I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 103 
To improve public safety through increased law enforcement presence and 
enhanced public safety equipment and programs, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 6, 2015 
Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. LEE, 
and Ms. BROWNLEY of California) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To improve public safety through increased law enforcement 
presence and enhanced public safety equipment and pro-
grams, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; DEFINITIONS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Shield Our Streets Act of 2015’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 
(1) ELEVATED
NEED
LOCALITY.—The term 
‘‘elevated need locality’’ means a county or other 
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unit of local government that is not part of a county 
that— 
(A) has a violent crime rate at or above 
the national average, as determined by the Fed-
eral Bureau of Investigation; and 
(B) has, during the most recent 5-year pe-
riod, had budget reductions. 
(2) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 
‘‘unit of local government’’ has the meaning given 
such term in section 901 of title I of the Omnibus 
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 
U.S.C. 3791). 
SEC. 2. SHIELD POLICE HIRING GRANTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General is author-
ized to carry out a program, through the Office of Com-
munity Oriented Policing Services, to award grants to eli-
gible local law enforcement agencies to assist such agen-
cies with hiring and rehiring career law enforcement offi-
cers in accordance with this section. 
(b) ELIGIBLE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGEN-
CIES.—For the purposes of this section, an ‘‘eligible local 
law enforcement agency’’ is a local law enforcement agen-
cy that has jurisdiction over all or part of an elevated need 
locality. 
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(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grant funds awarded under 
this section shall be used by an eligible local law enforce-
ment agency to— 
(1) hire and train new career law enforcement 
officers for deployment in the jurisdiction of the 
agency; or 
(2) rehire career law enforcement officers who 
have been laid off as a result of Federal, State, or 
local budget reductions. 
(d) GRANT PERIOD.—Each grant awarded under this 
section shall be for a period of 3 years and may be ex-
tended or renewed for an additional 2-year period at the 
discretion of the Attorney General. 
(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Attorney General 
shall provide technical assistance to eligible local law en-
forcement agencies during the application process and 
while such agencies are carrying out grants under this sec-
tion. 
(f) NO MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—An eligible local 
law enforcement agency receiving a grant under this sec-
tion shall not be required to provide any portion of the 
costs, in cash or in-kind, of the activities carried out with 
such grant from non-Federal funds. 
(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi-
tion to any other funds authorized to be appropriated for 
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hiring and rehiring local law enforcement officers, there 
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$100,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2016 through 
2021. 
SEC. 3. SHIELD PUBLIC SAFETY ENHANCEMENT GRANTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General is author-
ized to carry out a program to award grants to eligible 
organizations to enhance public safety through the activi-
ties described in subsection (c). 
(b) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATIONS.—For the purposes of 
this section, an ‘‘eligible organization’’ is— 
(1) a unit of local government that has jurisdic-
tion over all or part of an elevated need locality; or 
(2) a nonprofit organization that operates in 
one or more elevated need localities. 
(c) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Grant funds awarded 
under this section shall be used as follows: 
(1) With respect to an eligible organization de-
scribed in subsection (b)(1), to enhance public safety 
in the jurisdiction of the organization. Such en-
hancement may include— 
(A) purchasing public safety equipment; 
(B) funding public safety programs; 
(C) making infrastructure improvements 
for the purpose of enhancing public safety; 
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(D) purchasing and installing street lights 
and other lights to deter crime; 
(E) funding activities related to crime labs; 
and 
(F) funding public defender programs. 
(2) With respect to an eligible organization de-
scribed in subsection (b)(2), to carry out programs 
designed to reduce crime in one or more of the coun-
ties or cities under subsection (b)(2). 
(d) GRANT PERIOD.—Each grant awarded under this 
section shall be for a period of one year and may be ex-
tended or renewed for an additional period at the discre-
tion of the Attorney General. 
(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Attorney General 
shall provide technical assistance to eligible organizations 
during the application process and while such organiza-
tions are carrying out grants under this section. 
(f) NO MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—An eligible orga-
nization receiving a grant under this section shall not be 
required to provide any portion of the costs, in cash or 
in-kind, of the activities carried out with such grant from 
non-Federal funds. 
(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi-
tion to any other funds authorized to be appropriated for 
public safety enhancement by eligible organizations, there 
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are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
$100,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2016 through 
2021. 
Æ 
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