I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1792

To provide crime-fighting scholarships to certain law enforcement officers.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 13, 1999

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi (for himself, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mr. SHOWS,

Mr. ETHERIDGE, and Mr. HOLDEN) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To provide crime-fighting scholarships to certain law

enforcement officers.

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 ‘‘Bipartisan Rural Law

5 Enforcement Crime-Fighting Scholarship Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the organization of illegal gangs and many

9 systems of illegal drug trafficking and distribution
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1 have become increasingly similar in both urban and

2 rural areas of the United States;

3 (2) crime- and drug-ridden neighborhoods in

4 both urban and rural areas demonstrate many of the

5 same characteristics;

6 (3) many law enforcement agencies in urban

7 areas utilize the most modern technology and cut8 ting-edge police tactics to fight gangs, abolish illegal

9 drug trafficking and distribution systems, and create

10 safer neighborhoods and communities; and

11 (4) law enforcement agencies in rural areas

12 may improve their efforts in the community if offi13 cers have an opportunity to participate in a program

14 permitting them to conduct firsthand observations of

15 the strategies and technologies utilized by Federal

16 and urban law enforcement agencies to fight gangs,

17 abolish illegal drug trafficking and distribution sys18 tems, and create safer neighborhoods and commu19 nities.

20 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE RURAL LAW ENFORCE21 MENT CRIME-FIGHTING SCHOLARSHIP PRO22 GRAM.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, through

24 the Office of Justice Programs and in consultation with

25 the National Center for Rural Law Enforcement at the
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1 University of Arkansas, shall establish a rural law enforce2 ment scholarship program by providing grants to rural law

3 enforcement agencies and consortia of law enforcement

4 agencies. The grants shall be used to allow law enforce5 ment officers to observe the advanced strategies and tech6 nologies employed by Federal and urban law enforcement

7 agencies to fight gangs, abolish illegal drug trafficking and

8 distribution systems, and create safer neighborhoods and

9 communities.

10 (b) SITE IDENTIFICATION AND NOTIFICATION.—

11 (1) IDENTIFICATION.—Before grants are

12 awarded and not later than 90 days after the date

13 of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General

14 shall identify Federal and urban law enforcement

15 agencies willing to allow rural law enforcement offi16 cers to observe the strategies and technologies used

17 for fighting crime and creating safer neighborhoods

18 and communities.

19 (2) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 120 days

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the At21 torney General shall publish in the Federal Register

22 a list of the urban and Federal agencies identified

23 under paragraph (1).

24 (c) GRANT AMOUNTS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall

2 determine the appropriate amount of each grant

3 award after considering the relative costs associated

4 with each observation opportunity.

5 (2) MAXIMUM GRANT AWARD.—Each grant

6 award may not exceed $2,500 for an individual rural

7 law enforcement agency and $7,500 for a consor8 tium of law enforcement agencies.

9 (d) PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS.—Officers se10 lected for a rural law enforcement scholarship may partici11 pate in a particular observation opportunity for a max12 imum period of 1 month. Not more than 1 officer from

13 the same rural law enforcement agency may participate.

14 In cases in which 1 or more rural law enforcement agen15 cies establish a consortium, not more than 1 officer from

16 each agency in the consortium may participate.

17 (e) USES OF FUNDS.—Subject to subsections (c) and

18 (d), a grant received under this Act may be used to pay

19 the costs of official travel, lodging, and expenses that law

20 enforcement officers incur while participating in the pro21 gram.

22 SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY AND SELECTION.

23 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant

24 under this Act, a rural law enforcement agency, on its own

25 behalf or for a consortium of law enforcement agencies
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1 shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time,

2 in such manner, and containing such information as the

3 Secretary may reasonably require.

4 (b) SELECTION.—The Attorney General shall select

5 grant recipients by using the following criteria:

6 (1) CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES.—The extent of vio7 lent crime, drug trafficking and distribution, drug

8 use, and other major indicators of crime that threat9 en the public safety in the area served by the rural

10 law enforcement agency, as identified in studies con11 ducted by the Department of Justice and in State

12 applications submitted under part E of title I of the

13 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of

14 1968 for the Edward Bryne Memorial State and

15 Local Law Enforcement Assistance Programs.

16 (2) PROGRAM BENEFITS.—The extent to which

17 the observation opportunity is likely to provide law

18 enforcement officers who participate in the scholar19 ship program with knowledge or skills that can be

20 successfully employed in the area that the rural law

21 enforcement agency serves.

22 SEC. 5. REPORTING.

23 Not later than 3 years after the date of the enact24 ment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to

25 the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Rep-
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1 resentatives and the Senate a report regarding the success

2 of participating rural law enforcement agencies in employ3 ing strategies or technology observed during participation

4 in the rural law enforcement scholarship program.

5 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

6 For purposes of this Act:

7 (1) The term ‘‘consortium of law enforcement

8 agencies’’ means not less than 1 rural law enforce9 ment agency that executes an agreement with other

10 law enforcement agencies which may include sheriff,

11 highway patrol, and police departments that seek to

12 organize more comprehensive crime-fighting strate13 gies in rural areas.

14 (2) The term ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ has the

15 same meaning given such term in section 1204(5) of

16 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe

17 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796b(5).

18 (3) The term ‘‘metropolitan statistical area’’

19 has the same meaning given such term by the Bu20 reau of the Census.

21 (4) The term ‘‘rural law enforcement agency’’

22 means a law enforcement agency that serves—

23 (A) a city, town, township, borough, or vil24 lage outside a metropolitan statistical area;
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1 (B) a city, town, township, borough, or vil2 lage of less than 10,000 residents; or

3 (C) a county or parish of less than 80,000

4 residents.

5 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

6 There are authorized to be appropriated $12,000,000

7 to carry out this Act for each of the fiscal years 2000

8 through 2005.

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