U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito introduces cops ‘bill of rights’

He’s calling it the Law Enforcement Bill of Rights, a direct jab at what he calls the “defund the police” movement. And as a former cop himself, U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito says his new legislation introduced on Capitol Hill last week is exactly what police departments need to move forward in a new world.

The Republican lawmaker surrounded himself with officials from the local Police Benevolent Association union at their Mineola headquarters to share details of H.R. 285, which has already attracted a dozen GOP co-sponsors — including U.S. Rep. Andrew Garbarino.

The bill, if passed, is intended to give privileges and securities to officers not offered before, D’Esposito says, such as the right to self-defense against physical threats and legal recourse if a civilian attempts to assault them. The congressman hopes other lawmakers will follow suit on the state level to create similar bills.

“It condemns calls to defund, disband, dismantle or abolish any police agency,” D’Esposito said. “It encourages dialogue between law enforcement and their communities to improve public safety, and engage all of the society’s stakeholders. And lastly, it respects the rights of police officers to carry out their duties, to protect our communities with integrity, and have essential protections during investigations.”

D’Esposito quoted a statistic from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund that found 224 law enforcement officers died in 2022. He also claimed many more are at risk of being hurt because of the “defund the police movement” in minority communities, where officers keep seeing “body bag after body bag removed.”

The most recent significant calls for police reform emerged following the death of George Floyd while being arrested by Minneapolis police officers in May 2020. One of the police officers was later found guilty of murder and manslaughter, and sentenced to more than 22 years in prison.

The number of officer fatalities in 2022 has remained slightly above levels in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s save the early 2020s, which included a large number of deaths related to Covid-19.

Thomas Shevlin, president of the Nassau County PBA, said it’s time to “get back to common sense.” He also called on politicians from both sides of the political aisle to support the bill.

Brian Sullivan, the president of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, said that for years he and other law enforcement and court officers have been sounding the alarm about the harm of bail reform, discovery reform, and the implications of the reforms endangering not only officers, but society. He said the issue shouldn’t be seen as law enforcement against liberals, and that what matters is helping the general public who is suffering because of previous litigation.

“We have a very low headcount,” Sullivan told the crowd that gathered for the news conference about the population behind bars. “What does that tell you? You see it in that the proof is in the pudding, the criminals are in the streets. We need to mobilize the base of the citizenry to support their law enforcement and realize what’s going on behind the scenes here.”

Sullivan cited the “insanity” of bail reform by offering an example he saw in the news recently where a Bronx judge, Naita Semaj, let the accused killer of a teenaged boy go free on his own recognizance without bail.

“The judge in the Bronx, because of what’s going on in this state, disregarded the cries and the pleas of not only the prosecutors,” Sullivan said, “but of the boy’s mother to hold this guy in jail.”

The bill was officially introduced April 10, and was immediately referred to the House Judiciary Committee.