Police officers are often those who respond to hate crimes.
Pennsylvania officials consider certain offenses as hate crimes because of what motivated the criminal act. When a crime is committed because of a victim’s real or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, or ancestry, that action is considered a hate crime in Pennsylvania.
In recent years, and throughout the summer of 2016, the alarming number of police officers shot while on duty are causing leadership to include language that an attack against police officers is a hate crime, too. Governors in Texas and Louisiana, where police officers have recently been fatally slain, have moved forward to add a layer of protection for emergency responders. Louisiana lawmakers passed a new law that will go into effect next month, which now considers it a hate crime to select a victim because of actual or perceived employment as a law enforcement officer, firefighter or emergency medical services personnel.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is highly encouraging lawmakers in his state to pass a Police Protection Act that would extend hate crime protections to law enforcement. According to Abbott’s office, the measure would increase criminal penalties for any crimes in which the victim is a law enforcement officer.
Do you think attacks on police officers should be considered a hate crime?
