Republican State Senator Jim Merritt of Indianapolis says he will introduce legislation next session to enhance penalties for those who would harm police officers, on or off duty, as well as their families.
Citing recent events in the news, Merritt said police and public safety officials should not be targets for criminals.
Merritt did not say exactly how the penalties would be enhanced, but that he would work with his fellow Senators and the law enforcement community to craft the necessary legislation.
He did say that one key element of the bill would have to be that an individual who attacks an off-duty officer would have to know that person was a member of law enforcement for the enhanced penalties to kick in.
You can hear Merritt, along with other officials in the Leon-Tailored Audio above. The first segment is 20 minutes. The Q & A segment with the media is about 15 minutes.
