AUGUSTA — A Maine lawmaker is introducing a proposal to allow law enforcement officers and emergency responders to wear insignia that identify them as veterans.

Democratic Sen. Erin Herbig says allowing officers to wear the insignia would recognize them for their service. She says it would also “deescalate difficult situations between law enforcement and the public when they are fellow veterans.”

Herbig says she got the idea when it was brought to her attention by members of a Veterans of Foreign Wars organization in Belfast. She says Maine law doesn’t currently allow law enforcement officers or first responders to wear such insignia.

Herbig’s proposal was the subject of a public hearing on April 10. It will face a vote from the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee before it can move forward.