Police Officer Protection Would you risk your life for a million dollars? A police officer or deputy does it for much less! Those words were displayed on a huge billboard along a street in Maryland. Law enforcement officers (LEOs) across the United States do this on a daily basis. However, in the State of Maryland, the penalties for attacking a police dog are more severe than those for attacking a police dog handler (Abruzzese, 2005). In Maryland, assaulting LEOs is considered the equivalent of a citizen assaulting another citizen. An assault that does not result in serious injury or the use of a weapon is classified as a misdemeanor, which is a second-degree assault. A second-degree assault carries a lesser penalty than a felonious assault, which is a first-degree assault. According to the Anne Arundel County Fraternal Order of Police website, approximately 34 states, including all of Maryland's neighboring states, have laws that make it a crime to assault a law enforcement officer (http://www. aacofop70.org). Those laws have reduced the number of assaults against officers working in those states. Increasing the penalties for assaulting Maryland law enforcement officers on duty will eliminate embarrassing quirks of current laws, reduce the number of attacks on police, and restore the respect officers deserve. Supporters argue that police officers are responsible for maintaining order and peace within a society, act as protectors of the weak and defenseless, and do so at the risk of harm or even loss of life. Additionally, advocates argue that in the performance of an officer's job it is necessary to make physical contact with subjects to effect arrest of violators, which increases the likelihood of a physical confrontation and increases the chance that the officer will be assaulted . Most likely, police officers choose their profession out of a desire to help others, to protect members of society who cannot protect themselves, and to stop those who break the law. Police officers are unlikely to become police officers thinking that being assaulted is a requirement or criterion of their profession. Furthermore, it is evident that police officers realize and readily accept the fact that they may be put in danger and risk serious injury or even death to protect people they don't even know. You may be wondering how increasing penalties for violating the law will protect law enforcement officers.