A new bill being worked on by Pennsylvania State Senator Lisa Boscola will make it illegal to publicly disclose the home addresses of military personnel and police officers.
“Police and military personnel put their lives on the line for all of us every day. These officers, their spouses and children have every right to feel safe and secure in their own neighborhood and in their own home,” said Boscola, D-Bethlehem Township. “My bill makes it clear that no one has the right to target an officer where they live.”
According to Times Leader, recent incidents with state police commissioner Marcus Brown sparked her desire for the bill. A target in his own neighborhood, Brown was victimized by being “secretly video-taped, subjected to critical signage near his children’s bus stop and received a racist note in his mailbox.”
Boscola also notes it is important to protect military residences, citing ISIS and their recently published “kill list” that had the names and addresses to several United States soldiers as evidence. Under the bill, it would be a third-degree misdemeanor to “disseminate the address, give directions, or share photographs or video of the residence of a police officer or member of the military without a “legitimate purpose” or the police officer’s or military member’s consent.” It will also include disseminating the information electronically and via social media sites.
Boscola noted that government agencies are not allowed to disclose the home addresses for law enforcement under the state’s right to know law, but it is not illegal to “intentionally distribute to any other person or the public at large the address, street or neighborhood of law enforcement personnel.”
Boscola hopes that her bill will lead the way in helping to protect military personnel and police officers from potential violence and harassment.
US Navy Kicks Off Naval Engagement Activities with Vietnam
Army accepts 100th Apache ‘Echo’ model