S. 546 

One Hundred Eighteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty four 

An Act 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize 

law enforcement agencies to use COPS grants for recruitment activities, 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 ‘‘Recruit and Retain Act’’. 

SEC. 2. IMPROVING COPS GRANTS FOR POLICE HIRING PURPOSES. 

(a) GRANT USE EXPANSION.—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) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through (23) as paragraphs (6) through (24), respectively; and 

(2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following: 

‘‘(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;’’. 

(b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 1701(b)(23) of title I of 

the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

10381(b)(23)) is amended by striking ‘‘(21)’’ and inserting ‘‘(22)’’. 

SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS. 

Section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amended— 

(1) by redesignating subsections (i) through (n) as subsections (j) through (o), respectively; and 

(2) by inserting after subsection (h) the following: 

‘‘(i) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 2 percent of a 

grant made for the hiring or rehiring of additional career law 

enforcement officers may be used for costs incurred to administer 

such grant.’’. 

SEC. 4. PIPELINE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. 

Section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amended by inserting 

after subsection (o) the following: 

‘‘(p) COPS PIPELINE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.— 

‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In 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. 
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‘‘(B) A secondary school. 

‘‘(C) An institution of higher education. 

‘‘(D) A Hispanic-serving institution. 

‘‘(E) A historically Black college or university. 

‘‘(F) A Tribal college. 

‘‘(2) GRANTS.—The 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.—Of the amounts made available to carry 

out this part for a fiscal year, the Attorney General may use 

not more than $3,000,000 to carry out this subsection.’’. 

SEC. 5. COPS GRANT GUIDANCE FOR AGENCIES OPERATING BELOW 

BUDGETED STRENGTH. 

Section 1704 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10384) is amended by adding 

at the end the following: 

‘‘(d) GUIDANCE FOR UNDERSTAFFED LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.— 

‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

‘‘(A) COVERED APPLICANT.—The term ‘covered 

applicant’ means an applicant for a hiring grant under 

this part seeking funding for a law enforcement agency 

operating below the budgeted strength of the law enforcement agency. 

‘‘(B) BUDGETED STRENGTH.—The term ‘budgeted 

strength’ means the employment of the maximum number 

of sworn law enforcement officers the budget of a law 

enforcement agency allows the agency to employ. 

‘‘(2) PROCEDURES.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish 

consistent procedures for covered applicants, including guidance 

that— 

‘‘(A) clarifies that covered applicants remain eligible 

for funding under this part; and 

‘‘(B) enables covered applicants to attest that the 

funding from a grant awarded under this part is not being 

used by the law enforcement agency to supplant State 

or local funds, as described in subsection (a). 

‘‘(3) PAPERWORK REDUCTION.—In developing the procedures 

and guidance under paragraph (2), the Attorney General shall 

take measures to reduce paperwork requirements for grants 

to covered applicants.’’. 
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SEC. 6. STUDY ON POLICE RECRUITMENT. 

(a) STUDY.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the United 

States shall conduct a study to consider the comprehensive 

effects of recruitment and attrition rates on Federal, State, 

Tribal, and local law enforcement agencies in the United States, 

to identify— 

(A) the primary reasons that law enforcement officers— 

(i) join law enforcement agencies; and 

(ii) resign or retire from law enforcement agencies; 

(B) how the reasons described in subparagraph (A) 

may have changed over time; 

(C) the effects of recruitment and attrition on public 

safety; 

(D) the effects of electronic media on recruitment 

efforts; 

(E) barriers to the recruitment and retention of Federal, State, and local law enforcement officers; and 

(F) recommendations for potential ways to address barriers to the recruitment and retention of law enforcement 

officers, including the barriers identified in subparagraph 

(E). 

(2) REPRESENTATIVE CROSS-SECTION.— 

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 

United States shall endeavor to ensure accurate representation of law enforcement agencies in the study conducted 

pursuant to paragraph (1) by surveying a broad crosssection of law enforcement agencies— 

(i) from various regions of the United States; 

(ii) of different sizes; and 

(iii) from rural, suburban, and urban jurisdictions. 

(B) METHODS DESCRIPTION.—The study conducted 

pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include in the report under 

subsection (b) a description of the methods used to identify 

a representative sample of law enforcement agencies. 

(b) REPORT.—Not later than 540 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

shall— 

(1) submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate 

and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report containing the study conducted under subsection 

(a); and 

(2) make the report submitted under paragraph (1) publicly 

available online. 
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(c) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

States shall ensure that the study conducted under subsection 

(a) protects the privacy of participating law enforcement agencies. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.