An emergency medical technician, J. Callister, with Crossville Fire Department came forward to the city council to ask them to petition Senator Paul Bailey and Speaker Cameron Sexton to make an amendment to the “back the blue” act.

House Bill 1881/Senate Bill 2062 increases the penalty for assault against a law enforcement officer from a Class A misdemeanor with a mandatory minimum 30-day sentence and $5,000 fine to a Class E felony with a mandatory minimum 60-day sentence and $10,000 fine.

J. Callister approached the city council with the hope of possibly expanding the bill to include all First responders such as firefighters and emergency medical staff.

Callister spoke of an incident wherein she had responded to a call, and the person she was responding to struck her in the face. She was not harmed significantly, but the individual who struck her had to be restrained.

Calisper outlined some specific issues with the bill as it stands regarding those who assault First responders, being that they can play down, which leads to a lesser charge. She claims that the individual who struck her got put on probation and 3 days of jail. Something she claims was a “slap on the wrist”.

She said that the First responders only method of protection in instances such as this is to evacuate or get into a fight as First responders don’t have pistols or any other means of protecting themselves.