An Act To Increase Penalties for the Use of Violence against Firefighters
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 17-A MRSA §752-C, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 470, §1, is amended to read:
2. As used in this section, "emergency medical care provider" includes hospital personnel assisting in an emergency and emergency medical services persons, defined in Title 32, section 83, subsection 12 , but does not include a firefighter as defined in section 752-E, subsection 2.
Sec. 2. 17-A MRSA §752-E is enacted to read:
§ 752-E. Assault on a firefighter
1. A person is guilty of assault on a firefighter if that person intentionally, knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury to a firefighter while the firefighter is providing emergency services.
2. As used in this section, "firefighter" means a municipal firefighter or volunteer firefighter as defined in Title 30-A, section 3151, subsections 2 and 4, respectively. As used in this section, "provide emergency services" has the same meaning as in Title 30-A, section 3151, subsection 1-A.
3. Assault on a firefighter is a Class C crime.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the Class C crime of assault on a firefighter and specifies that the current crime of assault on an emergency medical care provider does not apply to a firefighter.