II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1144 

To establish a grant program to provide assistance to local law enforcement 

agencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 30, 2023 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. CASSIDY, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. TESTER, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. COONS, Mr. YOUNG, 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. KELLY, 

and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to provide assistance to local 

law enforcement agencies, 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 ‘‘Invest to Protect Act 

5 of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

8 (1) DE-ESCALATION TRAINING.—The term ‘‘de9 escalation training’’ means training relating to takVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Apr 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1144.IS S1144

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1 ing action or communicating verbally or non-verbally 

2 during a potential force encounter in an attempt to 

3 stabilize the situation and reduce the immediacy of 

4 the threat so that more time, options, and resources 

5 can be called upon to resolve the situation without 

6 the use of force or with a reduction in the force nec7 essary. 

8 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

9 the Director of the Office. 

10 (3) ELIGIBLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

11 ‘‘eligible local government’’ means— 

12 (A) a county, municipality, town, township, 

13 village, parish, borough, or other unit of general 

14 government below the State level that employs 

15 fewer than 200 law enforcement officers; and 

16 (B) a Tribal government that employs 

17 fewer than 200 law enforcement officers. 

18 (4) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term 

19 ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ has the meaning given the 

20 term ‘‘career law enforcement officer’’ in section 

21 1709 of title I the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

22 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10389). 

23 (5) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of24 fice of Community Oriented Policing Services of the 

25 Department of Justice. 


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1 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

2 the Office a grant program to— 

3 (1) provide training and access to mental health 

4 resources to local law enforcement officers; and 

5 (2) improve the recruitment and retention of 

6 local law enforcement officers. 

7 (c) AUTHORITY.—Not later than 120 days after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall award 

9 grants to eligible local governments as a part of the grant 

10 program established under subsection (b). 

11 (d) APPLICATIONS.— 

12 (1) BARRIERS.—The Attorney General shall de13 termine what barriers exist to establishing a stream14 lined application process for grants under this sec15 tion. 

16 (2) REPORT.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the At19 torney General shall submit to Congress a re20 port that includes a plan to execute a stream21 lined application process for grants under this 

22 section under which an eligible local government 

23 seeking a grant under this section can reason24 ably complete the application in not more than 

25 2 hours. 


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1 (B) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—The plan re2 quired under subparagraph (A) may include a 

3 plan for— 

4 (i) proactively providing eligible local 

5 governments seeking a grant under this 

6 section with information on the data such 

7 eligible local governments will need to pre8 pare before beginning the grant applica9 tion; and 

10 (ii) ensuring technical assistance is 

11 available for eligible local governments 

12 seeking a grant under this section before 

13 and during the grant application process, 

14 including through dedicated liaisons within 

15 the Office. 

16 (3) APPLICATIONS.—In selecting eligible local 

17 governments to receive grants under this section, the 

18 Director shall use the streamlined application proc19 ess described in paragraph (2)(A). 

20 (e) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible local govern21 ment that receives a grant under this section may use 

22 amounts from the grant only for— 

23 (1) de-escalation training for law enforcement 

24 officers; 


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1 (2) victim-centered training for law enforcement 

2 officers in handling situations of domestic violence; 

3 (3) evidence-based law enforcement safety 

4 training, including training for— 

5 (A) active shooter situations; 

6 (B) the safe handling of illicit drugs and 

7 precursor chemicals; 

8 (C) rescue situations; 

9 (D) high speed or pursuit driving; 

10 (E) recognizing and countering ambush at11 tacks; 

12 (F) contact with individuals with mental 

13 health needs; 

14 (G) contact with individuals with substance 

15 use disorders; 

16 (H) contact with veterans; 

17 (I) contact with individuals with disabil18 ities; 

19 (J) contact with vulnerable youth; 

20 (K) contact with individuals who are vic21 tims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or 

22 trafficking; or 

23 (L) contact with individuals experiencing 

24 homelessness or living in poverty; 


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1 (4) the offsetting of overtime costs associated 

2 with scheduling issues relating to the participation 

3 of a law enforcement officer in the training de4 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (3); 

5 (5) a signing bonus for a law enforcement offi6 cer in an amount determined by the eligible local 

7 government; 

8 (6) a retention bonus for a law enforcement of9 ficer— 

10 (A) in an amount determined by the eligi11 ble local government that does not exceed 20 

12 percent of the salary of the law enforcement of13 ficer; and 

14 (B) who— 

15 (i) has been employed at the law en16 forcement agency for not fewer than 5 

17 years; and 

18 (ii) has not been found by an internal 

19 investigation to have engaged in serious 

20 misconduct; 

21 (7) a stipend for the graduate education of law 

22 enforcement officers in the area of mental health, 

23 public health, or social work, which shall not exceed 

24 the lesser of— 

25 (A) $10,000; or 


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1 (B) the amount the law enforcement offi2 cer pays towards such graduate education; and 

3 (8) providing access to patient-centered behav4 ioral health services for law enforcement officers, 

5 which may include resources for risk assessments, 

6 evidence-based, trauma-informed care to treat post7 traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder, 

8 peer support and counselor services and family sup9 ports, and the promotion of improved access to high 

10 quality mental health care through telehealth. 

11 (f) DISCLOSURE OF OFFICER RECRUITMENT AND

12 RETENTION BONUSES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

14 the date on which an eligible local government that 

15 receives a grant under this section awards a signing 

16 or retention bonus described in paragraph (5) or (6) 

17 of subsection (e), the eligible local government shall 

18 disclose to the Director and make publicly available 

19 on a website of the eligible local government the 

20 amount of such bonus. 

21 (2) REPORT.—The Attorney General shall sub22 mit to the appropriate congressional committees an 

23 annual report that includes each signing or retention 

24 bonus disclosed under paragraph (1) during the pre25 ceding year. 


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1 (g) GRANT ACCOUNTABILITY.—All grants awarded 

2 by the Director under this section shall be subject to the 

3 following accountability provisions: 

4 (1) AUDIT REQUIREMENT.— 

5 (A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

6 term ‘‘unresolved audit finding’’ means a find7 ing in the final audit report of the Inspector 

8 General of the Department of Justice that the 

9 audited grantee has used grant funds for an 

10 unauthorized expenditure or otherwise unallow11 able cost that is not closed or resolved within 

12 12 months from the date when the final audit 

13 report is issued. 

14 (B) AUDITS.—Beginning in the first fiscal 

15 year beginning after the date of enactment of 

16 this subsection, and in each fiscal year there17 after, the Inspector General of the Department 

18 of Justice shall conduct audits of recipients of 

19 grants under this section to prevent waste, 

20 fraud, and abuse of funds by grantees. The In21 spector General of the Department of Justice 

22 shall determine the appropriate number of 

23 grantees to be audited each year. 

24 (C) MANDATORY EXCLUSION.—A recipient 

25 of grant funds under this section that is found 


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1 to have an unresolved audit finding shall not be 

2 eligible to receive grant funds under this section 

3 during the first 2 fiscal years beginning after 

4 the end of the 12-month period described in 

5 subparagraph (A). 

6 (D) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under 

7 this section, the Director shall give priority to 

8 eligible local governments that did not have an 

9 unresolved audit finding during the 3 fiscal 

10 years before submitting an application for a 

11 grant under this section. 

12 (E) REIMBURSEMENT.—If an eligible local 

13 government is awarded grant funds under this 

14 section during the 2-fiscal-year period during 

15 which the eligible local government is barred 

16 from receiving grants under subparagraph (C), 

17 the Attorney General shall— 

18 (i) deposit an amount equal to the 

19 amount of the grant funds that were im20 properly awarded to the grantee into the 

21 General Fund of the Treasury; and 

22 (ii) seek to recoup the costs of the re23 payment to the fund from the grant recipi24 ent that was erroneously awarded grant 

25 funds. 


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1 (2) ANNUAL CERTIFICATION.—Beginning in the 

2 fiscal year during which audits commence under 

3 paragraph (1)(B), the Attorney General shall submit 

4 to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Com5 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate and the 

6 Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on 

7 Appropriations of the House of Representatives an 

8 annual certification— 

9 (A) indicating whether— 

10 (i) all audits issued by the Office of 

11 the Inspector General of the Department 

12 of Justice under paragraph (1) have been 

13 completed and reviewed by the appropriate 

14 Assistant Attorney General or Director; 

15 (ii) all mandatory exclusions required 

16 under paragraph (1)(C) have been issued; 

17 and 

18 (iii) all reimbursements required 

19 under paragraph (1)(E) have been made; 

20 and 

21 (B) that includes a list of any grant recipi22 ents excluded under paragraph (1) from the 

23 previous year. 

24 (h) PREVENTING DUPLICATIVE GRANTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before the Director awards 

2 a grant to an eligible local government under this 

3 section, the Attorney General shall compare poten4 tial grant awards with other grants awarded by the 

5 Attorney General to determine if grant awards are 

6 or have been awarded for a similar purpose. 

7 (2) REPORT.—If the Attorney General awards 

8 grants to the same applicant for a similar purpose, 

9 the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee 

10 on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee 

11 on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a 

12 report that includes— 

13 (A) a list of all such grants awarded, in14 cluding the total dollar amount of any such 

15 grants awarded; and 

16 (B) the reason the Attorney General 

17 awarded multiple grants to the same applicant 

18 for a similar purpose. 

19 (i) FUNDING.—In carrying out this section, the Di20 rector— 

21 (1) shall use amounts otherwise made available 

22 to the Office; and 

23 (2) may use not more than $50,000,000 of such 

24 amounts for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 

Æ 


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