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Crossville firefighter assaulted on call urges expanding Back the Blue law to cover all first responders
Summary
A Crossville advanced EMT who was struck during an emergency call urged council and staff to seek state legislation that would make assaults on all bona fide first responders subject to the same penalties as assaults on law enforcement. Councilor Fox and staff said they will pursue draft legislation.
A Crossville firefighter and advanced EMT who said she was struck while responding to a medical call urged city leaders to push for state legislation to extend higher penalties in the "Back the Blue" law to cover all bona fide first responders.
Councilor Fox introduced the item and said a recent incident involving a Crossville firefighter revealed that House Bill 1881 (commonly called the Back the Blue law) applies the highest penalties to assaults on law enforcement but treats assaults on other first responders differently.
Jay Callister, introduced by council, addressed the council and described the incident. "I was involved in this assault...Responded to a medical call and intentionally, this individual had struck me across the face," Callister said. She said the individual received a short jail stay and probation under current law and that the statutory penalty for assaulting a non-law-enforcement first responder is a lesser misdemeanor than the class E felony that applies to law enforcement.
"Our only protection in these incidents is we can evacuate the structure or situation...We don't have pistols. We don't have any other means of protecting ourself with exception of getting in a fight, which obviously is not what we wanna do," Callister said. She urged elected officials to seek a statutory change that would make penalties for assaults on first responders match those for assaults on law enforcement. "I'm not willing to see that happen to my brother or sisters," she said.
Councilor Fox said the city attorney agreed to help draft legislation and that staff would prepare a proposed bill package to submit in the next legislative cycle. Fox said the draft would be shared with the Tennessee Fire Chiefs Association to build statewide support and with local legislative leaders; staff said the council would aim to have a bill ready for submission by the next bill-filing deadlines, with local legislative outreach to follow.
Ending: Council directed staff and the city attorney to work on proposed language; no formal city-level ordinance was passed at the session.
