The Center Square: Georgia's Kemp signs into law seven law enforcement-related bills
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed seven bills he says will support law enforcement officers throughout Georgia and toughen penalties for criminals.
"Every single criminal in Georgia is on notice; they will find nothing but trouble and punishment in our state," Kemp said during remarks before signing House bills 1134,1188, 1216 and 1441 and Senate bills 84, 358 and 479.
HB 1134 paves the way for a gang prosecution unit within the state attorney general’s office, while HB 1216 increases penalties for drivers fleeing police. HB 1188 allows prosecutors to charge each act of child molestation as a separate offense.
WTOC 11: Gov. Kemp signs law that allows AG, local prosecutors to work together on gang cases
Whenever there’s gang-related crime, it’s up to the individual judicial circuits to prosecute. This new law allows the Attorney General’s Office and their team to join the fight in the courtroom.
This week, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed House Bill 1134 into law, saying it’ll enable Attorney General Chris Carr and a team of prosecutors in a new Gang Prosecution Unit to join local prosecutors when working to remove criminals from the streets.
“Gangs don’t care about the county borders, they do whatever they want. So if you think about a criminal street gang here in the Coastal Empire, you might have a gang that’s working in Bryan County, Effingham County and Chatham County…and they’re all neighbors of each other…those are three different judicial circuits,” said Brad Thompson, lead ADA with the Eastern Judicial Circuit.
With this new law, Thompson says the AG’s Office could now handle prosecution that would cover all three counties.
11 Alive: Gov. Kemp signs new bills to crack down on crime in Georgia
One of the new laws, House Bill 1134, received overwhelming support from both the house and senate, and will allow state law enforcement officers to have more authority in helping local jurisdictions combat gang activity.
National policing expert Dr. Cedric Alexander, who used to oversee Dekalb County's Police Department, said state level support is vital to truly ridding communities of gang activity.
“It’s a win for the community in the fact that it goes after these gang members and their associations, and it’s a win for local law enforcement and DA offices that are very much overwhelmed in cities like Atlanta and across the country," he said.
Capitol Beat: Kemp signs public safety package
Among the bills Kemp signed was legislation giving Georgia’s attorney general the authority to prosecute gang activity along with local prosecutors.
The governor also signed bills allowing suspected child molesters to be charged separately for each image of child pornography or incident of child molestation and allowing separate charges for each illegal firearm seized from a suspect.
Another part of the package Kemp signed Monday increases penalties for fleeing or eluding law enforcement. And he signed a workforce development measure providing tuition reimbursement to former service members who enroll in training to become a law enforcement officer.
“We will use every resource at our disposal to rid our communities of crime and keep Georgia families safe,” Kemp said.
Original source found here.
