Staff Reports
U.S. Rep. John Rutherford, a Jacksonville Republican representing Florida’s 4th Congressional District, won the 2018 Security Industry Association (SIA) Legislator of the Year award recently.
Rutherford was honored for sponsoring H.R. 4909, the STOP School Violence Act of 2018, signed into law in March as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018.
“I am honored to receive the SIA Legislator of the Year Award. It is important that we work together to equip our schools with the latest technology and train our students, teachers and administrators on how to identify signs of violence, so that we prevent violent acts before they happen,” said Rutherford.
“I am thankful for the hard work of groups like SIA and Sandy Hook Promise who worked side-by-side with us to make this bill a reality. As a 41-year veteran of law enforcement and sheriff of Jacksonville for 12 years, I know firsthand that school security requires a multi-layered approach. That is why I was proud to introduce the STOP School Violence Act, to prevent more tragedies like we have witnessed in Parkland, Florida, and across the country,” added Rutherford.
“As I used to say during my time in law enforcement, I don’t want to be the best first responder to a mass-casualty event; I want to prevent that horrible act before it ever occurs. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in Congress to give our states, localities, and tribes the resources and training they need to stop violent events before they occur and keep our schools and our communities safe,” Rutherford concluded.
