COLUMBUS, Ohio – Lawmakers have sent on to the governor a bill intended to protect law enforcement officers who may find themselves confronted by someone who might be hostile, violent or suffer from mental health issues.
The Deputy Suzanne Hopper Act is named in honor of a sheriff’s deputy killed in a 2011 shootout with a man with a history of violence toward police, Sen. Chris Widener (R–Springfield) who jointly sponsored the bill with Sen. Bill Beagle (R-Tipp City).
The Hopper Act will modify Ohio’s Law Enforcement Agencies Data System database to alert police when they encounter a violent offender who has been ordered to receive a mental health evaluation, Widener.
The bill requires a court to report certain information to local law enforcement after a person who has been ordered to be evaluated or treated for mental illness is found guilty or convicted of a violent offense.
Law enforcement is also required to be provided with information regarding the conditional release of a person found incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity who has previously been committed to a hospital or treatment facility.
Hopper was killed on New Year’s Day, 2011, during a shootout in an Enon trailer court with a man she confronted without knowing his history.
When police were called to the trailer park after shots were fired, Hopper was first on the scene and was gunned down by the man with a history of violence toward police.