Hire Our Heroes to Protect Our Schools Act of 2018

Summary: Hire Our Heroes to Protect Our Schools Act of 2018 This bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to revise and reauthorize through FY2024 the Secure Our Schools grant program. This grant program provides grants to states, local governments, and Indian tribes to improve security, including the placement and use of metal detectors and other deterrent measures, at schools and on school grounds.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Hire Our Heroes to Protect Our 
Schools Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) According to 2016 data compiled by the U.S. Department 
        of Education, Office for Civil Rights, only 24 percent of 
        elementary schools and 42 percent of high schools nationwide 
        have school resource officers.
            (2) The absence of school resource officers in many cases 
        has been attributed to the lack of financial resources or the 
        availability of trained police officers to fulfill the role of 
        school resource officers.
            (3) No one is better trained and better equipped to handle 
        a potential school shooting situation, and therefore serve as a 
        school resource officer, than our Nation's men and women in law 
        enforcement, including retired officers and veterans.
            (4) In many cases, police officers and veterans retire in 
        their early fifties, while they still have a number of years 
        where they can provide a valuable service to our schools and 
        communities by serving as a school resources officer.
            (5) Placing highly trained and professional retired police 
        officers and veterans in our schools as school resource 
        officers is one of the easiest ways to bolster school security, 
        and it can be achieved almost immediately.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that school systems should make greater 
efforts to hire retired police officers and veterans to be school 
resource officers.

SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM FOR SCHOOL SECURITY.

    Part AA of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10551 et seq.) is amended--
            (1) in section 2701 (34 U.S.C. 10551)--
                    (A) in subsection (a)--
                            (i) by striking ``Director of the Office of 
                        Community Oriented Policing Services'' and 
                        inserting ``Director of the Bureau of Justice 
                        Assistance''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``including the placement 
                        and use of metal detectors and other deterrent 
                        measures'' and inserting ``through evidence-
                        based training and technical assistance to 
                        prevent violence and through the use of 
                        appropriate technologies, including the 
                        placement and use of metal detectors and other 
                        deterrent measures and emergency notification 
                        and response technologies'';
                    (B) in subsection (b)--
                            (i) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) 
                        as paragraphs (10) and (11), respectively;
                            (ii) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 
                        through (4) as paragraphs (2) through (5), 
                        respectively, and by inserting before paragraph 
                        (2) the following:
            ``(1) Assignment of additional school resource officers (as 
        such term is defined in part Q), with priority in making such 
        assignments given to law enforcement officers who are veterans 
        (as such term is defined in section 101(2) of title 38, United 
        States Code) or retired law enforcement officers who have 
        returned to service.'';
                            (iii) in paragraph (5), as so 
                        redesignated--
                                    (I) by striking ``crisis'' and 
                                inserting ``school threat assessment 
                                and''; and
                                    (II) by inserting ``and school 
                                personnel,'' after ``law enforcement 
                                agencies''; and
                            (iv) by inserting after paragraph (5), as 
                        so redesignated, the following:
            ``(6) Training to prevent student violence against others 
        and self, including training for local law enforcement 
        officers, school personnel, and students.
            ``(7) The development and operation of anonymous reporting 
        systems for threats of school violence, including mobile 
        telephone applications, hotlines, and internet websites.
            ``(8) Subgrants to State or local law enforcement agencies, 
        schools, school districts, nonprofit organizations, or Indian 
        tribal organizations to implement grants awarded under this 
        section.
            ``(9) Acquisition and installation of technology for 
        expedited notification of local law enforcement during an 
        emergency.'';
                    (C) in subsection (c)--
                            (i) by striking ``and has'' and inserting 
                        ``has''; and
                            (ii) by inserting before the period at the 
                        end the following: ``, and will use evidence-
                        based strategies and programs, such as those 
                        identified by the Comprehensive School Safety 
                        Initiative of the Department of Justice''; and
                    (D) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ``50 
                percent'' and inserting ``75 percent'';
            (2) in section 2702 (34 U.S.C. 10552)--
                    (A) in subsection (a)(2), in the matter preceding 
                subparagraph (A), by striking ``child psychologists'' 
                and inserting ``mental health professionals''; and
                    (B) in subsection (b), by striking ``this part'' 
                and inserting ``the Hire Our Heroes to Protect Our 
                Schools Act of 2018'';
            (3) in section 2704(1) (34 U.S.C. 10554(1)), by striking 
        ``a public'' and inserting ``an''; and
            (4) in section 2705--
                    (A) by striking ``$30,000,000'' and inserting 
                ``$100,000,000''; and
                    (B) by striking ``2001 through 2009'' and inserting 
                ``2019 through 2024''.