I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2698 
To provide grants to State, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement 
agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis response training for law 
enforcement officers. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 14, 2019 
Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma (for herself and Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 
Judiciary 
A BILL 
To provide grants to State, local, territorial, and tribal law 
enforcement agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis 
response training for law enforcement officers. 
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 ‘‘Law Enforcement 
Training for Mental Health Crisis Response Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Law enforcement officers routinely respond 
to emergencies involving individuals suffering from a 
mental health crisis. 
(2) Recent statistics have shown that as many 
as— 
(A) 1 in every 10 calls for police response 
involve a person suffering from a mental illness; 
(B) 1 in every 4 people killed by police suf-
fer from a mental health problem; and 
(C) 1 in 3 people transported to a hospital 
emergency room for psychiatric reasons are 
taken by the police. 
(3) Law enforcement response calls to individ-
uals suffering from substance use disorder has in-
creased during the current opioid epidemic. 
(4) There is a need to ensure that law enforce-
ment officers have access to proper evidence-based 
training in responding to mental health crises. 
(5) Proper training for response to individuals 
suffering from a mental health crisis can better pro-
tect the safety of the general public and law enforce-
ment officers. 
(6) Our Nation’s law enforcement officers can 
better serve their communities if they receive train-
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ing to effectively and safely resolve the mental 
health crises. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide 
grants to State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies 
to obtain behavioral health crisis response training for law 
enforcement officers to— 
(1) better train law enforcement officers to re-
solve behavioral health crisis situations; 
(2) reduce the number of law enforcement offi-
cers killed or injured while responding to a behav-
ioral health crisis; and 
(3) reduce the number of individuals killed or 
injured during a behavioral health crisis in which a 
law enforcement officer responds. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘applicant’’ means 
a law enforcement agency that applies for a grant 
under section 4. 
(2) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Attorney 
General’’ means the Attorney General, acting 
through the Assistant Attorney General for the Of-
fice of Justice Programs. 
(3) CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The 
term ‘‘chief law enforcement officer’’ has the mean-
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