Source: National Association of Police Organizations.
The Washington Report: The Newsletter of the National Association of Police Organizations
December 19, 2025
Nominate a TOP COP Today!
Don’t let your TOP COPS nominations get lost in the holiday shuffle! The January 9th deadline for nominations is just 3 weeks away.
With only weeks left, please take the time to nominate examples of outstanding police work for this prestigious award. We count on you, our members, to help us get the word about TOP COPS out and obtain nominations for officers nationwide. Join us in honoring America’s Finest by nominating a case today. The nomination form is attached and can be found on our website, and it must be postmarked or faxed to (703) 684-0515 by January 9, 2026. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact NAPO’s Director of Events, Elizabeth Loranger, at eloranger@napo.org or (703) 549–0775.
2026 will mark the 33rd year that NAPO has hosted the TOP COPS Awards®. The TOP COP Awards® Dinner will take place May 12, 2026, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, again coinciding with National Police Week. With your help and partnership, the TOP COPS Awards® will continue to be a tremendous success!
NDAA, Including NAPO Priorities, Signed into Law
Before adjourning for the two-week holiday recess, Congress passed and the President signed into law the Fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which incorporated much of NAPO’s priority legislation that we have been working to include: the Honoring our Fallen Heroes Act, the Improving Police CARE Act, the PROTECT Our Children Reauthorization Act, the Chief Herbert D. Proffitt Act, and comprehensive counter-UAS authorities for state and local law enforcement and corrections.
The Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act, recognizes exposure-related cancers as line of duty injuries and would cover them under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program for death and disability benefits.
The Improving Police Critical Aid for Responding to Emergencies (CARE) Act establishes baseline standards for trauma kits purchased using grant funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) and requires the development of best practices for training law enforcement officers to use trauma kits, and for deployment and maintenance of the kits in vehicles and government
facilities.
The PROTECT Our Children Reauthorization Act reauthorizes and improves the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program to combat child exploitation and abuse. The Chief Herbert D. Proffitt Act covers retired law enforcement officers who are killed or permanently
and catastrophically disabled due to their previous work in the line of duty under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program.
It also includes comprehensive counter-UAS authority for state and local law enforcement and corrections, giving state and local agencies the authority to detect, track, identify, and mitigate drones that threaten public safety. Under the NDAA, agencies will be allowed to detect and track a drone, identify who is operating it, and disrupt, or bring it down if it poses a credible threat. These authorities are allowed when drones threaten large public events or venues, critical infrastructure, public spaces, or prisons, jails, and detention centers. It also includes provisions to allow Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) and Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant funding to be used by state and local law enforcement
agencies to purchase drones and authorized counter-UAS systems.
NAPO thanks the sponsors of these bills – Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Representatives Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), Andy Barr (R-KY) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) – for their support and efforts to help us get them included in the FY26 NDAA.
President Trump Declares Fentanyl a Weapon of Mass Destruction
On December 15, President Trump signed an executive order designating fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction. The Order directs an Administration-wide approach to fighting the scourge of fentanyl in our country, with a focus on cartels and foreign criminal organizations and networks, including ordering the Attorney General to pursue criminal charges, sentencing enhancements, and sentencing adjustments in
fentanyl trafficking cases. It also directs the Secretaries of State and Treasury pursue appropriate actions against relevant assets and financial institutions for those involved in or supporting the manufacture, distribution, and sale of illicit fentanyl and its fundamental precursor chemicals.
Fentanyl is now the drug most associated with overdoses in the United States. It is being mixed with already deadly illicit drugs and hidden in counterfeit drugs with deadly results. 5 out of 10 counterfeit prescription drugs seized by law enforcement in 2024 were laced with a deadly dose of fentanyl. The amount of fentanyl the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized in 2024 – nearly 8,000 pounds of fentanyl – represents
over 367 million deadly doses.
Law enforcement officers are out in our communities fighting the spread of fentanyl. They are responding to fentanyl overdoses and deaths, trying to save lives and take fentanyl off our streets. We welcome the additional federal resources and support provided by this executive order, which will help deter the spread of fentanyl across our borders and in our communities.
