SLS 202ES-904 ORIGINAL
2020 Second Extraordinary Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 54
BY SENATORS CARTER, BARROW, BOUDREAUX, BOUIE, FIELDS, HARRIS,
HENSGENS, JACKSON, JOHNS, LUNEAU, FRED MILLS, ROBERT
MILLS, PRICE, SMITH, TARVER AND WARD
LAW ENFORCEMENT. Expresses wholehearted support for law enforcement and police
departments and rejects any notion to defund law enforcement or police departments in
Louisiana.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To express wholehearted support for law enforcement and police departments and reject any
3 notion to defund law enforcement or police departments in Louisiana.
4 WHEREAS, Louisiana's law enforcement officers protect citizens from criminals
5 who seek to perpetrate violence and harm innocent lives regardless of the political
6 circumstances of the day; and
7 WHEREAS, Louisiana's law enforcement community also seeks to assist the
8 communities they serve through a variety of nontraditional means, including nonarrest
9 pathways that connect individuals with treatment and recovery programs to overcome
10 addiction, and juvenile diversion programs to prevent minors from entering the criminal
11 justice system; and
12 WHEREAS, supporting law enforcement officers with the equipment, training, and
13 funding necessary to serve our communities and keep our streets safe has long been a
14 bipartisan issue; and
15 WHEREAS, Louisiana's law enforcement officers willingly face dangerous
16 circumstances and the threat of serious bodily injury or death on a daily basis to ensure the
17 safety of all Louisiana citizens; and
18 WHEREAS, the National Law Enforcement Memorial and Museum reports that as
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SLS 202ES-904 ORIGINAL
1 of December 31, 2019, 1,627 of the nation's law enforcement officers had died in the line
2 of duty during the past decade, a rate of one law enforcement death every fifty-four hours;
3 and
4 WHEREAS, the National Law Enforcement Memorial and Museum's 2020 Mid-Year
5 Law Enforcement Officers Fatalities Report detailed that sixty-five law enforcement officers
6 have been killed in the line of duty this year, including twenty-seven officers who were
7 killed in firearms-related incidents; and
8 WHEREAS, some politicians and interest groups have urged governmental bodies
9 across the Nation to defund law enforcement agencies; and
10 WHEREAS, defunding or otherwise handcuffing law enforcement officers will make
11 officers less likely to intervene in dangerous situations and will result in law enforcement
12 pulling back from the neighborhoods they are entrusted to protect; and
13 WHEREAS, violent crime increases when law enforcement is forced to withdraw
14 from neighborhoods; and
15 WHEREAS, efforts to defund police departments will cause irreparable and lasting
16 damage.
17 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
18 does hereby express wholehearted support for law enforcement and police departments and
19 reject any notion to defund law enforcement or police departments in Louisiana.
20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
21 hereby offers sincere thanks and appreciation to Louisiana's law enforcement officers and
22 police departments who protect and serve our communities and recognizes the great sacrifice
23 our law enforcement officers and police departments make to keep our communities safe.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Jerry J. Guillot.
DIGEST
SR 54 Original 2020 Second Extraordinary Session Carter
Expresses wholehearted support for law enforcement and police departments and reject any
notion to defund law enforcement or police departments in Louisiana.
Offers sincere thanks and appreciation to Louisiana's law enforcement officers and police
departments who protect and serve our communities and recognizes the great sacrifice our
law enforcement officers and police departments make to keep our communities safe.
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