Kansas law enforcement officers make case for ‘Brandon’s Law’

Master Deputy Brandon Collins was conducting a traffic stop Sept. 11, 2016, when a truck slammed into his Johnson County Sheriff’s Department patrol car and engulfed it in flames.

The tragic death of Collins was drawn into the conversation Wednesday at the Capitol during a House committee’s hearing on a bill elevating prison sentences for people convicted of causing injury to employees of a law enforcement, fire protection, public works or emergency management agency.

“I am as disgusted today as the day Brandon’s killer received such a light sentence,” said Sgt. Christopher Mills, of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department. “I could write many pages of my thoughts on this issue, but I think I can simply say, I feel it is time the state of Kansas better protects those who protect us.”

Under Senate Bill 45, the penalty for involuntary manslaughter and aggravated battery of a public safety sector employee would be a higher severity felony.