[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5546 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5546
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to
provide funding for innovations in community policing, mental health
care, and community safety, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 17 (legislative day, December 16), 2024
Mr. Bennet introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to
provide funding for innovations in community policing, mental health
care, and community safety, 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 ``Supporting Mental Assistance
Responder Teams Community Policing Act'' or the ``SMART Community
Policing Act''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to strength community policing programs
to--
(1) de-escalate interactions with law enforcement officers
to achieve better outcomes for non-violent individuals
experiencing crisis or trauma relating to mental health issues,
poverty, homelessness, and substance use disorders;
(2) build collaborative partnerships to connect individuals
with mental health services and community resources; and
(3) produce better outcomes for communities and law
enforcement officers by delivering the appropriate treatment
and other support services to individuals in need.
SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZED USES OF COPS FUNDS.
Section 1701(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (23), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (24), by striking the period at the end
and inserting a semicolon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(25) to establish or expand a mobile crisis team program
to--
``(A) hire skilled mental health professionals and
paramedics to--
``(i) respond to--
``(I) certain 911 dispatch calls at
the request of law enforcement
officers; and
``(II) community members requesting
assistance directly;
``(ii) stabilize encounters between law
enforcement officers and individuals
experiencing a mental or behavioral health
crisis; and
``(iii) assume responsibility for securing
mental health services for individuals,
including individuals in crisis who may need
further evaluation and treatment;
``(B) train law enforcement officers partnering
with mental health professionals and paramedics;
``(C) use a mobile unit to facilitate the response
of law enforcement officers and mental health
professionals and paramedics to community members
experiencing a mental or behavioral health crisis; and
``(D) hire other personnel;
``(26) to establish or expand a co-responder program under
which--
``(A) a trained law enforcement officer is paired
with a behavioral health clinician or paramedic to--
``(i) de-escalate situations involving a
mental health crisis;
``(ii) connect individuals with mental
illness to appropriate services; and
``(iii) provide other effective and
efficient responses to individuals with mental
illness; and
``(B) additional personnel, including law
enforcement officers and case managers, may be hired;
and
``(27) to establish or expand a case management and
outreach team--
``(A) to follow up with individuals experiencing a
mental or behavioral health crisis to--
``(i) connect those individuals with mental
health services and community resources; and
``(ii) help those individuals abide by
treatment plans and meet other
responsibilities, such as work, school, and
training;
``(B) to develop specific solutions for, and
provide support resources to, individuals who
frequently use emergency services to reduce repeat
interactions between the individuals described in
subparagraph (A) and law enforcement officers or mental
health professionals and paramedics; and
``(C) which may be established as a part of a
mobile crisis team program under paragraph (25), a co-
responder program under paragraph (26), or an
independent team.''.
<all>