I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1896 

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

enhance the COPS ON THE BEAT grant program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 13, 2011 

Mr. WEINER (for himself, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. 

CROWLEY, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, and Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

Act of 1968 to enhance the COPS ON THE BEAT 

grant program, 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 ‘‘COPS Improvements 

5 Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COPS GRANT IMPROVEMENTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1701 of title I of the Om8 nibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

9 U.S.C. 3796dd) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking subsection (c); 

2 (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub3 section (c); 

4 (3) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(a) THE OFFICE OF COMMUNITY ORIENTED POLIC7 ING SERVICES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) OFFICE.—There is within the Department 

9 of Justice, under the general authority of the Attor10 ney General, a separate and distinct office to be 

11 known as the Office of Community Oriented Policing 

12 Services (referred to in this subsection as the ‘COPS 

13 Office’). 

14 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.—The COPS Office shall be 

15 headed by a Director who shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) be appointed by the Attorney Gen17 eral; and 

18 ‘‘(B) have final authority over all grants, 

19 cooperative agreements, and contracts awarded 

20 by the COPS Office. 

21 ‘‘(b) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney Gen22 eral shall carry out grant programs under which the Attor23 ney General makes grants to States, units of local govern24 ment, Indian tribal governments, other public and private 

25 entities, and multi-jurisdictional or regional consortia for 


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1 the purposes described in subsections (c), (d), (e), and 

2 (f).’’; 

3 (4) in subsection (c), as so redesignated— 

4 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘uses of 

5 grant amounts.—’’ and inserting ‘‘COMMUNITY

6 POLICING AND CRIME PREVENTION GRANTS’’; 

7 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘, to in8 crease the number of officers deployed in com9 munity-oriented policing’’; 

10 (C) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘or 

11 train’’ after ‘‘pay for’’; 

12 (D) by striking paragraph (9); 

13 (E) by redesignating paragraphs (5) 

14 through (8) as paragraphs (6) through (9), re15 spectively; 

16 (F) by inserting after paragraph (4) the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(5) award grants to hire school resource offi19 cers and to establish school-based partnerships be20 tween local law enforcement agencies and local 

21 school systems to combat crime, gangs, drug activi22 ties, and other problems in and around elementary 

23 and secondary schools;’’; 

24 (G) by striking paragraph (13); 


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1 (H) by redesignating paragraphs (14), 

2 (15), and (16) as paragraphs (13), (14), and 

3 (15), respectively; 

4 (I) in paragraph (15), as so redesignated, 

5 by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

6 (J) by redesignating paragraph (17) as 

7 paragraph (18); 

8 (K) by inserting after paragraph (15), as 

9 so redesignated, the following: 

10 ‘‘(16) establish and implement innovative pro11 grams to reduce and prevent illegal drug manufac12 turing, distribution, and use, including the manufac13 turing, distribution, and use of methamphetamine; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(17) award enhancing community policing and 

16 crime prevention grants that meet emerging law en17 forcement needs, as warranted.’’; and 

18 (L) in paragraph (18), as so redesignated, 

19 by striking ‘‘through (16)’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘through (17)’’; 

21 (5) by striking subsections (h) and (i); 

22 (6) by redesignating subsections (j) and (k) as 

23 subsections (k) and (l), respectively; 

24 (7) by redesignating subsections (d) through (g) 

25 as subsections (g) through (j), respectively; 


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1 (8) by inserting after subsection (c), as so re2 designated, the following: 

3 ‘‘(d) TROOPS-TO-COPS PROGRAMS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Grants made under sub5 section (b) may be used to hire former members of 

6 the Armed Forces to serve as career law enforce7 ment officers for deployment in community-oriented 

8 policing, particularly in communities that are ad9 versely affected by a recent military base closing. 

10 ‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, ‘former 

11 member of the Armed Forces’ means a member of 

12 the Armed Forces of the United States who is invol13 untarily separated from the Armed Forces within 

14 the meaning of section 1141 of title 10, United 

15 States Code. 

16 ‘‘(e) COMMUNITY PROSECUTORS PROGRAM.—The 

17 Attorney General may make grants under subsection (b) 

18 to pay for additional community prosecuting programs, in19 cluding programs that assign prosecutors to— 

20 ‘‘(1) handle cases from specific geographic 

21 areas; and 

22 ‘‘(2) address counter-terrorism problems, spe23 cific violent crime problems (including intensive ille24 gal gang, gun, and drug enforcement and quality of 

25 life initiatives), and localized violent and other crime 


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1 problems based on needs identified by local law en2 forcement agencies, community organizations, and 

3 others. 

4 ‘‘(f) TECHNOLOGY GRANTS.—The Attorney General 

5 may make grants under subsection (b) to develop and use 

6 new technologies (including interoperable communications 

7 technologies, modernized criminal record technology, and 

8 forensic technology) to assist State and local law enforce9 ment agencies in reorienting the emphasis of their activi10 ties from reacting to crime to preventing crime and to 

11 train law enforcement officers to use such technologies.’’; 

12 (9) in subsection (g), as so redesignated— 

13 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘to 

14 States, units of local government, Indian tribal 

15 governments, and to other public and private 

16 entities,’’; 

17 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘define 

18 for State and local governments, and other pub19 lic and private entities,’’ and inserting ‘‘estab20 lish’’; and 

21 (C) in the first sentence of paragraph (3), 

22 by inserting ‘‘(including regional community po23 licing institutes)’’ after ‘‘training centers or fa24 cilities’’; 

25 (10) in subsection (i), as so redesignated— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ the first 

2 place that term appears and inserting ‘‘para3 graphs (1) and (2) of subsection (c)’’; and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘in each fiscal year pursu5 ant to subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘in each 

6 fiscal year for purposes described in paragraph 

7 (1) and (2) of subsection (c)’’; 

8 (11) in subsection (j), as so redesignated— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)’’ and in10 serting ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and 

11 (B) by striking the second sentence; 

12 (12) in subsection (k)(1), as so redesignated— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘subsection (i) and’’; and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘subsection (b)’’ and in15 serting ‘‘subsection (c)’’; and 

16 (13) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(m) RETENTION OF ADDITIONAL OFFICER POSI18 TIONS.—For any grant under paragraph (1) or (2) of sub19 section (c) for hiring or rehiring career law enforcement 

20 officers, a grant recipient shall retain each additional law 

21 enforcement officer position created under that grant for 

22 not less than 12 months after the end of the period of 

23 that grant, unless the Attorney General waives, wholly or 

24 in part, the retention requirement of a program, project, 

25 or activity.’’. 


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1 (b) APPLICATIONS.—Section 1702 of title I of the 

2 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

3 U.S.C. 3796dd–1) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (c)— 

5 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

6 by inserting ‘‘, unless waived by the Attorney 

7 General’’ after ‘‘under this part shall’’; 

8 (B) by striking paragraph (8); and 

9 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (9) 

10 through (11) as paragraphs (8) through (10), 

11 respectively; and 

12 (2) by striking subsection (d). 

13 (c) RENEWAL OF GRANTS.—Section 1703 of title I 

14 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

15 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd–2) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 1703. RENEWAL OF GRANTS. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—A grant made under this part 

18 may be renewed, without limitations on the duration of 

19 such renewal, to provide additional funds, if the Attorney 

20 General determines that the funds made available to the 

21 recipient were used in a manner required under an ap22 proved application and if the recipient can demonstrate 

23 significant progress in achieving the objectives of the ini24 tial application. 


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1 ‘‘(b) NO COST EXTENSIONS.—Notwithstanding sub2 section (a), the Attorney General may extend a grant pe3 riod, without limitations as to the duration of such exten4 sion, to provide additional time to complete the objectives 

5 of the initial grant award.’’. 

6 (d) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—Section 1704 

7 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

8 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd–3) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘that would, 

10 in the absence of Federal funds received under this 

11 part, be made available from State or local sources’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘that the Attorney General determines 

13 would, in the absence of Federal funds received 

14 under this part, be made available for the purpose 

15 of the grant under this part from State or local 

16 sources’’; and 

17 (2) by striking subsection (c). 

18 (e) ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.—Section 1706 of title 

19 I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

20 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd–5) is amended— 

21 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘REV22 OCATION OR SUSPENSION OF FUNDING’’ and in23 serting ‘‘ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘revoke or suspend’’ and all that 

2 follows and inserting ‘‘take any enforcement action 

3 available to the Department of Justice.’’. 

4 (f) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1709(1) of title I of the 

5 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

6 U.S.C. 3796dd–8(1)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘who is authorized’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘who is a sworn law enforcement officer and is 

9 authorized’’; and 

10 (2) by inserting ‘‘, including officers for the 

11 Amtrak Police Department’’ before the period at the 

12 end. 

13 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

14 1001(a)(11) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

15 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3793(a)(11)) is 

16 amended— 

17 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘fiscal 

18 years 2006 through 2009’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal 

19 years 2012 through 2017’’; and 

20 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

21 (A) in the first sentence— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘3 percent’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘5 percent’’; and 

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘section 1701(d)’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘section 1701(g)’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking the second sentence and in2 serting the following: ‘‘Of the funds available 

3 for grants under part Q, not less than 

4 $600,000,000 shall be used for grants for the 

5 purposes specified in section 1701(c), not more 

6 than $150,000,000 shall be used for grants 

7 under section 1701(e), and not more than 

8 $250,000,000 shall be used for grants under 

9 section 1701(f).’’. 

10 (h) PURPOSES.—Section 10002 of the Public Safety 

11 Partnership and Community Policing Act of 1994 (42 

12 U.S.C. 3796dd note) is amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘development’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘use’’; and 

15 (2) in the matter following paragraph (4), by 

16 striking ‘‘for a period of 6 years’’. 

17 (i) COPS PROGRAM IMPROVEMENTS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 109(b) of title I of 

19 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

20 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3712h(b)) is amended— 

21 (A) by striking paragraph (1); 

22 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and 

23 (3) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively; and 


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1 (C) in paragraph (2), as so redesignated, 

2 by inserting ‘‘, except for the program under 

3 part Q of this title’’ before the period. 

4 (2) LAW ENFORCEMENT COMPUTER SYS5 TEMS.—Section 107 of title I of the Omnibus Crime 

6 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 

7 3712f) is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTION.—This section shall not apply to any 

10 grant made under part Q of this title.’’. 

Æ 


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