§2 Grant program
This section establishes a grant program within the Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) to provide training and mental health resources to law enforcement officers and to improve their recruitment and retention in eligible local governments (i.e., units of general local government below the state level or Tribal governments employing fewer than 175 officers). The COPS Director must award grants to such governments within 120 days of enactment using a streamlined application process, for which the Attorney General must submit to Congress within 60 days of enactment a plan enabling reasonable completion in no more than two hours (including proactive data guidance and technical assistance).
Grant recipients may use funds only for the following:
(1) de-escalation training;
(2) victim-centered domestic violence training;
(3) evidence-based safety training on active shooters, illicit drugs, rescues, ambushes, or responses to persons with mental health needs, substance use disorders, veteran status, disabilities, vulnerability as youth, victimization by domestic violence/sexual assault/trafficking, or experiencing homelessness/poverty;
(4) overtime costs for training participation under (1)-(3), (9), or (10);
(5) signing bonuses;
(6) retention bonuses up to 20% of salary for officers employed at least five years without serious misconduct who commit to three more years;
(7) graduate education stipends in mental health, public health, or social work, not exceeding $10,000 or the officer's payment;
(8) officer access to behavioral health services (e.g., PTSD treatment, peer support, telehealth);
(9) lethal/nonlethal force training;
(10) duty-to-intervene training; and
(11) data collection on officer/community safety practices.
The COPS Director must establish reporting requirements for recipients to support program evaluation.