A couple of episodes ago, I gave you the first part of my interview with Kelli Lowe, Ep 96: Community Advocacy in Law Enforcement. We talked about how Kelli showed up as an advocate in her local community and department after the events of Ferguson occurred. She is also a national advocate for policing and goes to Washington DC with other wives to lobby for benefits and legislation to protect our officers and blue family.

As spouses, we need to be aware of legislation on a national level that could affect our departments on a local level. Reading through political jargon to understand bills and laws can be difficult. Add in stress from a critical incident or the impact of the career and they become impossible to decipher.

In this interview, Kelli shares some of the legislation in the works and motivates us to show up as a community to make change happen.

16:11: How not to be “messy” and have paperwork in order before a critical incident.

17:37: Families of officers who have completed suicide can receive Public Safety Officers Benefits and the importance of documentation to receive the benefit.

18:46 19:54: How spouses can advocate for the protection of the law enforcement community through their state legislatures.

19:55: Several states are trying to pass a heart and lung legislation that states if an officer has a heart attack or has an issue related to their heart or lungs, it becomes an in-the-line-of-duty incident.

22:51: New laws and resources that are in the works, in particular a resource that may provide malpractice insurance for police officers.

25:06- 25:46: Future National Police Wives campaign that will address the shortages of police officers around the country and how it impacts the safety of the department.

25:46: “Whatever the national trend is, is what’s going to hit your state.”

26:31- 28:47: Pay attention to the “smoke and mirrors” of national trends. Gives an example of the COPS and Clinicians program and how the intention was great, but the officers received no training before implementation.

29:17: National trend which is the civilian review board.

30:51-33:15: Why she and her husband decided to stay in St. Louis even after experiencing situations of poor policing due to staff shortages.

33:17-34:22: Get involved to protect the community from bad policing.

34:50-35:04: Lack of recruitment due to social situations. “You can go from hero to zero depending on what day it is.”

35:30-36:11: Every state needs an Officer of Bill of Rights to advocate for things like qualified immunity and to reverse bail reform.

 39:22-43:50: Her husband’s critical incident, how it impacted him, and how it impacted her from the occurrence through the court process.

44:51: Spouses’ assumption that there’s always someone in the department that’s going to walk them through messy times should something ever happen in the line of duty and how that is not always true.

45:48-48:20: Spouses need to have access to financials. “It’s not that the officer’s things are not together. It’s your knowledge as a spouse of how to access all of the things that you are going to need to be able to access.”

49:02-51:07: Advocacy stars at home and the benefits of having a pre-made mental health circle before a crisis should occur (Compassion Alliance, Wounded Blue)

51:47-52:42: Greater advocacy on a national level where advocacy goes beyond your family, but to an entire community.

53:01- 58:00: Her TV network on Roku called Blue Line Media and its purpose to provide education and space while creating content for those that serve communities.

59:39-106:28: Importance of education and advocacy for gun safety in youth.

1:09:40: Kelly is uniquely situated to make an impact on the African American Community and education of policing.

1:10:43-1:12:49: Stay on top of resources visit nationalpolicewivesofficial.org, National Police Wives on Facebook, and Blue Line Media on Facebook

1:14:08- 1:16:5: Wrap up about legislation, getting involved as an officer and spouse, and the resources available to the community.

To get in touch with Kelli, visit National Police Wives Association on Facebook and send a direct message.