Register Today for NAPO’s Annual Lobby Day & Legislative Luncheon

Don’t miss the opportunity to join us on May 14th for our Annual Lobby Day & Legislative Luncheon on Capitol Hill. This is a great opportunity to lobby Congressional Representatives, Senators, and their staff, on behalf of your members concerning the issues which affect law enforcement officers and their families, their safety, working conditions, and retirement. Prior to lobbying Capitol Hill, plan to attend NAPO’s Legislative Breakfast for an update on NAPO’s legislative priorities, results to date from the 119th Congress, and to receive handouts to use during your Hill visits. Your participation in this event greatly assists NAPO’s lobbying and advocacy efforts.

Please Register online or complete the attached registration form and return to NAPO at aedmiston@napo.org or eloranger@napo.org by MAY 1, 2026.

If you want assistance setting up your Capitol Hill meetings, contact NAPO’s Director of Government Affairs, Andy Edmiston, no later than May 1 at aedmiston@napo.org or (703) 549-0775.

Advanced Registration is required. Please contact Elizabeth Loranger, NAPO’s Director of Events, at (800) 322-6278 or eloranger@napo.org if you have any questions regarding registration or hotel arrangements.

May 14th will be here before you know it. Register today!

House Passes FirstNet Reauthorization Bill

The House passed the First Responder Network Authority Reauthorization Act (H.R. 7386), which would reauthorize the FirstNet Authority, by voice vote on April 20, sending the bill to the Senate for consideration. FirstNet will terminate in February 2027 if Congress does not act to reauthorize this vital program.

FirstNet is a nationwide broadband network dedicated to emergency responders and the public safety community. It arose out of the experiences of first responders on September 11, 2001, who struggled to communicate with one another as they responded to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers. NAPO was instrumental in the creation of the FirstNet Authority in 2012, working with Congress to create a single nationwide network that allows all public safety agencies to communicate with one another.  

The First Responder Network Authority Reauthorization Act would reauthorize FirstNet until September 30, 2037, and maintain the Authority’s ability to provide preemption services for public safety – a priority for NAPO as it enables public safety officers on FirstNet to communicate and coordinate during emergencies, large events, or other situations where commercial networks can become congested. It will also continue to allow FirstNet to determine its own strategic priorities and budget as well as deploy emergency resources without prior approval by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

The bill does increase NTIA’s authority over the FirstNet Board, limiting its independence and increasing the administrative burdens on FirstNet, which is concerning to us. We will continue to monitor the bill as it moves to the Senate and work to ensure FirstNet maintains the authority to make decisions to protect and expand the public safety network.

NAPO Participates in FBI’s Law Enforcement Partner Engagement Council Meeting

On April 23, NAPO participated in the Law Enforcement Partner Engagement Council (LEPEC) Meeting, convened by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and headed by FBI Director Kash Patel. NAPO is one of only two rank-and-file organizations participating in the Council, with the rest of the participants being chiefs, sheriffs, and administrators.  NAPO, at the specific request of the FBI, gave a short presentation to Director Patel regarding a recent missing/endangered person case which had been languishing at the local level until NAPO brought it to the attention of the Bureau, which has now jumped in to assist.  

This meeting focused on information sharing between the FBI and state and local law enforcement, including an update on the Administration’s Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF). The HSTF is interagency law enforcement task force created by an executive order from President Trump to combat transnational criminal organizations—including cartels, trafficking networks, and foreign terrorist organizations—across all 52 U.S. states and territories. It is co-led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI.  

NAPO looks forward to participating in the next meeting of the LEPEC meeting and continuing to strengthen state and local law enforcement’s relationship with the FBI.

House Judiciary Committee Approves Monitor Accountability Act

The House Judiciary Committee approved the Monitor Accountability Act, H.R. 8365, on April 22. This bill, sponsored by Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ), would set clear rules for federal district courts to follow when appointing monitors to oversee state or local government agencies, including term limits for  monitors, capping fees that monitors can charge, and provide a pathway to narrowing or ending a monitorship.

The history of the Department of Justice’s use of consent decrees and settlement agreements within the state and local law enforcement context is checkered. In some cases, improper or concerning practices or situations have been correctly identified, addressed, and resolved, and the decree closed or otherwise set aside. In too many other cases, however, the decree process, once in place, turns into a self-perpetuating entity, with monitors overseeing what becomes, in effect, a cottage industry of oversight and shifting goalposts. The original goals of the Decree, which may have been appropriately tailored to address specific issues or shortcomings, have long since been achieved. Yet the agency and officers continue to have additional, burdensome requirements imposed upon them.  

NAPO supports the goals of the legislation, but we would like to see it amended to recognize the local rank-and-file organization as a bona fide party to any consent decree, giving them legal standing to raise any concerns about a monitor’s actions, and the ability to petition the court, the DOJ, or other authority to modify or terminate the monitorship once one or more of its goals have been met. Further, while the bill would allow the judge to modify the monitorship only in the areas where the locality has not met the standards, we would like to see the court be granted the ability to remove the more onerous conditions of the monitorship where the department can demonstrate substantial compliance.

NAPO submitted written testimony for a February 13 House Judiciary Committee hearing on the issue of federal monitors, which Congressman Biggs resubmitted for the record during the markup.

We will continue working with Congressman Biggs and the Committee to ensure that rank-and-file officers, and their representative organizations or unions, have a seat at the table, and a voice, during the consideration of instituting a pattern or practice investigation; entering into a consent decree; and the appointment of a monitor.

NAPO Files Amicus Brief in Fitzmaurice v. City of Quincy

NAPO filed an amicus, or friend-of-the-court, brief in Fitzmaurice v. City of Quincy asking the Massachusetts Supreme Court to protect the freedom of the City of Quincy, Massachusetts to honor its firefighters and police officers with Italian-made statues of Florian and Michael the Archangel.

In this case, the ACLU sued to stop the city from installing the statues on its new public safety headquarters, claiming that because the figures have religious significance to some, they could not be used to honor first responders under the Massachusetts Declaration of  Rights. The lower courts agree with the ACLU and the City of Quincy appealed its case to the state Supreme Court.

NAPO argues in our amicus brief that “Michael is a significant symbol for police officers because he embodies the highest virtues of their profession and serves as a model for those who uphold them. Quincy decided to install a statue of Michael on the facade of its public safety building for the secular purpose of boosting morale and honoring the officers who work there.” Michael the Archangel is a widely recognized emblem of the police profession, and the Court should reverse the lower court’s decision.

NAPO on the Hill: National Police Week Priorities

NAPO continues our efforts to move our legislative priorities during National Police Week, with a focus on the Senate Judiciary Committee. We met with Committee staff as well as the staff of Committee members to press the Committee to take up bills that would protect officers and improve resources for officer mental health and wellness.

We are working to assuage any concerns Committee members may have with the Officer John Barnes and Chief Michael Ansbro Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program Expansion Act and the Improving Law Enforcement Officer Safety and Wellness Through Data Act, two of NAPO’s priority bills that we are pushing the Committee to approve. The PSOB Expansion Act would make vital changes to the PSOB Program to increase transparency and accountability and ensure the Program honors and supports officers and their families who have sacrificed so much in service to their communities. The Improving Law Enforcement Officer Safety and Wellness Through Data Act, which passed the House last Police Week, would build on existing reporting requirements to increase our understanding of the circumstances precipitating and involving ambush-style attacks against law enforcement.

We are also working with the Committee to move the Fighting Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Act, which would direct the Justice Department to develop treatment programs for police, fire, emergency medical and 911 personnel who suffer from PTSD or acute stress disorders. As this bill has minimal costs and passed the Senate last Congress, we do not foresee any issues in moving this bill through Committee.

With Police Week merely two weeks away, time is of the essence to ensure NAPO’s priority bills are on the docket for Committee mark-up.  By moving these important bills, the Committee would show that the mental health and wellness of officers and their families are a priority for Congress.

Senate Committee Approves Bill to Fight Online Sales of Fentanyl

On April 14, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation approved the NAPO-backed No Fentanyl on Social Media Act, S. 3618, sending it to the full Senate for consideration. This bill would direct the Federal Trade Commission, in coordination with the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services, to report to Congress on the ability of minors to access fentanyl through social media, with recommendations on how best to address this growing threat.

Fentanyl is being mixed with already deadly illicit drugs, hidden in counterfeit drugs, and being peddled at alarmingly high rates to our youth through social media. The data that will be produced due to Targeting Online Sales of Fentanyl Act will ensure the right resources and tools are being provided to law enforcement, government entities and private sector organizations to combat and deter sales of fentanyl on social media.  With 76 percent of teen overdose deaths in 2023 linked to fentanyl, the time to act to protect our children is now. NAPO supports this important bill and thanks Representatives Vindman and Crenshaw for their advocacy and leadership.  

NAPO thanks Senators Jon Husted (R-OH) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) for their leadership and we look forward to working with them to see this bill pass the Senate.

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