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Police deserve protection

The state Legislature is notorious for dragging its feet on issues, regardless of its importance.

But in coming days, lawmakers should attach urgency to state Rep. Frank Burns’ proposal to add to the list of hate crimes incidents in which police are targeted.

Last week’s tragedy in Dallas, in which five police officers died in a sniper attack while working at a Black Lives Matter protest, shouldn’t have had to be the driving force for what Burns, a Johnstown Democrat, currently is proposing.

Rather, what Burns now seeks to accomplish here under the moniker Blue Lives Matter should have been initiated even before the September 2014 attack in which one Pennsylvania state trooper was killed and another wounded seriously in an ambush outside a state police barracks in Pike County.

Eric Matthew Frein, now 33, is awaiting trial in connection with that horrific incident.

The Dallas killings are a message to all states that they need to toughen penalties for those who attack police while they’re performing their duties. Beyond that, states should examine the appropriateness of their penalties for crimes such as resisting arrest and fleeing or eluding police, in which not only the lives of police are put in danger, but also the lives of innocent members of the public.

At a time when the public is demanding that police be held to a higher standard, it’s also important that those who harbor a hatred for police or who otherwise would have no qualms about attacking a law enforcement officer, even in such minor situations as routine traffic stops, know that in the Keystone State such an action will bring lengthy prison time.

Unfortunately, it’s a fact that police always will be a target when they’re in uniform; even seemingly insignificant occurrences oftentimes endanger police or other emergency responders.

In considering Burns’ legislation, the General Assembly also should examine penalties for crimes against firefighters or emergency medical personnel who are in the process of doing their jobs. Make them a protected class, also.

Burns acknowledges the prospect of concerns about his bill. In some other states, activists and rights campaigners have questioned the need for such laws or have called such proposals attempts to distract from the Black Lives Matter movement.

Burns rightly stressed the importance of holding police to a high standard in their job performance – that they have to constantly be striving to earn the public’s respect.

But respect is the proverbial two-way street, and the public won’t be served adequately if police are afraid to do their jobs, or if capable, exceptional men and women shun the profession because laws don’t accord police service the protected status that it deserves.

Burns’ proposed legislation shouldn’t become tied up in political partisanship, the fate of so many other issues in Harrisburg. The foundation for what Burns seeks is solid.

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