Posted: | May 31, 2017 10:44 AM |
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From: | Representative Christopher M. Rabb |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Police and Community Safety Act |
In the near future I will be re-introducing legislation to ensure the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania allows law enforcement officers to do their jobs without federal interference. The specific additions are as follows:
We oppose the forfeiture of local control of police forces across Pennsylvania. Therefore, this legislation seeks to ensure effective policing, to protect the safety and well-being of Pennsylvanians, to uphold the 4th Amendment and honor law enforcement officers’ oath to protect and serve the families and neighborhoods that rely of them across our commonwealth. This bill seeks to direct the state’s limited resources to matters of greatest concern to local communities: protecting the public from violent offenders. Research has shown that working with federal immigration enforcement made it harder for local police agencies to investigate crimes because witnesses and victims who were in the country with no or expired documentation would be less likely to come forward if they thought they risked being detained, deported and separated from their families, many of whom have children who are U.S. citizens. Moreover, the legal and financial burdens are too great to bear for already cash-strapped police agencies when local law enforcement officers erroneously detain U.S. citizens at the request of the federal government. |
Introduced as HB1604