I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 155 

To establish licensing standards for law enforcement, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2021 

Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish licensing standards for law enforcement, 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 ‘‘Providing Officer Li5 censing to Increase Confidence for Everyone Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘POLICE Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. LAW ENFORCEMENT LICENSING STANDARDS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in 

10 consultation with appropriate nongovernmental associa11 tions (such as the International Association of Directors 


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1 of Law Enforcement Standards and Training and the 

2 Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agen3 cies), shall issue licensing standards for law enforcement 

4 officers based on best practices for law enforcement. Such 

5 licensing standards shall be reviewed and, if necessary, 

6 modified every 5 years. 

7 (b) FEDERAL LICENSING.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, each Federal law 

10 enforcement officer shall be licensed in accordance 

11 with the licensing standards issued pursuant to sub12 section (a). 

13 (2) CONTINUING EDUCATION.—Each Federal 

14 law enforcement officer who has received a license 

15 under paragraph (1) shall take annual continuing 

16 education classes on such topics as the Attorney 

17 General may require to maintain the license for a 

18 year. 

19 (3) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER DE20 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘Federal law 

21 enforcement officer’’ has the meaning given the term 

22 in section 115 of title 18, United States Code. 

23 (c) STATE LICENSING.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

25 the date of enactment of this Act, a State shall— 


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1 (A) have in effect a licensing system under 

2 which each State and local law enforcement of3 ficer shall be licensed in accordance with the li4 censing standards issued pursuant to subsection 

5 (a); and 

6 (B) have in effect a continuing education 

7 program that is substantially similar to the pro8 gram for Federal law enforcement officers 

9 under subsection (b)(2). 

10 (2) BYRNE.—If a State fails to comply with the 

11 requirement under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, 

12 the State shall be subject to a 50 percent reduction 

13 of the amount that would otherwise be awarded in 

14 the following fiscal year to that State under subpart 

15 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

16 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et 

17 seq.). 

18 (3) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated to 

19 a State for failure to comply with this subsection 

20 shall be reallocated to States that have complied in 

21 accordance with subpart 1 of part E of title I of the 

22 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

23 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.). 

Æ 


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