II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6448 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2022 

Received 

AN ACT 

To direct the Director of the Office of Community Oriented 

Policing Services of the Department of Justice to carry 

out a grant program to provide assistance to police departments with fewer than 200 law enforcement officers, 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Invest to Protect Act 

3 of 2022’’. 

4 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

6 (1) DE-ESCALATION TRAINING.—The term ‘‘de7 escalation training’’ means training relating to tak8 ing action or communicating verbally or non-verbally 

9 during a potential force encounter in an attempt to 

10 stabilize the situation so that more time, options, 

11 and resources can be called upon to minimize the 

12 need for the use of force and increase the likelihood 

13 of voluntary compliance, including persuasion, warn14 ings, creating space, use of physical barriers, slowing 

15 down the pace of an incident, and requesting addi16 tional resources. 

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

18 the Director of the Office. 

19 (3) ELIGIBLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

20 ‘‘eligible local government’’ means— 

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

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

23 government below the State level that employs 

24 fewer than 125 law enforcement officers; or 

25 (B) a Tribal government that employs 

26 fewer than 125 law enforcement officers. 


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1 (4) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term 

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

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

4 1709 of title I the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

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

6 (5) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of7 fice of Community Oriented Policing Services of the 

8 Department of Justice. 

9 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

10 the Office a grant program to— 

11 (1) provide training and access to mental health 

12 resources to local law enforcement officers; and 

13 (2) improve the recruitment and retention of 

14 local law enforcement officers. 

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

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

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

18 program established under subsection (b). 

19 (d) APPLICATIONS.— 

20 (1) BARRIERS.—The Attorney General shall de21 termine what barriers exist to establishing a stream22 lined application process for grants under this sec23 tion. 

24 (2) REPORT.— 


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

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the At3 torney General shall submit to Congress a re4 port that includes a plan to execute a stream5 lined application process for grants under this 

6 section under which an eligible local government 

7 seeking a grant under this section can reason8 ably complete the application in not more than 

9 2 hours. 

10 (B) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—The plan re11 quired under subparagraph (A) may include a 

12 plan for— 

13 (i) proactively providing eligible local 

14 governments seeking a grant under this 

15 section with information on the data such 

16 eligible local governments will need to pre17 pare before beginning the grant applica18 tion; and 

19 (ii) ensuring technical assistance is 

20 available for eligible local governments 

21 seeking a grant under this section before 

22 and during the grant application process, 

23 including through dedicated liaisons within 

24 the Office. 


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1 (3) APPLICATIONS.—In selecting eligible local 

2 governments to receive grants under this section, the 

3 Director shall use the streamlined application proc4 ess described in paragraph (2)(A). 

5 (4) PREFERENCE.—The Attorney General may 

6 give preference to applicants who specify in their ap7 plications that grant amounts will be used for the el8 igible activities set forth in paragraphs (1), (2), (3), 

9 (4), (9), and (10) of subsection (e). 

10 (e) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—An eligible local govern11 ment that receives a grant under this section may use 

12 amounts from the grant only for— 

13 (1) de-escalation training for law enforcement 

14 officers; 

15 (2) victim-centered training for law enforcement 

16 officers in handling situations of domestic violence; 

17 (3) evidence-based law enforcement safety 

18 training for response to calls for service involving— 

19 (A) persons with substance use disorders; 

20 (B) persons with mental health needs; 

21 (C) veterans; 

22 (D) persons with disabilities; 

23 (E) vulnerable youth; 

24 (F) persons who are victims of domestic vi25 olence, sexual assault, or trafficking; and 


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1 (G) persons experiencing homelessness or 

2 living in poverty; 

3 (4) the offsetting of overtime costs associated 

4 with scheduling issues relating to the participation 

5 of a law enforcement officer in the training de6 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (3), (9) and (10); 

7 (5) a signing bonus for a law enforcement offi8 cer in an amount determined by the eligible local 

9 government; 

10 (6) a retention bonus for a law enforcement of11 ficer— 

12 (A) in an amount determined by the eligi13 ble local government that does not exceed 20 

14 percent of the salary of the law enforcement of15 ficer; and 

16 (B) who— 

17 (i) has been employed at the law en18 forcement agency for not fewer than 5 

19 years; 

20 (ii) has not been found by an internal 

21 investigation to have engaged in serious 

22 misconduct; and 

23 (iii) commits to remain with the law 

24 enforcement agency for a minimum 3 years 

25 from the time of receipt of the bonus; 


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

2 enforcement officers in the area of mental health, 

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

4 the lesser of— 

5 (A) $10,000; or 

6 (B) the amount the law enforcement offi7 cer pays towards such graduate education; 

8 (8) providing access to patient-centered behav9 ioral health services for law enforcement officers, 

10 which may include resources for risk assessments, 

11 evidence-based, trauma-informed care to treat post12 traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder, 

13 peer support and counselor services and family sup14 ports, and the promotion of improved access to high 

15 quality mental health care through telehealth; 

16 (9) implementation of evidence-based best prac17 tices and training on the use of lethal and nonlethal 

18 force; 

19 (10) implementation of evidence-based best 

20 practices and training on the duty of care and the 

21 duty to intervene; and 

22 (11) data collection for police practices regard23 ing officer and community safety. 

24 (f) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS FOR GRANT RECIPI25 ENTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish 

2 reporting requirements for eligible local government 

3 that receive a grant under this section in order to 

4 assist with the evaluation by the Office of the pro5 gram established under this section. 

6 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing any re7 quirements under paragraph (1), the Director shall 

8 consider the capacity of law enforcement agencies 

9 with fewer than 125 officers to collect and report in10 formation. 

11 (g) 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 (h) 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 3 fiscal years beginning after 

4 the end of the 12-month period described in 

5 subparagraph (A). 

6 (D) REIMBURSEMENT.—If an eligible local 

7 government is awarded grant funds under this 

8 section during the 3-fiscal-year period during 

9 which the eligible local government is barred 

10 from receiving grants under subparagraph (C), 

11 the Attorney General shall— 

12 (i) deposit an amount equal to the 

13 amount of the grant funds that were im14 properly awarded to the grantee into the 

15 General Fund of the Treasury; and 

16 (ii) seek to recoup the costs of the re17 payment to the fund from the grant recipi18 ent that was erroneously awarded grant 

19 funds. 

20 (2) ANNUAL CERTIFICATION.—Beginning in the 

21 fiscal year during which audits commence under 

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

23 to the Committee on the Judiciary and the Com24 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate and the 

25 Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on 


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1 Appropriations of the House of Representatives an 

2 annual certification— 

3 (A) indicating whether— 

4 (i) all audits issued by the Office of 

5 the Inspector General of the Department 

6 of Justice under paragraph (1) have been 

7 completed and reviewed by the appropriate 

8 Assistant Attorney General or Director; 

9 (ii) all mandatory exclusions required 

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

11 and 

12 (iii) all reimbursements required 

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

14 and 

15 (B) that includes a list of any grant recipi16 ents excluded under paragraph (1) from the 

17 previous year. 

18 (i) PROGRAM EVALUATION.—The Attorney General 

19 shall, on an annual basis, conduct analyses of the informa20 tion provided by grant recipients pursuant to subsection 

21 (f) to evaluate the efficacy of training programs funded 

22 through the grant program established by this Act in re23 ducing the incidence of use of force by the law enforcement 

24 agency. 

25 (j) 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 whether through the grant program established by 

10 this Act or other grant programs provided by the 

11 Department of Justice, the Attorney General shall 

12 submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

13 Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

14 House of Representatives a report that includes— 

15 (A) a list of all such grants awarded, in16 cluding the total dollar amount of any such 

17 grants awarded; and 

18 (B) the reason the Attorney General 

19 awarded multiple grants to the same applicant 

20 for a similar purpose. 

21 (k) FUNDING.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

23 appropriated $60,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

24 2023 through 2027 to carry out the grant program 

25 under this section. 


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1 (2) LIMITATION.—In carrying out this section 

2 for a fiscal year, if the amounts made available in 

3 appropriations Acts for that fiscal year is not less 

4 than the amount authorized to be appropriated 

5 under paragraph (1), the Director shall use not less 

6 than 20 percent of such amounts in that fiscal year 

7 for grants under this section to eligible local govern8 ments that will use the grants to carry out one or 

9 more of the eligible activities set forth in paragraphs 

10 (1), (2), (3), (4), (9), and (10) of subsection (e). 

Passed the House of Representatives September 22, 

2022. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 

By KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Deputy Clerk. 


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