Q&A: National Police Week

Q: What is National Police Week?

A: More than six decades ago, Congress passed a joint resolution to establish National Police Week to honor the men and women who answer the call to serve and protect the public. When these brave heroes put on the badge, they put their own lives at risk to keep our streets safe and secure so that Americans can go about daily life in peace and prosperity. During this designated week in May, we pay special tribute to the service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers and their families, especially fallen heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, leaving loved ones behind. At the National Peace Officers’ Memorial service on May 15 in Washington, D.C., the Roll Call of Heroes included the names of hundreds of law enforcement officers whose end of watch was in 2022, including four Iowa police officers: John Grampovnik, Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office; John Williams, Coralville Police Department; Austin “Melvin” Richardson, Fremont County Sheriff’s Office; and, Michael German, Prairie City Police Department. The 35^th annual candlelight vigil was celebrated on the National Mall where the names of more than 23,000 fallen officers representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories are inscribed at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. Honoring the fallen each year during Police Week helps ensure the stories and sacrifices of our law enforcement officers are not lost to history and their legacy is preserved for generations to come. I encourage Iowans who visit the nation’s capital to add the memorial to their itinerary. It is located on federal park land in an area called Judiciary Square, featuring “pathways of remembrance” where the names of fallen officers are engraved on limestone walls. The memorial bears witness to the courage and valor of law enforcement officers who go to work each day to serve and protect, with the knowledge they are on the front lines of danger in service to their local communities.

Q: How are you working to support law enforcement?

A: As a former chairman and now a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I make no bones about my support for rank-and-file law enforcement officers who serve with integrity to enforce and uphold the rule of law. Simply put, I Back the Blue. The radical Left agenda to Defund the Police poisoned the waters of public safety in America, inflicting tremendous damage to morale among the men and women in blue, creating challenges for local police departments to recruit and retain law enforcement officers to their ranks. In this Congress, I’ve reintroduced bipartisan legislation called Invest to Protect Act. It would set aside $250 million to help local police invest in training, mental health support, recruitment and retention. Iowans depend on law enforcement to keep our Main Streets a thriving, safe place to do business. In March the Senate passed my bipartisan bill called the  Fighting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Actof 2023 that would establish mental health services for America’s first responders in communities of all sizes. Many frontline heroes experience a long-term emotional and mental toll from providing life-saving services in moments of crisis.In April I convened a public roundtable in Cedar Rapids to collaborate with local, state and federal officials to combat the dangerous spike in organized retail crime that’s linked to money laundering and Mexican drug cartels. In Iowa, organized retail crime accounted for an estimated $1.4 billion in business losses and $68 million in lost tax revenue in 2021. That same year, 470 Iowans were lost to drug overdose, with the vast majority involving fentanyl. Chaos and crime along our southern border impact communities here in Iowa. Local police departments are called upon to respond to illegal activities that human tracking and drug trafficking bring to the communities they serve and protect. I’ve also reintroduced the bipartisan Project Safe Neighborhoods Grant Program Authorization Act to strengthen coordination between law enforcement and community partners to reduce violent crime in America.Most recently, I co-sponsored a bipartisan bill called the Gang Activity Reporting Act that would require the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to resume regular reporting on criminal gang trends across the country and track gang membership so law enforcement has better tools and information to stop criminal violence.

During Police Week and every other week of the year, I’ll keep working to secure the border, stop efforts to defund the police and push back on anti-police rhetoric that undermines confidence in law enforcement and gives free rein to crime sprees and lawlessness that put American citizens in harm’s way. As one of 78 co-sponsors of a bipartisan Senate resolution celebrating National Police Week, I am proud to Back the Blue and honor members of the law enforcement community for their heroism and around-the-clock service to keep our communities safe. 

National Police Week is celebrated May 14-May 20, 2023.