Dear Mr. Chairman and Senator Durbin,
I am writing on behalf of the members of the Fraternal Order of Police to advise you of our support for S. 736, the “Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati Stopping Prison Contraband Act,” S. 825, the “Fighting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Act,” S. 1890, the “Carla Walker Act,” and S. 3897, the “Officer John Barnes and Chief Michael Ansbro Public Safety Officers’ Benefit Program Expansion Act.” We urge all members of the Committee to support these bills.
Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati, a Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Correctional Officer, was murdered in 2013 for his persistent efforts to stop the flow of contraband, including cell phones, into the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), Guaynabo, in Puerto Rico. His frequent seizures of contraband cell phones at the MDC led three inmates to conspire with five other men outside the prison walls to murder Lt. Albarati. They planned his killing using a cell phone that was smuggled into the prison.
This legislation would increase the charge of smuggling contraband cellphones into a Federal prison from a misdemeanor offense to a felony. The dangers of contraband cell phones in our Federal facilities cannot be overstated—they are, quite literally, deadly weapons and we need to do more to keep them out of Federal prisons.
Law enforcement and other public safety officers face a 25.6 times higher risk of developing acute stress disorder, PTSD, and other mental health conditions than those in other professions. Some statistics suggest that a law enforcement officer will experience more traumatic events in six months than the average person will experience in a lifetime. The FOP strongly supports S. 825, which addresses the mental stress our officers endure as a consequence of their service and the negative impact the job has on their physical, emotional, and mental health.
We need to recognize the cumulative and corrosive effects of the mental stress suffered by law enforcement and other public safety officers — which too often go unrecognized — and do everything we can to get them the help they need. The “Fighting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Act” seeks to develop programs at the Federal level that would also be accessible to State and local public safety officers, including evidence-based trauma-informed care, peer support, counseling services, and family support. This would help to expand the kinds of services and support available to officers and their families who are struggling with mental health issues.
The FOP also supports S. 1890, the “Carla Walker Act,” which would allocate Federal grant funds to support forensic genetic genealogy (FGG) DNA analysis. The use of FGG is growing across the United States, and it is having a revolutionary impact on solving these older cold cases and assisting in ongoing investigations. Its use has already solved hundreds of murder, sexual assault, and unidentified human remains cases, giving peace of mind to the families who finally know the fate of their loved one. This bill will help law enforcement close previously unsolved cases using this state-of-the-art technology.
Finally, the FOP supports S. 3897, which aims to improve the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) program to ensure that the men and women who serve our communities—and their families—receive timely and meaningful support when tragedy strikes. It serves to strengthen accountability and transparency within the PSOB Program by requiring the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to notify claimants promptly if information is missing and to issue benefit determinations within 270 days of receiving a complete claim. If that deadline is missed, interim benefits must be provided, offering critical financial stability to families during periods of uncertainty.
Additionally, expanded reporting requirements, mandatory GAO audits for claims pending more than one year, and subpoena authority for unresponsive agencies will help reduce unnecessary delays and ensure the program operates efficiently and responsibly. It further streamlines death benefit approvals for 9/11 responders and survivors who have already received verified determinations from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund or the World Trade Center Health Program, accelerating assistance to those who have already sacrificed so much. This bill ultimately makes long-overdue improvements to a program so critical to the safety and wellbeing of our officers and their families.
On behalf of the more than 382,000 members of the Fraternal Order of Police, I thank you both for your leadership and urge the Committee to favorably report these bills. If I can be of any help or provide additional information in support of these pieces of legislation, please do not hesitate to contact me or Executive Director Jim Pasco in our Washington, D.C. office.
Sincerely,
Patrick Yoes
National President