Klarides, Klarides-Ditria Back Legislation to Protect Public Safety Officers

HARTFORD – State Representatives Themis Klarides and Nicole Klarides-Ditria submitted testimony on Thursday in support of legislation to make it a hate crime to intimidate or harass law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and Department of Correction employees based on their occupation.

The bill, House Bill 7146, would also allow prosecutors to pursue additional charges and enhanced penalties against criminals who intentionally target these individuals.

In their joint testimony, Reps. Klarides and Klarides-Ditria said, “We have heard the disturbing accounts in which public safety employees are targeted for no apparent reasons other than their profession. Everyday first responders selflessly put their own lives at risk to help maintain order and safety. Let’s show our heroes we stand proudly behind them by passing this legislation.”

H.B. 7146 is similar to legislation raised and passed out of committee last year with bipartisan support. The bill is being supported by the Police Officer’s Association of CT (POACT), an association of 20 Police Unions with over 2000 members state-wide.

POACT stated in written testimony, “this legislation is important for the protection of our police officers from this growing problem. It will help discourage people from targeting police officers; and will strongly punish people who do target police officers.”

The bill now awaits actions in the Public Safety and Security Committee.

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