Bill Pascrell: “Opponents claim, that is their claim that they have. This is against the law, plain and simple. The probation officer in…”

“Opponents claim, that is their claim that they have. This is against the law, plain and simple. The probation officer in these instances did not have the authority they needed to remedy the situation. No one wants to increase the number of arrests. That is not the purpose of the legislation. In a perfect world, everyone wants a situation to be deescalated before an arrest or a detention happens. Ideally, Federal probation officers would have the resources to visit their probe with a law enforcement officer. However, we don't live in a perfect world. Oh? These resources are not always available. Third parties sometimes intentionally interfere to prevent a Federal probation officer from performing their official duties. I urge my colleagues to support the Probation Officer Protection Act to ensure Federal probation officers are able to do their job safely and more effectively by giving them third-party arrest authority when probable cause exists.”