Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker Takes Action To Protect Law Enforcement

In Massachusetts, GOP Governor Charlie Baker is taking action to protect law enforcement.

Governor Baker recently launched a new initiative to increase the punishment for criminals who assault police officers and ensure any criminal who does is dealt with swiftly harshly.

FOX News reports:

Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker has launched a new push to ramp up the penalty for assaulting police officers with a bill his top public safety aid is calling “foolproof.”

The bill, set to be filed Wednesday, is similar to legislation Baker introduced after the murder of Officer Ronald Tarentino last spring in Auburn. The bill never made it to a vote in the state legislature.

Under current law, assault and battery of a police officer is a misdemeanor. In cases where cops sustain “serious bodily injury,” Governor Baker wants to increase the charge to a felony with a potential 10-year jail sentence, Fox 25 reports.

The change would enforce a mandatory minimum sentence of one year with the potential for up to a decade in prison, which is a major increase in the current maximum of two-and-a-half years.

“It would only rise to the level of felony if you beat someone to the point where you broke my arm, broke my jaw,” Chelsea police Chief Bryan Kyes told the Boston Herald. “Having that currently as only a misdemeanor, the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.”