Bill seeks increased police officer pay, bolstered hiring initiatives

U.S. Reps. Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Mike Bost (R-IL) recently reintroduced legislation that would raise police officer salaries and hire more police officers.

The David Dorn Thin Blue Line Retention Act is named in honor of David Dorn, a retired St. Louis Police captain killed in June 2020 while protecting a friend’s store during civil unrest in St. Louis, Missouri. Dorn served for 38 years with the St. Louis Police Department, per officials.

“As a state and federal prosecutor, I spent countless hours with law enforcement officials who do heroic work, day-in-and-day-out, to protect and serve our communities in central and west-central Illinois,“ LaHood said. “It’s disappointing that some politicians and big-city mayors have sought to undermine the ability of our law enforcement to protect and serve their communities. I am proud to join Congressman Bost on this bill again because I see firsthand the sacrifices the men and women who button up the blue uniform make to keep Illinoisans safe. To Illinois police officers: I support you and will always have your back in Congress.”

Legislation provisions, per the measure, include authorizing $15 billion through the Department of Justice to help state and local law enforcement departments to boost their department personnel; retaining existing funding for the Mental Health and Wellness Act services at a minimum level in an effort to not negatively impact existing mental health services; providing funding for additional officer hires and officer retention for departments that need more manpower on their police forces; establishing police officer pay increases by allowing recipients to use federal funds to raise the salaries of officers up to 110 percent of the local median earnings; and excluding cities that defund their police by not allowing any department to receive money for pay raises that recently cut officer salaries.