Dear Mr. Secretary,
I am writing on behalf of the members of the Fraternal Order of Police to ask for your help implementing a critical law enforcement officer safety provision that was never implemented by your predecessor.
In 2022, President Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 into law. The law included the text of H.R. 8142, the “Department of Defense Law Enforcement Credential Act,” which was developed by the FOP and introduced by Representative Donald J. Bacon (R-NE). The provision requires all civilian law enforcement officers employed by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and its component agencies to be issued an appropriate law enforcement credential.
Within 180 days of enactment, the U.S. Secretary of Defense was supposed to develop and issue a standardized identification credential for DoD civilian law enforcement and ensure that any DoD Common Access Card (CAC) issued to such an officer clearly identifies the officer as a Federal law enforcement officer. The Biden Administration did not comply with the law pertaining to the CAC and, according to what our members have been told, there is no current effort being made to develop a standardized identification credential. We are asking you to do so.
This is a critical officer safety issue for the civilian law enforcement officers who protect our military facilities, Armed Services personnel, their families and visitors to these installations. For law enforcement officers without proper credentials clearly identifying them as law enforcement, especially when carrying firearms and other police equipment on their person, puts the safety of these officers in potential jeopardy when interacting with the public or fellow officers.
On behalf of the more than 377,000 members of the Fraternal Order of Police, I ask that you implement the Department of Defense Law Enforcement Credential Act. If I can provide any additional information about this issue or its critical importance to officer safety, please do not hesitate to contact me or Executive Director Jim Pasco in our Washington, D.C. office.
Sincerely,
Patrick Yoes
National President