In an effort to recruit and retain more law enforcement officers to Nebraska, Congressman Mike Flood has launched the “Nebraska Backs the Blue initiative. During a Tuesday afternoon news conference in downtown Lincoln Flood was joined by several rural and metro area law enforcement represenatives from across the state.
Flood highlighted the mounting challenge of recruiting law enforcement officers in the state and says Nebraska has taken steps to address the problem. “Nebraska is the only state in the nation that pays the full tuition of law enforcement officers and their dependents in any state college, university or community college.”
Flood praised lawmakers for passing the bill sponsored by Lincoln Senator Elliot Bostar. Flood says his new initiative helps spotlight Nebraska as a destination to work in law enforcement. Over the course of the next couple of months Flood will be meeting with law enforcement officials to iron out specific ways they can recruit and retain officers.
During the event, Rep. Flood announced that he had added a page on his congressional website featuring resources for law enforcement officers across the country that are interested in Nebraska. The page can be found by clicking here.
In 2022, before he entered Congress, Rep. Flood was the proud cosponsor of the Law Enforcement Attraction and Retention Act in the Nebraska Legislature. This bill provided a variety of cash incentives for individual officers to help law enforcement agencies retain their workforce. It received nearly unanimous approval from the body.
In the 2023, State Senator Eliot Bostar offered and passed the First Responder Recruitment and Retention Law, which allows for sworn officers and their dependents to receive a 100% tuition waiver at any state university, college, or community college that is good for five years.
Nebraska has also continually maintained the policy of qualified immunity for law enforcement officials, while many other states such as Colorado, Connecticut, New Mexico, and New York have done away with the policy.