Washington, D.C. — A U.S. Senate hearing yesterday on police safety has focused on the shooting death of an Iowa State patrolman.
Zach Anderson was a Grundy County deputy last year when Patrol Sergeant Jim Smith led a tactical team to confront a man barricaded in his Grundy Center home.
Anderson considered leaving law enforcement, but he is now a Cedar Falls police officer.
Anderson told senators more must be done to protect police and provide more counseling after attacks like the one he survived. Anderson credits his wife for encouraging him to talk.
Anderson said the man who killed Sergeant Jim Smith had a hatred of law enforcement that ramped up in the current environment, and Anderson called on senators to play a role in changing attitudes.
Senator Chuck Grassley, who invited Anderson to speak at the hearing, says there’s too much hostility toward law enforcement.
A Michigan sheriff, the president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Baltimore’s police commissioner, and a Chicago policeman who survived the shooting also testified during yesterday’s hearing.
