Mitch Perry
After enduring his worst week as a candidate since declaring he was running for the Senate over a year ago, Jupiter Rep. Patrick Murphy has received a nice boost in his campaign to succeed Marco Rubio in Washington, procuring the endorsement of the Florida Police Benevolent Association.
“The Florida PBA is proud to endorse Patrick Murphy because we know the he will stand with our police officers and first responders in the U.S. Senate,” said PBA President John Rivera. “Patrick is the leader that our officers need to ensure that they can continue keeping our communities safe. As the organization that advocates for Florida’s police officers, we trust Patrick Murphy to advocate for us.”
In 2014, the Florida PBA endorsed Democrat Charlie Crist for governor, but also supported the rest of the GOP-laden cabinet, backing AG Pam Bondi, CFO Jeff Atwater and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in their bids for re-election.
“I’m proud to receive the endorsement of the brave men and women at the Florida PBA,” said Murphy in a statement supplied by his campaign. “Every day, our officers put their lives on the line to protect us and they deserve our full support. In the U.S. Senate, I will stand with our police officers and first responders to make sure they have the resources necessary to keep Florida safe. Our communities and families are safer and stronger because of their hard work, and I am humbled to have them standing with me in this campaign.”
Murphy unveiled his plan to reform the criminal justice system earlier this month in Hollywood at the Florida Democratic Party’s Leadership Blue Gala. Among those proposals are legislation mandating all police officers be equipped with body cameras (through a bill called the Police CAMERA Act, which would increase funding for states and local governments). Murphy also is supporting the TRUST (the Tracking Reputations Upgrades Society Trust) Act, which would measure public trust in law enforcement via the National Crime Victimization Survey, which is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Justice Statistics. That proposed legislation (sponsored by Florida Democrat Corrine Brown) calls for areas where the level of public trust in the police force is problematically low; the U.S. attorney general would submit recommendations to improve confidence in law enforcement and address systemic problems before conflicts escalate.
Murphy is facing opponents Alan Grayson and Pam Keith in the Aug. 30 Democratic primary.
