s neighboring States, have laws that make it a felony to assault a law enforcement officer (http://www.aacofop70.org). Those laws have reduced the number of assaults on officers working in those states. Increasing the penalties for assaulting Maryland law enforcement officers in the line of duty will erase the embarrassing quirk in the current laws, reduce the number of attacks on police, and return the respect that officers deserve.

Proponents argue that police officers are responsible for maintaining order and peace within a society, act as protectors of the weak and defenseless, and do so at the risk of injury to themselves or even the loss of their own life. In addition, proponents argue that in the execution of an officer’s job it is necessary to come into physical contact with subjects to effect an arrest of violators, which increases the odds of a physical confrontation and raises the chances of the officer’s being assaulted. More than likely, police officers choose their profession because of their desire to help others, to protect members of society who cannot protect themselves, and to stop those who violate the law. It is unlikely that police officers become police thinking that being assaulted is a requirement or criteria of their profession. Moreover, it is apparent that police officers realize and readily accept the fact that they may be put in harm’s way, and may risk serious injury or even death to protect people they do not even know.

One may ask how increasing the penalties for attacking law enforcement officers will protect them. By looking at the statistics of Maryland’s neighboring states, one would conclude that implementing such a law would indeed reduce the number of assaults on police. All of Maryland’s surrounding states have a lower number of assaults because of the laws in place making it a felony to assault a police officer in the line of duty. By not having this law in place, Maryland encourages the assaults on police officers because the offenders have far less to fear where punishment is concerned. Therefore, it is imperative that Maryland lawmakers increase the penalties for assaulting Maryland police officers to reduce the alarming number of attacks.

According to a national statistics maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), “an average of 12.7 out of every 100 law enforcement officers were assaulted in the line of duty in 2000. In Maryland, 29.1 out of every 100 officers were assaulted, almost two and half times the national rate” (http://www.aacofop70.org). On average, there are approximately “3,554” assaults on Maryland police officers yearly (http://www.fbi.gov). In addition, FBI statistics show that Maryland ranks fourth in the nation for unprovoked assaults on police officers but ranks 19th in the nation in population (http://www.newsline.umd.edu). Clearly, these statistics reveal a serious problem in the State of Maryland. There is an apparent lack of respect for law enforcement not only by the criminal element, but also by its legislature. Fortunately, a bill, House Bill 2, is currently in the legislation for the General Assembly, making attacks on a police officer a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $5,000 fine. This same bill died last year just as it had several times in previous legislative sessions. However, in 2001, Maryland lawmakers felt it necessary to make assaulting a police dog a felony but not their handler. If Maryland lawmakers increase or boost the penalties for assaulting law enforcement officers, it will demonstrate to the police community that they too are valued.

It may seem odd to some that increasing penalties for assaulting a police officer is even an issue. Some individuals may already believe that there is a stiffer penalty or even a specific criminal charge for assaulting police officers. However, others believe that it is absurd even to consider such a thing because they believe that being assaulted, as a police officer, is “just a part of the job,” which officers choose to take on (http://forum.objectivismonline.net). Opponents to increasing the penalties also have expressed that they believe that an officer’s status