ICYMI: Senator Tim Scott Receives Federal Law Enforcement Foundation's National Service Award

WASHINGTON – Last week, U.S. Senator Tim Scott attended the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation’s 34th Annual Luncheon and Awards Ceremony as the keynote speaker and recipient of the organization’s National Service Award. He discussed his positive experiences with our nation’s law enforcement community, the current crime epidemic, and his partnership with law enforcement leaders on police funding and reform efforts.

On personal experience with law enforcement… “I had a tough start. Sometimes you have to thank God for a miserable beginning. In part, one of the reasons why I became a fan of law enforcement so early in life was because of some of the challenges that I’ve seen in my lifetime… For the last 42 years, I have been a raving fan of law enforcement. And it’s that perspective I had as a young man in the midst of a really bad situation, that I understood very quickly that those who are running into danger—those who are showing up at the scenes—are those people called to the mission of public safety. And I'm a fan of every single man and every single woman who wears a badge, who supports public safety.”

On increased violence and crime rates…“…At no time has resources been more important than the times in which we live—in my lifetime. When we've seen a 70% increase in violence against police officers. We've seen over 380 officers shot in the line of duty. Seventy officers ambushed; just trying to do their jobs and go home to their families. I think about two of those officers, Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera. I think about the comments of Mrs. Rivera during that painful scene, suggesting and saying very clearly that the system has failed us. Too often we see too many violent criminals back on the streets as soon as they are arrested because too many weak prosecutors continue to put the lives of the officers in jeopardy and the lives of the community in jeopardy by putting those violent criminals back on the streets of this country. That is wrong and we should do something about it.”

On bridging the gap between law enforcement and their communities… “…I get a little passionate about this because we live in a world where people want there to be a simple binary choice that does not exist. People want you to believe that you either are for law enforcement officers or you are for communities of color. That is a false binary choice. If you are for communities of color, you must be for law enforcement officers. If you are for law enforcement officers, you've got to be for communities of color. You've got to be for the communities where they serve and for the officers who serve in those communities. That's the truth. That's one of the reasons why 81% of African-Americans across this country say we want the same level of policing or more.”

Background:

Senator Scott has led several efforts in support of law enforcement officers and building bridges to the communities they serve. This year, Sen. Scott:

-Received the FSA National Legislative Champion Award from the Florida Sheriffs Association, which recognizes legislators who have made significant contributions to public safety that impact our entire nation;

-Was awarded the Major County Sheriffs of America Legislative Champion Award;

-Introduced with colleagues the Combating Violent and Dangerous Crime Act, which seeks to resolve discrepancies brought on by conflicting court decisions and clarifies congressional intent regarding crimes of violence and respective penalties;

-Introduced with colleagues the Law Enforcement De-escalation Training Act of 2022 which aims to help law enforcement respond more effectively to people suffering with mental or behavioral health crises.