Safer Kentucky Initiative

On September 26 the Republican state representatives of Jefferson County announced the Safer Kentucky Act. The media event was held in the Louisville Fraternal Order of Police River City Lodge 614. Ryan Straw, Director of FOP Government Affairs, is shown.

The bill sponsors have genuine concern and understanding of the crime issues facing citizens in Louisville Metro, and the FOP welcomed their proactive leadership. The bill is not yet published since not all the language has been finalized.

The C-J reported:

… the 18-point omnibus bill … includes increased penalties for several types of violent offenders, expanded use of wiretapping by law enforcement and several different measures to protect business and property owners from shoplifting, vandalism and homeless encampments …

The ACLU called the bill a step backward on criminal justice reform. Read more.

The full media conference is below, led by Rep. Jared Bauman, D-28. Most of the bill’s co-sponsors spoke on the measures they wrote.

Louisville Public Media wrote:

The bill would expand which crimes could lead to the death penalty, including killing a police officer, deadly carjacking and fentanyl trafficking that results in a deadly overdose. It would also create a “three strikes” law that would require life without parole for people convicted of three separate violent felonies.

The Louisville Urban League issued a statement opposing Safer Kentucky, and other critics of the Second Amendment spoke against it.

Yahoo news has a lengthy article.