Invest to Protect Act of 2023
This bill directs the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services within the Department of Justice to award grants to local and tribal governments that employ fewer than 200 law enforcement officers. Grant funds may be used for various activities, including to provide de-escalation training and improve recruitment and retention.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3184 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3184
To establish a grant program to provide assistance to local law
enforcement agencies, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 10, 2023
Mr. Gottheimer (for himself, Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Horsford, Mr.
D'Esposito, Mr. Trone, Ms. Slotkin, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr.
Ryan, Ms. Craig, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Pappas, Mr. Valadao, Mr. Sorensen,
Mrs. Lee of Nevada, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Morelle, Mr. Phillips, Mr. Carbajal,
Ms. Titus, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Levin, Mr. Casten, Ms. Spanberger, Ms. Hoyle
of Oregon, Mr. Costa, Ms. Budzinski, Ms. Sherrill, Ms. Kaptur, Mr.
Harder of California, Mr. Case, Mr. Swalwell, Ms. Houlahan, Mr. Golden
of Maine, Mr. Nickel, Mrs. Gonzalez-Colon, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Kim of New
Jersey, Ms. Perez, Ms. Wild, Ms. Salazar, Mr. Lawler, Mr. Kean of New
Jersey, Mr. Neguse, Mr. Davis of North Carolina, Mr. Westerman, Mr.
Tony Gonzales of Texas, Mr. Moylan, Mr. Magaziner, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr.
Landsman, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Kilmer, and Mr. Vasquez) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a grant program to provide assistance to local law
enforcement agencies, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Invest to Protect Act of 2023''.
SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this Act:
(1) De-escalation training.--The term ``de-escalation
training'' means training relating to taking action or
communicating verbally or non-verbally during a potential force
encounter in an attempt to stabilize the situation and reduce
the immediacy of the threat so that more time, options, and
resources can be called upon to resolve the situation without
the use of force or with a reduction in the force necessary.
(2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the Office.
(3) Eligible local government.--The term ``eligible local
government'' means--
(A) a county, municipality, town, township,
village, parish, borough, or other unit of general
government below the State level that employs fewer
than 200 law enforcement officers; and
(B) a Tribal government that employs fewer than 200
law enforcement officers.
(4) Law enforcement officer.--The term ``law enforcement
officer'' has the meaning given the term ``career law
enforcement officer'' in section 1709 of title I the Omnibus
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10389).
(5) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Office of
Community Oriented Policing Services of the Department of
Justice.
(b) Establishment.--There is established within the Office a grant
program to--
(1) provide training and access to mental health resources
to local law enforcement officers; and
(2) improve the recruitment and retention of local law
enforcement officers.
(c) Authority.--Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Director shall award grants to eligible local
governments as a part of the grant program established under subsection
(b).
(d) Applications.--
(1) Barriers.--The Attorney General shall determine what
barriers exist to establishing a streamlined application
process for grants under this section.
(2) Report.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General
shall submit to Congress a report that includes a plan
to execute a streamlined application process for grants
under this section under which an eligible local
government seeking a grant under this section can
reasonably complete the application in not more than 2
hours.
(B) Contents of plan.--The plan required under
subparagraph (A) may include a plan for--
(i) proactively providing eligible local
governments seeking a grant under this section
with information on the data such eligible
local governments will need to prepare before
beginning the grant application; and
(ii) ensuring technical assistance is
available for eligible local governments
seeking a grant under this section before and
during the grant application process, including
through dedicated liaisons within the Office.
(3) Applications.--In selecting eligible local governments
to receive grants under this section, the Director shall use
the streamlined application process described in paragraph
(2)(A).
(e) Eligible Activities.--An eligible local government that
receives a grant under this section may use amounts from the grant only
for--
(1) de-escalation training for law enforcement officers;
(2) victim-centered training for law enforcement officers
in handling situations of domestic violence;
(3) evidence-based law enforcement safety training,
including training for--
(A) active shooter situations;
(B) the safe handling of illicit drugs and
precursor chemicals;
(C) rescue situations;
(D) high speed or pursuit driving;
(E) recognizing and countering ambush attacks;
(F) contact with individuals with mental health
needs;
(G) contact with individuals with substance use
disorders;
(H) contact with veterans;
(I) contact with individuals with disabilities;
(J) contact with vulnerable youth;
(K) contact with individuals who are victims of
domestic violence, sexual assault, or trafficking; or
(L) contact with individuals experiencing
homelessness or living in poverty;
(4) the offsetting of overtime costs associated with
scheduling issues relating to the participation of a law
enforcement officer in the training described in paragraphs (1)
through (3);
(5) a signing bonus for a law enforcement officer in an
amount determined by the eligible local government;
(6) a retention bonus for a law enforcement officer--
(A) in an amount determined by the eligible local
government that does not exceed 20 percent of the
salary of the law enforcement officer; and
(B) who--
(i) has been employed at the law
enforcement agency for not fewer than 5 years;
and
(ii) has not been found by an internal
investigation to have engaged in serious
misconduct;
(7) a stipend for the graduate education of law enforcement
officers in the area of mental health, public health, or social
work, which shall not exceed the lesser of--
(A) $10,000; or
(B) the amount the law enforcement officer pays
towards such graduate education; and
(8) providing access to patient-centered behavioral health
services for law enforcement officers, which may include
resources for risk assessments, evidence-based, trauma-informed
care to treat post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress
disorder, peer support and counselor services and family
supports, and the promotion of improved access to high quality
mental health care through telehealth.
(f) Disclosure of Officer Recruitment and Retention Bonuses.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the date on
which an eligible local government that receives a grant under
this section awards a signing or retention bonus described in
paragraph (5) or (6) of subsection (e), the eligible local
government shall disclose to the Director and make publicly
available on a website of the eligible local government the
amount of such bonus.
(2) Report.--The Attorney General shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees an annual report that
includes each signing or retention bonus disclosed under
paragraph (1) during the preceding year.
(g) Grant Accountability.--All grants awarded by the Director under
this section shall be subject to the following accountability
provisions:
(1) Audit requirement.--
(A) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term
``unresolved audit finding'' means a finding in the
final audit report of the Inspector General of the
Department of Justice that the audited grantee has used
grant funds for an unauthorized expenditure or
otherwise unallowable cost that is not closed or
resolved within 12 months from the date when the final
audit report is issued.
(B) Audits.--Beginning in the first fiscal year
beginning after the date of enactment of this
subsection, and in each fiscal year thereafter, the
Inspector General of the Department of Justice shall
conduct audits of recipients of grants under this
section to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds by
grantees. The Inspector General of the Department of
Justice shall determine the appropriate number of
grantees to be audited each year.
(C) Mandatory exclusion.--A recipient of grant
funds under this section that is found to have an
unresolved audit finding shall not be eligible to
receive grant funds under this section during the first
2 fiscal years beginning after the end of the 12-month
period described in subparagraph (A).
(D) Priority.--In awarding grants under this
section, the Director shall give priority to eligible
local governments that did not have an unresolved audit
finding during the 3 fiscal years before submitting an
application for a grant under this section.
(E) Reimbursement.--If an eligible local government
is awarded grant funds under this section during the 2-
fiscal-year period during which the eligible local
government is barred from receiving grants under
subparagraph (C), the Attorney General shall--
(i) deposit an amount equal to the amount
of the grant funds that were improperly awarded
to the grantee into the General Fund of the
Treasury; and
(ii) seek to recoup the costs of the
repayment to the fund from the grant recipient
that was erroneously awarded grant funds.
(2) Annual certification.--Beginning in the fiscal year
during which audits commence under paragraph (1)(B), the
Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary
and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the
Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Appropriations
of the House of Representatives an annual certification--
(A) indicating whether--
(i) all audits issued by the Office of the
Inspector General of the Department of Justice
under paragraph (1) have been completed and
reviewed by the appropriate Assistant Attorney
General or Director;
(ii) all mandatory exclusions required
under paragraph (1)(C) have been issued; and
(iii) all reimbursements required under
paragraph (1)(E) have been made; and
(B) that includes a list of any grant recipients
excluded under paragraph (1) from the previous year.
(h) Preventing Duplicative Grants.--
(1) In general.--Before the Director awards a grant to an
eligible local government under this section, the Attorney
General shall compare potential grant awards with other grants
awarded by the Attorney General to determine if grant awards
are or have been awarded for a similar purpose.
(2) Report.--If the Attorney General awards grants to the
same applicant for a similar purpose, the Attorney General
shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate
and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives a report that includes--
(A) a list of all such grants awarded, including
the total dollar amount of any such grants awarded; and
(B) the reason the Attorney General awarded
multiple grants to the same applicant for a similar
purpose.
(i) Funding.--In carrying out this section, the Director--
(1) shall use amounts otherwise made available to the
Office; and
(2) may use not more than $50,000,000 of such amounts for
each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
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