Governor Bill Haslam has signed a bill into law that will force people to face stiffer penalties for committing a violent offense against a police officer.
The measure, which passed unanimously in both the House and Senate, was set to apply to any uniformed law enforcement officer, as well as those in the military or national guard, targeted simply because of their status as members of a police or armed service agency.
The law has created a new sentence enhancement for the targeting of officers.
The main sponsors of the legislation were Representative John DeBerry, a Democrat from Memphis, and Senator Paul Bailey, a Republican from Sparta.
