USC - Authority to make public safety and community policing grants

View all text of Subchapter XVI [§ 10381 - § 10389]

§ 10381. Authority to make public safety and community policing grants

(a) Grant authorization

(b) Uses of grant amountsThe purposes for which grants made under subsection (a) may be made are—

(1) to rehire law enforcement officers who have been laid off as a result of State, tribal, or local budget reductions for deployment in community-oriented policing;

(2) to hire and train new, additional career law enforcement officers for deployment in community-oriented policing across the Nation, including by prioritizing the hiring and training of veterans (as defined in

(3) to procure equipment, technology, or support systems, or pay overtime, to increase the number of officers deployed in community-oriented policing;

(4) to award grants to pay for offices hired to perform intelligence, anti-terror, or homeland security duties;

(5) to support hiring activities by law enforcement agencies experiencing declines in officer recruitment applications by reducing application-related fees, such as fees for background checks, psychological evaluations, and testing;

(6) to increase the number of law enforcement officers involved in activities that are focused on interaction with members of the community on proactive crime control and prevention by redeploying officers to such activities;

(7) to provide specialized training to law enforcement officers to enhance their conflict resolution, mediation, problem solving, service, and other skills needed to work in partnership with members of the community;

(8) to increase police participation in multidisciplinary early intervention teams;

(9) to develop new technologies, including interoperable communications technologies, modernized criminal record technology, and forensic technology, to assist State, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies in reorienting the emphasis of their activities from reacting to crime to preventing crime and to train law enforcement officers to use such technologies;

(10) to develop and implement innovative programs to permit members of the community to assist State, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies in the prevention of crime in the community, such as a citizens’ police academy, including programs designed to increase the level of access to the criminal justice system enjoyed by victims, witnesses, and ordinary citizens by establishing decentralized satellite offices (including video facilities) of principal criminal courts buildings;

(11) to establish innovative programs to reduce, and keep to a minimum, the amount of time that law enforcement officers must be away from the community while awaiting court appearances;

(12) to establish and implement innovative programs to increase and enhance proactive crime control and prevention programs involving law enforcement officers and young persons in the community;

(13) to establish school-based partnerships between local law enforcement agencies and local school systems by using school resource officers who operate in and around elementary and secondary schools to combat school-related crime and disorder problems, gangs, and drug activities, including the training of school resource officers in the prevention of human trafficking offenses;

(14) to develop and establish new administrative and managerial systems to facilitate the adoption of community-oriented policing as an organization-wide philosophy;

(15) to assist a State or Indian tribe in enforcing a law throughout the State or tribal community that requires that a convicted sex offender register his or her address with a State, tribal, or local law enforcement agency and be subject to criminal prosecution for failure to comply;

(16) to establish, implement, and coordinate crime prevention and control programs (involving law enforcement officers working with community members) with other Federal programs that serve the community and community members to better address the comprehensive needs of the community and its members;

(17) to support the purchase by a law enforcement agency of no more than 1 service weapon per officer, upon hiring for deployment in community-oriented policing or, if necessary, upon existing officers’ initial redeployment to community-oriented policing;

(18) to participate in nationally recognized active shooter training programs that offer scenario-based, integrated response courses designed to counter active shooter threats or acts of terrorism against individuals or facilities;

(19) to provide specialized training to law enforcement officers to—

(A) recognize individuals who have a mental illness; and

(B) properly interact with individuals who have a mental illness, including strategies for verbal de-escalation of crises;

(20) to establish collaborative programs that enhance the ability of law enforcement agencies to address the mental health, behavioral, and substance abuse problems of individuals encountered by law enforcement officers in the line of duty;

(21) to provide specialized training to corrections officers to recognize individuals who have a mental illness;

(22) to enhance the ability of corrections officers to address the mental health of individuals under the care and custody of jails and prisons, including specialized training and strategies for verbal de-escalation of crises;

(23) to permit tribal governments receiving direct law enforcement services from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to access the program under this section for use in accordance with paragraphs (1) through (22); and

(24) to establish peer mentoring mental health and wellness pilot programs within State, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies.

(c) Preferential consideration of applications for certain grantsIn awarding grants under this subchapter, the Attorney General may give preferential consideration, where feasible, to an application—

(1) for hiring and rehiring additional career law enforcement officers that involves a non-Federal contribution exceeding the 25 percent minimum under subsection (g);

(2) from an applicant in a State that has in effect a law that—

(A) treats a minor who has engaged in, or has attempted to engage in, a commercial sex act as a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons;

(B) discourages or prohibits the charging or prosecution of an individual described in subparagraph (A) for a prostitution or sex trafficking offense, based on the conduct described in subparagraph (A); and

(C) encourages the diversion of an individual described in subparagraph (A) to appropriate service providers, including child welfare services, victim treatment programs, child advocacy centers, rape crisis centers, or other social services; or

(3) from an applicant in a State that has in effect a law—

(A) that—

(i) provides a process by which an individual who is a human trafficking survivor can move to vacate any arrest or conviction records for a non-violent offense committed as a direct result of human trafficking, including prostitution or lewdness;

(ii) establishes a rebuttable presumption that any arrest or conviction of an individual for an offense associated with human trafficking is a result of being trafficked, if the individual—(I) is a person granted nonimmigrant status pursuant to section 1101(a)(15)(T)(i) of title 8;(II) is the subject of a certification by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 7105(b)(1)(E) of title 22; or(III) has other similar documentation of trafficking, which has been issued by a Federal, State, or local agency; and

(iii) protects the identity of individuals who are human trafficking survivors in public and court records; and

(B) that does not require an individual who is a human trafficking survivor to provide official documentation as described in subclause (I), (II), or (III) of subparagraph (A)(ii) in order to receive protection under the law.

(d) Technical assistance

(1) In general

(2) Model

(3) Training centers and facilities

(e) Utilization of components

(f) Minimum amount

(g) Matching funds

(h) Allocation of funds

(i) Administrative costs

(j) Termination of grants for hiring officers

(k) Grants to Indian Tribes

(1) In general

(2) Priority of funding

(3) Federal shareBecause of the Federal nature and responsibility for providing public safety on Indian land, the Federal share of the cost of any activity carried out using a grant under this subsection—

(A) shall be 100 percent; and

(B) may be used to cover indirect costs.

(4) Authorization of appropriations

(l) COPS anti-meth program

(m) COPS anti-heroin task force program

(n) ReportNot later than 180 days after July 29, 2010, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report describing the extent and effectiveness of the Community Oriented Policing (COPS) initiative as applied in Indian country, including particular references to—

(1) the problem of intermittent funding;

(2) the integration of COPS personnel with existing law enforcement authorities; and

(3) an explanation of how the practice of community policing and the broken windows theory can most effectively be applied in remote tribal locations.

(o)Training in alternatives to use of force, de-escalation techniques, and mental and behavioral health crises

(1) Training curricula

(A) In generalNot later than 180 days after December 27, 2022, the Attorney General shall develop training curricula or identify effective existing training curricula for law enforcement officers and for covered mental health professionals regarding—

(i) de-escalation tactics and alternatives to use of force;

(ii) safely responding to an individual experiencing a mental or behavioral health or suicidal crisis or an individual with a disability, including techniques and strategies that are designed to protect the safety of that individual, law enforcement officers, mental health professionals, and the public;

(iii) successfully participating on a crisis intervention team; and

(iv) making referrals to community-based mental and behavioral health services and support, housing assistance programs, public benefits programs, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and other services.

(B) RequirementsThe training curricula developed or identified under this paragraph shall include—

(i) scenario-based exercises;

(ii) pre-training and post-training tests to assess relevant knowledge and skills covered in the training curricula; and

(iii) follow-up evaluative assessments to determine the degree to which participants in the training apply, in their jobs, the knowledge and skills gained in the training.

(2) Certified programs and courses

(A) In generalNot later than 180 days after the date on which training curricula are developed or identified under paragraph (1)(A), the Attorney General shall establish a process to—

(i) certify training programs and courses offered by public and private entities to law enforcement officers or covered mental health professionals using 1 or more of the training curricula developed or identified under paragraph (1), or equivalents to such training curricula, which may include certifying a training program or course that an entity began offering on or before the date on which the Attorney General establishes the process; and

(ii) terminate the certification of a training program or course if the program or course fails to continue to meet the standards under the training curricula developed or identified under paragraph (1).

(B) Partnerships with mental health organizations and educational institutionsNot later than 180 days after the date on which training curricula are developed or identified under paragraph (1)(A), the Attorney General shall develop criteria to ensure that public and private entities that offer training programs or courses that are certified under subparagraph (A) collaborate with local mental health organizations to—

(i) enhance the training experience of law enforcement officers through consultation with and the participation of individuals with mental or behavioral health diagnoses or disabilities, particularly such individuals who have interacted with law enforcement officers; and

(ii) strengthen relationships between health care services and law enforcement agencies.

(3) Transitional regional training programs for State and local agency personnel

(A) In general

(B) Continuing education

(4) ListNot later than 1 year after the Attorney General completes the activities described in paragraphs (1) and (2), the Attorney General shall publish a list of law enforcement agencies of States and units of local government employing law enforcement officers or using covered mental health professionals who have successfully completed a course using 1 or more of the training curricula developed or identified under paragraph (1), or equivalents to such training curricula, which shall include—

(A) the total number of law enforcement officers that are employed by the agency;

(B) the number of such law enforcement officers who have completed such a course;

(C) whether personnel from the law enforcement agency have been trained to offer training programs or courses under paragraph (3);

(D) the total number of covered mental health professionals who work with the agency; and

(E) the number of such covered mental health professionals who have completed such a course.

(5) Authorization of appropriationsThere is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this subsection—

(A) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2023;

(B) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2024;

(D) $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.

(p) COPS Pipeline Partnership Program

(1) Eligible entity definedIn this subsection, the term “eligible entity” means a law enforcement agency in partnership with not less than 1 educational institution, which may include 1 or any combination of the following:

(A) An elementary school.

(B) A secondary school.

(D) A Hispanic-serving institution.

(E) A historically Black college or university.

(F) A Tribal college.

(2) GrantsThe Attorney General shall award competitive grants to eligible entities for recruiting activities that—

(A) support substantial student engagement for the exploration of potential future career opportunities in law enforcement;

(B) strengthen recruitment by law enforcement agencies experiencing a decline in recruits, or high rates of resignations or retirements;

(C) enhance community interactions between local youth and law enforcement agencies that are designed to increase recruiting; and

(D) otherwise improve the outcomes of local law enforcement recruitment through activities such as dedicated programming for students, work-based learning opportunities, project-based learning, mentoring, community liaisons, career or job fairs, work site visits, job shadowing, apprenticeships, or skills-based internships.

(3) Funding

(Pub. L. 90–351, title I, § 1701, as added Pub. L. 103–322, title I, § 10003(a)(3), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1808; amended Pub. L. 105–119, title I, § 119, Nov. 26, 1997, 111 Stat. 2468; Pub. L. 105–302, § 1(1), Oct. 27, 1998, 112 Stat. 2841; Pub. L. 108–21, title III, § 341, Apr. 30, 2003, 117 Stat. 665; Pub. L. 109–162, title XI, § 1163(a), Jan. 5, 2006, 119 Stat. 3119; Pub. L. 111–211, title II, § 243, July 29, 2010, 124 Stat. 2292; Pub. L. 114–22, title VI, § 601(1), title X, § 1002, May 29, 2015, 129 Stat. 258, 266; Pub. L. 114–199, § 2, July 22, 2016, 130 Stat. 780; Pub. L. 114–255, div. B, title XIV, § 14001(b), Dec. 13, 2016, 130 Stat. 1288; Pub. L. 115–37, § 2, June 2, 2017, 131 Stat. 854; Pub. L. 115–113, § 2(c), Jan. 10, 2018, 131 Stat. 2276; Pub. L. 115–271, title VIII, §§ 8210, 8211, Oct. 24, 2018, 132 Stat. 4114; Pub. L. 115–393, title I, § 101, Dec. 21, 2018, 132 Stat. 5266; Pub. L. 117–325, § 2(b), Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4442; Pub. L. 118–64, §§ 2–4, May 24, 2024, 138 Stat. 1435.)