Title: Invest to Protect Act of 2022
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Invest to Protect Act of 2022
This bill directs the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services within the Department of Justice to award grants to local and tribal governments that employ fewer than 200 law enforcement officers. Grant funds may be used for various activities, including to purchase body cameras, provide de-escalation training, and improve recruitment and retention.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3860 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3860

To establish a grant program to provide assistance to local governments 
 with fewer than 200 law enforcement officers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 17, 2022

   Ms. Cortez Masto (for herself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Warnock, and Mr. 
   Cassidy) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a grant program to provide assistance to local governments 
 with fewer than 200 law enforcement officers, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Invest to Protect Act of 2022''.

SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Definitions.--In this Act:
            (1) De-escalation training.--The term ``de-escalation 
        training'' means a process or tactic used to prevent, reduce, 
        or manage behaviors associated with conflict (including verbal 
        or physical agitation, aggression, violence, or similar 
        behaviors) during an interaction between not less than 2 
        individuals.
            (2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Office.
            (3) Eligible local government.--The term ``eligible local 
        government'' means--
                    (A) a county, municipality, town, township, 
                village, parish, borough, or other unit of general 
                government below the State level that employs fewer 
                than 200 law enforcement officers; and
                    (B) a Tribal government that employs fewer than 200 
                law enforcement officers.
            (4) Law enforcement officer.--The term ``law enforcement 
        officer'' has the meaning given the term in section 2503 of the 
        Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 
        10533).
            (5) Office.--The term ``Office'' means the Office of 
        Community Oriented Policing Services of the Department of 
        Justice.
    (b) Establishment.--There is established within the Office a grant 
program to--
            (1) provide training, body cameras, and access to mental 
        health resources to local law enforcement officers; and
            (2) improve the recruitment and retention of local law 
        enforcement officers.
    (c) Authority.--Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Director shall award grants to eligible local 
governments as a part of the grant program established under subsection 
(b).
    (d) Applications.--
            (1) Barriers.--The Attorney General shall determine what 
        barriers exist to establishing a streamlined application 
        process for grants under this section.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to 
        Congress a report that includes a plan to execute a streamlined 
        application process for grants under this section under which 
        an eligible local government seeking a grant under this section 
        can complete the application in not more than 30 minutes.
            (3) Applications.--In selecting eligible local governments 
        to receive grants under this section, the Director shall use 
        the streamlined application process described in paragraph (2).
    (e) Eligible Activities.--An eligible local government that 
receives a grant under this section may use amounts from the grant only 
for--
            (1) de-escalation training for law enforcement officers;
            (2) training for law enforcement officers in handling 
        situations of domestic violence;
            (3) law enforcement officer safety training;
            (4) the offsetting of overtime costs associated with 
        scheduling issues when a law enforcement officer participates 
        in the training described in paragraphs (1) through (3);
            (5) the purchasing, storage, operation, and securing of 
        body cameras in accordance with guidelines established by the 
        eligible local government or the Attorney General under 
        subsection (f)(2) until the eligible local government 
        establishes such guidelines;
            (6) a signing bonus for a law enforcement officer in an 
        amount determined by the eligible local government;
            (7) a retention bonus for a law enforcement officer in an 
        amount determined by the eligible local government;
            (8) a stipend for the graduate education of law enforcement 
        officers in the area of mental health, public health, or social 
        work, which shall not exceed the lesser of--
                    (A) $10,000; or
                    (B) the amount the law enforcement officer pays 
                towards such graduate education; and
            (9) providing access to patient-centered behavioral health 
        services for law enforcement officers, which may include 
        resources for risk assessments, evidence-based, trauma-informed 
        care to treat post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress 
        disorder, peer support and counselor services and family 
        supports, and the promotion of improved access to high quality 
        mental health care through telehealth.
    (f) Body Camera Guidelines.--
            (1) In general.--An eligible local government that uses 
        funds from a grant under this section for the purpose described 
        in subsection (e)(5) shall--
                    (A) follow guidelines established by the eligible 
                local government or the State in which the eligible 
                local government is located relating to the purchasing, 
                storage, operation, and securing of body cameras based 
                on existing industry best practices; or
                    (B) if the guidelines described in subparagraph (A) 
                do not yet exist, follow the guidelines established 
                under paragraph (2).
            (2) Federal guidelines.--Not later than 60 days after the 
        date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 
        establish guidelines relating to the purchasing, storage, 
        operation, and securing of body cameras that are based on 
        existing industry best practices.
    (g) Disclosure of Officer Recruitment and Retention Bonuses.--Not 
later than 60 days after the date on which an eligible local government 
that receives a grant under this section awards a signing or retention 
bonus described in paragraph (6) or (7) of subsection (e), the eligible 
local government shall disclose to the Director and make publicly 
available on a website of the eligible local government the amount of 
such bonus.
    (h) Grant Accountability.--All grants awarded by the Director under 
this section shall be subject to the following accountability 
provisions:
            (1) Audit requirement.--
                    (A) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term 
                ``unresolved audit finding'' means a finding in the 
                final audit report of the Inspector General of the 
                Department of Justice that the audited grantee has used 
                grant funds for an unauthorized expenditure or 
                otherwise unallowable cost that is not closed or 
                resolved within 12 months from the date when the final 
                audit report is issued.
                    (B) Audits.--Beginning in the first fiscal year 
                beginning after the date of enactment of this 
                subsection, and in each fiscal year thereafter, the 
                Inspector General of the Department of Justice shall 
                conduct audits of recipients of grants under this 
                section to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of funds by 
                grantees. The Inspector General of the Department of 
                Justice shall determine the appropriate number of 
                grantees to be audited each year.
                    (C) Mandatory exclusion.--A recipient of grant 
                funds under this section that is found to have an 
                unresolved audit finding shall not be eligible to 
                receive grant funds under this section during the first 
                2 fiscal years beginning after the end of the 12-month 
                period described in subparagraph (A).
                    (D) Priority.--In awarding grants under this 
                section, the Director shall give priority to eligible 
                local governments that did not have an unresolved audit 
                finding during the 3 fiscal years before submitting an 
                application for a grant under this section.
                    (E) Reimbursement.--If an eligible local government 
                is awarded grant funds under this section during the 2-
                fiscal-year period during which the eligible local 
                government is barred from receiving grants under 
                subparagraph (C), the Attorney General shall--
                            (i) deposit an amount equal to the amount 
                        of the grant funds that were improperly awarded 
                        to the grantee into the General Fund of the 
                        Treasury; and
                            (ii) seek to recoup the costs of the 
                        repayment to the fund from the grant recipient 
                        that was erroneously awarded grant funds.
            (2) Annual certification.--Beginning in the fiscal year 
        during which audits commence under paragraph (1)(B), the 
        Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary 
        and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the 
        Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Appropriations 
        of the House of Representatives an annual certification--
                    (A) indicating whether--
                            (i) all audits issued by the Office of the 
                        Inspector General of the Department of Justice 
                        under paragraph (1) have been completed and 
                        reviewed by the appropriate Assistant Attorney 
                        General or Director;
                            (ii) all mandatory exclusions required 
                        under paragraph (1)(C) have been issued; and
                            (iii) all reimbursements required under 
                        paragraph (1)(E) have been made; and
                    (B) that includes a list of any grant recipients 
                excluded under paragraph (1) from the previous year.
    (i) Preventing Duplicative Grants.--
            (1) In general.--Before the Director awards a grant to an 
        eligible local government under this section, the Attorney 
        General shall compare potential grant awards with other grants 
        awarded by the Attorney General to determine if grant awards 
        are or have been awarded for a similar purpose.
            (2) Report.--If the Attorney General awards grants to the 
        same applicant for a similar purpose the Attorney General shall 
        submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the 
        Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a 
        report that includes--
                    (A) a list of all such grants awarded, including 
                the total dollar amount of any such grants awarded; and
                    (B) the reason the Attorney General awarded 
                multiple grants to the same applicant for a similar 
                purpose.
    (j) Funding.--In carrying out this section, the Director--
            (1) shall use amounts otherwise made available to the 
        Office; and
            (2) may use not more than $50,000,000 of such amounts for 
        each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027.
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