Bill > S3274

This bill expands the crime of bias intimidation, which is committed when someone commits or threatens to commit certain offenses with the intent to intimidate individuals based on their protected characteristics, to include law enforcement officers as a protected group. This means that intimidating a law enforcement officer because of their status as an officer, or knowing that the conduct would intimidate them due to their status, will now be considered bias intimidation. The bill also clarifies that a person's mistaken belief about a victim's status as a law enforcement officer will not be a defense. The term "law enforcement officer" is defined as someone whose public duties include the power to detect, apprehend, arrest, convict, and detain offenders.