Chief Herbert D. Proffitt Act of 2025

H.R. 1236, the Chief Herbert D. Proffitt Act, would amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to expand eligibility for the Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program. Currently, the program provides death and disability benefits to active law enforcement officers and their families, but retired officers are excluded. This bill would allow retired or separated law enforcement officers and their families to receive line-of-duty death and disability benefits if they are killed or permanently disabled in an incident directly related to their prior law enforcement service. The law would be retroactive to January 1, 2012, making it applicable to cases that occurred after that date. The bill is named after Chief Herbert D. Proffitt, a Kentucky police chief who was killed in 2012 by a man he had arrested years earlier. Although his death was determined to be retaliation for his police service, his family was initially denied PSOB benefits solely because he had already retired. This legislation would correct that gap and ensure similar families receive the benefits they deserve.