Law enforcement agents are throwing their support behind State Rep. Oscar Denton’s bill

Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong, who is the central vice president of the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police, said the organization is lending its support to Denton’s bill that extends a ban on texting while driving to all licensed drivers.

“It’s going to be a gambit of distracted driving, but it will include texting,” Armstrong said.

The measure has also gained support from the Head Trauma Prevention Association, Armstrong said.

Currently, state law bans sending messages on a cellphone only for novice drivers, such as those with a learner’s permit. Denton’s bill is now before the House Transportation Committee.

The police chief’s association also plans a push for legislation seeking funding to help departments purchase body armor, Armstrong said. Under a federal program, agencies can have the Department of Justice foot 50 percent of the bill if they pay the other half. The police group is suggesting the payment be shifted to the state rather than local agencies, Armstrong said.

“Some of the smaller departments, it doesn’t matter that it’s a 50-50 match. They don’t have the money,” he said. “In a lot of areas in the state, they just don’t have the money to do it.”

The chief’s association is also pushing legislation to allow the fallen officer’s next of kin to be able to receive their service weapon.

“Currently it mentions spouse, but some of these guys aren’t married. This would let next of kin to be in line as long as the officer was eligible for retirement at the time of death,” Armstrong said.

The Mississippi Sheriffs’ Association’s wish list for legislators often follows in line with the chief’s association. But this year, one of the biggest pushes followed an initiative sponsored by the Mississippi Prosecutor’s Association, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said.

“The sheriff’s association is supporting action by the district attorneys to present several bills that will cleanup some of the language in House Bill 585,” Pace said. “It was a sweeping change to several areas of the criminal justice system that took place in July.”

In several areas of the bill, sentencing guidelines were unclear or left out all together, Pace said. Unclear sentencing guidelines can back up county jails as offenders are waiting to be transported to state prisons.

“The district attorneys are taking the lead on this and the sheriff’s are supporting some of the legislation that will correct these oversights,” Pace said.