The National Blue Alert Bill, was brought to congress multiple time but was vetoed on several occasions. After being reintroduced into congress in March 2015, the bill was passed in the Senate in March of 2015 and passed within the House in April of 2015. On May 12, 2015 the bill was introduced to President Obama, who later then signed the bill on May 19, 2015. After multiple incidents that have led to the death of police officers specifically the murder of Officer Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, the urgency to sign the National Blue Alert Bill was amplified. The death of these officers, …show more content…
Due to recent incidents like the death of Mike Brown and Eric Garner, there have been “high tensions” amongst the law enforcement minority communities (Donnelly). Minorities often view “law enforcement with suspicion and distrust” (National Institute of Justice) as they believe they are discriminated due to their race and ethnicity by law enforcement. Cases such as that of the death of Eric Garner, have only led to an even further lack of trust and the belief that law enforcement abuses their power. Being viewed as the “bad guy” has led law enforcement officers often believe they lack appreciation from the public as well as the government which due to the fact that officers are seemingly have a negative portrayal amongst minority communities. Law Enforcement officers can not complete their job if the public has no faith in them. As a response to the the lack of trust amongst the two groups Obama decided to take action by signing the Blue Alert Bill, which eases some of this tension amongst law enforcement as this a demonstration of appreciation for law enforcement as the bill offers protection and show that their lives and their safety is a concern for the …show more content…
In order to launch the system, taxpayers will be charged approximately seven dollar, give or take (National Taxpayers Union). The public often only spends their money carelessly on items not necessary, to save seven dollars which comes out to be about fifty eight cents a month. Fifty Eight cents a month, seven dollars a year is not that much especially since it can help save and protect law enforcement officers who risk their own lives for our own. If money truly is the issue, state governments can do what the Arizona State government did in order to not purchase the Blue Alert Program which was to create their own Blue Alerts by making few adjustments to programs they already had(Gilger). Actually, the Arizona state governments “ Blue Alert” is even better than the National Blue Alert as it is able to send out messages and emails as well as alerts on social media(Gilger). All this was done without having Arizona residents spend one single penny out of their own wallets. The excuse of lack of funding to implementing the Blue Alert program is horrible excuse which can be avoid if state governments genuinely made an attempt. Ultimately, states who can not decide as to whether or not accept the program do not need to view money as the issue but simply focus on how or when they will adopt the program or