IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 652 

Supporting the practice of community-oriented policing and encouraging 

diversity hiring and retention in law enforcement. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 7, 2017 

Ms. LEE (for herself, Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. CLAY, 

Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. MOORE, Mr. TONKO, and Ms. NORTON) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting the practice of community-oriented policing and 

encouraging diversity hiring and retention in law enforcement. 

Whereas promoting trust between law enforcement agencies 

and the communities they serve is critical to the stability 

of our communities, the integrity of our criminal justice 

system, and the safe and effective delivery of law enforcement services; 

Whereas the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) which publishes a census of deaths that 

occur during the process of arrest or during an attempt 

to obtain custody by law enforcement, estimates in its 

preliminary report that from June 2015 to May 2016, 

there were an estimated 1,900 arrest-related deaths; 


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•HRES 652 IH 

Whereas the BJS’s preliminary report examining arrest-related deaths found that 64 percent of arrest-related 

deaths were homicides between June and August 2015; 

Whereas events in Ferguson, Missouri; Staten Island, New 

York; North Charleston, South Carolina; Baltimore, 

Maryland; Charlotte, North Carolina; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Falcon Heights, Minnesota, and other cities 

across the country have highlighted the need for strong, 

collaborative relationships between local police and the 

communities they serve and protect; 

Whereas, on July 7, 2016, President Barack Obama remarked that, ‘‘fatal shootings are not isolated incidents. 

They are symptomatic of the broader challenges within 

our criminal justice system, the racial disparities that appear across the system year after year, and the resulting 

lack of trust that exists between law enforcement and too 

many of the communities they serve’’; 

Whereas, on December 18, 2014, President Barack Obama 

signed Executive Order 13684 to establish the Task 

Force on 21st Century Policing to examine how to establish effective crime prevention strategies while also building public trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve; 

Whereas the Task Force recommended that law enforcement 

agencies engage in proven and successful community-policing tactics, such as combining a focus on intervention 

and prevention through problem solving and collaborative 

partnerships with schools, social services, and other 

stakeholders; 


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•HRES 652 IH 

Whereas the Task Force also recommended law enforcement 

departments should strive to increase the diversity of 

their workforce; 

Whereas community-oriented policing is a philosophy that 

promotes the systematic use of partnerships and problemsolving techniques to proactively address the immediate 

conditions of public safety, crime, social disorder, and 

fear of crime; 

Whereas studies consistently find that community-policing 

strategies like those supported by the Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) have a positive effect on citizen satisfaction and 

trust in law enforcement; 

Whereas a 2007 survey by the Bureau of Justice Statistics 

found a commitment to community policing may be more 

evident in departments with a formal, written community-policing plan; 

Whereas according to a 2007 survey by the Bureau of Justice 

Statistics, only 16 percent of police departments, employing 48 percent of officers, across the country had a formal written community-policing plan; 

Whereas from 2000 to 2007, the percentage of local departments using community policing officers declined from 

about 66 percent to 47 percent, while the number of community policing officers declined by more than half from 

103,000 officers to 47,000 officers; 

Whereas Congress recognizes the vital role and practice that 

community-oriented policing plays in building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve 

and protect; 


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•HRES 652 IH 

Whereas a study published in The New York Times, found 

in 2015 that of hundreds of police departments across 

the United States, the percentage of Whites on the police 

force is more than thirty percentage points higher than 

Whites in the communities they serve; 

Whereas a 2013 survey conducted by the Bureau of Justice 

Statistics on law enforcement agencies in the United 

States found that 27 percent of local police officers are 

members of a racial or ethnic minority, and that only 1 

in 8 local police officers was a woman; 

Whereas Congress recognizes that hiring and retaining law 

enforcement officers that are more reflective of the community’s racial and gender makeup it serves and protects 

is a first step to building trust between communities and 

law enforcement; 

Whereas since its inception, the Community Oriented Policing 

Services Program (COPS) Office has invested approximately $14.7 billion to add officers to the Nation’s 

streets, enhance crime fighting technology, support crime 

prevention initiatives, and provide training and technical 

assistance to help advance community policing; and 

Whereas Congress recognizes the critical role of the COPS 

Hiring Program Office in expanding the practice of community-oriented policing to law enforcement departments: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) finds that the lack of minority representa3 tion in law enforcement across the country needs to 

4 be addressed; 


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•HRES 652 IH 

1 (2) calls on law enforcement departments to 

2 have a written and formal plan of community-ori3 ented policing; 

4 (3) commits to ensuring that the COPS Hiring 

5 Program has the support and resources it needs to 

6 increase the hiring and retention of diverse law en7 forcement officers; 

8 (4) urges the Department of Justice to affirm 

9 a commitment to fostering trust and stronger rela10 tionships between those who serve and the commu11 nities they swear to protect; 

12 (5) encourages the Department of Justice, in 

13 collaboration with the COPS office, to issue further 

14 guidance and best practices on diversity hiring and 

15 retention of law enforcement personnel, use of exces16 sive and deadly force, and community-oriented polic17 ing strategies; 

18 (6) urges the Department of Justice’s Office of 

19 Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Of20 fice) to consider as a factor when reviewing applica21 tions for all grants it manages, whether a law en22 forcement agency requires its employees to complete 

23 cultural sensitivity trainings, including training on 

24 ethnic and racial bias, gender bias, sexual orienta25 tion and gender identity bias; training on cultural 


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1 diversity; and training for interactions with people 

2 with disabilities, mentally ill, and English Language 

3 Learners; 

4 (7) urges the Department of Justice to incor5 porate community policing into any law enforcement 

6 accreditation recommendations and standards; and 

7 (8) urges the Bureau of Justice Statistics to 

8 provide an annual report to Congress on the Depart9 ment of Justice’s efforts to increase community-ori10 ented policing and diversity hiring and retention 

11 within law enforcement departments across the 

12 country. 

Æ 


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