[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6448 Received in Senate (RDS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6448
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 27, 2022
Received
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To direct the Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing
Services of the Department of Justice to carry out a grant program to
provide assistance to police departments with fewer than 200 law
enforcement officers, 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 2022''.
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 so that more
time, options, and resources can be called upon to minimize the
need for the use of force and increase the likelihood of
voluntary compliance, including persuasion, warnings, creating
space, use of physical barriers, slowing down the pace of an
incident, and requesting additional resources.
(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 125 law enforcement officers; or
(B) a Tribal government that employs fewer than 125
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).
(4) Preference.--The Attorney General may give preference
to applicants who specify in their applications that grant
amounts will be used for the eligible activities set forth in
paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (9), and (10) of subsection (e).
(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 for
response to calls for service involving--
(A) persons with substance use disorders;
(B) persons with mental health needs;
(C) veterans;
(D) persons with disabilities;
(E) vulnerable youth;
(F) persons who are victims of domestic violence,
sexual assault, or trafficking; and
(G) persons 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), (9) and (10);
(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;
(ii) has not been found by an internal
investigation to have engaged in serious
misconduct; and
(iii) commits to remain with the law
enforcement agency for a minimum 3 years from
the time of receipt of the bonus;
(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;
(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;
(9) implementation of evidence-based best practices and
training on the use of lethal and nonlethal force;
(10) implementation of evidence-based best practices and
training on the duty of care and the duty to intervene; and
(11) data collection for police practices regarding officer
and community safety.
(f) Reporting Requirements for Grant Recipients.--
(1) In general.--The Director shall establish reporting
requirements for eligible local government that receive a grant
under this section in order to assist with the evaluation by
the Office of the program established under this section.
(2) Considerations.--In establishing any requirements under
paragraph (1), the Director shall consider the capacity of law
enforcement agencies with fewer than 125 officers to collect
and report information.
(g) 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.
(h) 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
3 fiscal years beginning after the end of the 12-month
period described in subparagraph (A).
(D) Reimbursement.--If an eligible local government
is awarded grant funds under this section during the 3-
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.
(i) Program Evaluation.--The Attorney General shall, on an annual
basis, conduct analyses of the information provided by grant recipients
pursuant to subsection (f) to evaluate the efficacy of training
programs funded through the grant program established by this Act in
reducing the incidence of use of force by the law enforcement agency.
(j) 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, whether through the grant
program established by this Act or other grant programs
provided by the Department of Justice, 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.
(k) Funding.--
(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated
$60,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027 to carry
out the grant program under this section.
(2) Limitation.--In carrying out this section for a fiscal
year, if the amounts made available in appropriations Acts for
that fiscal year is not less than the amount authorized to be
appropriated under paragraph (1), the Director shall use not
less than 20 percent of such amounts in that fiscal year for
grants under this section to eligible local governments that
will use the grants to carry out one or more of the eligible
activities set forth in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (9), and
(10) of subsection (e).
Passed the House of Representatives September 22, 2022.
Attest:
CHERYL L. JOHNSON,
Clerk.
By Kevin F. McCumber,
Deputy Clerk.