AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: JULY 2017 3 Order your own MONTHLY subscription today. Call 1-800-234-0056 or go to www.APBweb.com American Police Beat (ISSN 1082-653X; USPS #24948), also hereafter referred to as “APB,” is published twelve times a year for $12 per year, $20 for two years or $26 for three years. APB is published by APB International, 505 8th Avenue, Ste 1004, New York, NY 10018. Periodicals Postage Paid at New York, NY and Additional Mailing Offices. Telephone: 800-234-0056. Subscriptions: info@apbweb.com. Website: www.apbweb.com. POSTMASTER: send address changes to American Police Beat, 505 8th Avenue, Ste 1004, New York, NY 10018. L et’s face it, if it bleeds it leads. That’s a way to describe what hap- pened to the media and the news over the last 100 years or so, but it’s also a useful way to understand what gets people animated to take a stand on something. Everyone knows that far more people in law enforce- ment die from car accidents than are killed by felonious assailants. Logically this would mean that “move over” laws get a lot of attention. But they don’t, and the results can be deadly as well as tragic. In Ohio, as in many other states, police say too many drivers aren’t obeying the law that says motorists must move over one lane for police officers that have stopped or made a stop on the side of the road. This isn’t rocket science. All you need to do to get people to take a law that protects police officers’ lives more seriously is by putting some teeth into the thing by increasing the fine. Dayton Police Officer Byron Branch was seri- ously wounded just last year when he was stopped on the shoulder. An inattentive driver hit his car which then slammed into Branch. “I lost my right leg. I had a fractured rib. I had a lac- eration that was probably five inches wide and three inches deep on my right hip that needed to heal. I’ve got 15 fractures . . . and my two front teeth are missing.” Currently, failure to move over is a minor misdemean- or. But there is a bi-partisan bill officers are supporting that would make it a higher level misdemeanor if the motorist’s actions result in injury or death. Saving cops is difficult According to a national poll by Mason Dixon Polling & Research, sponsored by the National Safety Commission: • 71 percent of Ameri- cans have not heard of “Move Over” laws • 86 percent support enacting “Move Over” laws in all 50 states Cadet Richard McMahan writes down a measurement as he documents an accident scene at Flatrock Regional Training Center in Commerce City, Colorado. The City of Thornton plans to hire an additional 50 police officers within the next year after the city approved a measure to expand the police department’s budget. Around $11 million was approved between 2016 and 2017 to cover the cost for the new hires. The money will go to salaries, new police cars and equipment. (Photo by Seth McConnell/The Denver Post via Getty Images)