II 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Mental As5 sistance Responder Teams Community Policing Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘SMART Community Policing Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to strength community po3 licing programs to— 

4 (1) de-escalate interactions with law enforce5 ment officers to achieve better outcomes for non-vio6 lent individuals experiencing crisis or trauma relat7 ing to mental health issues, poverty, homelessness, 

8 and substance use disorders; 

9 (2) build collaborative partnerships to connect 

10 individuals with mental health services and commu11 nity resources; and 

12 (3) produce better outcomes for communities 

13 and law enforcement officers by delivering the ap14 propriate treatment and other support services to in15 dividuals in need. 

16 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZED USES OF COPS FUNDS. 

17 Section 1701(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con18 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381(b)) 

19 is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (23), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

21 end; 

22 (2) in paragraph (24), by striking the period at 

23 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

24 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(25) to establish or expand a mobile crisis 

26 team program to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) hire skilled mental health profes2 sionals and paramedics to— 

3 ‘‘(i) respond to— 

4 ‘‘(I) certain 911 dispatch calls at 

5 the request of law enforcement offi6 cers; and 

7 ‘‘(II) community members re8 questing assistance directly; 

9 ‘‘(ii) stabilize encounters between law 

10 enforcement officers and individuals expe11 riencing a mental or behavioral health cri12 sis; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) assume responsibility for secur14 ing mental health services for individuals, 

15 including individuals in crisis who may 

16 need further evaluation and treatment; 

17 ‘‘(B) train law enforcement officers 

18 partnering with mental health professionals and 

19 paramedics; 

20 ‘‘(C) use a mobile unit to facilitate the re21 sponse of law enforcement officers and mental 

22 health professionals and paramedics to commu23 nity members experiencing a mental or behav24 ioral health crisis; and 

25 ‘‘(D) hire other personnel; 


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1 ‘‘(26) to establish or expand a co-responder 

2 program under which— 

3 ‘‘(A) a trained law enforcement officer is 

4 paired with a behavioral health clinician or 

5 paramedic to— 

6 ‘‘(i) de-escalate situations involving a 

7 mental health crisis; 

8 ‘‘(ii) connect individuals with mental 

9 illness to appropriate services; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) provide other effective and effi11 cient responses to individuals with mental 

12 illness; and 

13 ‘‘(B) additional personnel, including law 

14 enforcement officers and case managers, may 

15 be hired; and 

16 ‘‘(27) to establish or expand a case manage17 ment and outreach team— 

18 ‘‘(A) to follow up with individuals experi19 encing a mental or behavioral health crisis to— 

20 ‘‘(i) connect those individuals with 

21 mental health services and community re22 sources; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) help those individuals abide by 

24 treatment plans and meet other responVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:17 Jan 20, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5546.IS S5546

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1 sibilities, such as work, school, and train2 ing; 

3 ‘‘(B) to develop specific solutions for, and 

4 provide support resources to, individuals who 

5 frequently use emergency services to reduce re6 peat interactions between the individuals de7 scribed in subparagraph (A) and law enforce8 ment officers or mental health professionals and 

9 paramedics; and 

10 ‘‘(C) which may be established as a part of 

11 a mobile crisis team program under paragraph 

12 (25), a co-responder program under paragraph 

13 (26), or an independent team.’’. 

Æ 


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