IB 
Union Calendar No. 399 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3325 
[Report No. 118–481] 
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 
authorize law enforcement agencies to use COPS grants for recruitment 
activities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 15, 2023 
Mr. HUNT (for himself and Mr. IVEY) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
MAY 6, 2024 
Additional sponsors: Mr. NEHLS, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. ROSS, Mr. 
BACON, Mr. TRONE, Mr. LAWLER, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. GARBARINO, Mr. 
STAUBER, Mr. FLOOD, Mr. CISCOMANI, Mr. ARMSTRONG, Mr. VAN 
DREW, Mr. OGLES, Ms. JACKSON LEE, and Mr. CORREA 
MAY 6, 2024 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 15, 2023] 
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A BILL 
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 to authorize law enforcement agencies to 
use COPS grants for recruitment activities, and for other 
purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Recruit and Retain Act 
of 2024’’. 
SEC. 2. IMPROVING COPS GRANTS FOR POLICE HIRING 
PURPOSES. 
(a) GRANT USE EXPANSION.—Section 1701(b) of title 
I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381(b)) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (22) through 
(23) as paragraphs (23) through (24), respectively; 
and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (21) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(22) to support hiring activities by law enforce-
ment agencies experiencing declines in officer recruit-
ment applications by reducing application-related 
fees, such as fees for background checks, psychological 
evaluations, and testing;’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 1701(b)(23) of 
title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 
of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381(b)(23)), as so redesignated, is 
amended by striking ‘‘(21)’’ and inserting ‘‘(22)’’. 
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SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS; PIPELINE PARTNERSHIP 
PROGRAM. 
Section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(o) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 2 per-
cent of a grant made for the hiring or rehiring of additional 
career law enforcement officers may be used for costs in-
curred to administer such grant. 
‘‘(p) COPS PIPELINE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this sub-
section, the term ‘eligible entity’ means a law enforce-
ment agency in partnership with not less than 1 edu-
cational institution, which may include 1 or any 
combination of the following: 
‘‘(A) An elementary school. 
‘‘(B) A secondary school. 
‘‘(C) An institution of higher education. 
‘‘(D) A Hispanic-serving institution. 
‘‘(E) A historically Black college or univer-
sity. 
‘‘(F) A Tribal college. 
‘‘(2) GRANTS.—The Attorney General shall 
award competitive grants to eligible entities for re-
cruiting activities that— 
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‘‘(A) support substantial student engage-
ment for the exploration of potential future ca-
reer opportunities in law enforcement; 
‘‘(B) strengthen recruitment by law enforce-
ment agencies experiencing a decline in recruits, 
or high rates of resignations or retirements; 
‘‘(C) enhance community interactions be-
tween local youth and law enforcement agencies 
that are designed to increase recruiting; and 
‘‘(D) otherwise improve the outcomes of 
local law enforcement recruitment through ac-
tivities such as dedicated programming for stu-
dents, work-based learning opportunities, project- 
based learning, mentoring, community liaisons, 
career or job fairs, work site visits, job shad-
owing, apprenticeships, or skills-based intern-
ships. 
‘‘(3) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available 
to carry out this part for a fiscal year, the Attorney 
General may use not more than $3,000,000 to carry 
out this subsection.’’. 
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SEC. 4. COPS GRANT GUIDANCE FOR AGENCIES OPERATING 
BELOW BUDGETED STRENGTH. 
Section 1704 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 
and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10384) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) GUIDANCE FOR UNDERSTAFFED LAW ENFORCE-
MENT AGENCIES.— 
‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) COVERED APPLICANT.—The term ‘cov-
ered applicant’ means an applicant for a hiring 
grant under this part seeking funding for a law 
enforcement agency operating below the budgeted 
strength of the law enforcement agency. 
‘‘(B) BUDGETED
STRENGTH.—The term 
‘budgeted strength’ means the employment of the 
maximum number of sworn law enforcement offi-
cers the budget of a law enforcement agency al-
lows the agency to employ. 
‘‘(2) PROCEDURES.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 
General shall establish consistent procedures for cov-
ered applicants, including guidance that— 
‘‘(A) clarifies that covered applicants re-
main eligible for funding under this part; and 
‘‘(B) enables covered applicants to attest 
that the funding from a grant awarded under 
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this part is not being used by the law enforce-
ment agency to supplant State or local funds, as 
described in subsection (a). 
‘‘(3) PAPERWORK
REDUCTION.—In developing 
the procedures and guidance under paragraph (2), the 
Attorney General shall take measures to reduce paper-
work requirements for grants to covered applicants.’’. 
SEC. 5. STUDY ON POLICE RECRUITMENT. 
(a) STUDY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 
the United States shall conduct a study to consider 
the comprehensive effects of recruitment and attrition 
rates on Federal, State, Tribal, and local law enforce-
ment agencies in the United States, to identify— 
(A) the primary reasons that law enforce-
ment officers— 
(i) join law enforcement agencies; and 
(ii) resign or retire from law enforce-
ment agencies; 
(B) how the reasons described in subpara-
graph (A) may have changed over time; 
(C) the effects of recruitment and attrition 
on public safety; 
(D) the effects of electronic media on re-
cruitment efforts; 
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(E) barriers to the recruitment and reten-
tion of Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
officers; and 
(F) recommendations for potential ways to 
address barriers to the recruitment and retention 
of law enforcement officers, including the bar-
riers identified in subparagraph (E). 
(2) REPRESENTATIVE CROSS-SECTION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General 
of the United States shall endeavor to ensure ac-
curate representation of law enforcement agencies 
in the study conducted pursuant to paragraph 
(1) by surveying a broad cross-section of law en-
forcement agencies— 
(i) from various regions of the United 
States; 
(ii) of different sizes; and 
(iii) from rural, suburban, and urban 
jurisdictions. 
(B) METHODS
DESCRIPTION.—The study 
conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall in-
clude in the report under subsection (b) a de-
scription of the methods used to identify a rep-
resentative sample of law enforcement agencies. 
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(b) REPORT.—Not later than 540 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 
United States shall— 
(1) submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of 
the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 
House of Representatives a report containing the 
study conducted under subsection (a); and 
(2) make the report submitted under paragraph 
(1) publicly available online. 
(c) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Comptroller General of 
the United States shall ensure that the study conducted 
under subsection (a) protects the privacy of participating 
law enforcement agencies. 
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Union Calendar No. 399 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3325 
[Report No. 118–481] 
A BILL 
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 to authorize law enforcement 
agencies to use COPS grants for recruitment ac-
tivities, and for other purposes. 
MAY 6, 2024 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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