President Obama signed legislation Tuesday establishing a “blue alert” system to warn police officers more quickly about threats to themselves and other law-enforcement officials.
With the families of two slain New York city cops at his side in the Oval Office, Mr. Obama said the Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert Act of 2015 will “help ensure the safety of our police officers when they’re in the line of duty.”
The bipartisan legislation requires the Department of Justice to establish a national Blue Alert communications network to disseminate information on the serious injury or death of a law enforcement officer in the line of duty or imminent and credible threats against law-enforcement officers.
Officers Liu and Ramos were shot to death in their patrol car in Brooklyn last December by Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley, who was believed to have been seeking revenge for the deaths of two black men last year in confrontations with police. Brinsley committed suicide on a subway platform as police closed in after he ambushed the two officers.
At the time of the deaths, some critics blamed the administration and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for ramping anti-police sentiment around the country.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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