A petition calling on members of Parliament to reject the Protection for First Responders and Prison Officers Bill is gaining momentum.

The Bill in questions seeks to provide a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 6months for anyone that injures a First Responder. The petition – though lauding the intention behind the bill – is concerned that the Bill will not achieve its stated outcome. Those affected by the bill will primarily be people experiencing high levels of mental distress, suffering from trauma, mental illness and addiction. It is also well known that harsh penalties are largely unsuccessful in working as a deterrent to violent crime, and thus this Bill’s only success will be to increase our prison population, while failing to make our First Responders and Prison Officers any safer.

The petition states that if the “Government is serious about keeping First Responders and Prison Officers safe, then they must commit themselves to improving the conditions in which they work”. The petition calls on the Government to refocus its effort on addressing the issues that lie at the root of this violence, and states that a “serious commitment to our First Responders safety would address the impacts of colonization and generational trauma, would look at dealing with poverty, increasing support for our under resourced mental health and addiction services, and would fast track the reform of our current Justice system in order to ensure that it heals victims, and restores those who perpetrate crime back to healing and wholeness”.

We all want our First Responders and Prison Officers to be able to carry out their mahi as safely as possible, however the petition claims that the solution provided by the First Responders Bill is no solution, and will only do more harm in the long run.

To support this petition you can sign the petition here.

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