[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1316 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1316
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to
provide that COPS grant funds may be used for local law enforcement
recruits to attend schools or academies if the recruits agree to serve
in precincts of law enforcement agencies in their communities.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 7, 2025
Mr. Peters (for himself, Mr. Cornyn, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Cruz, Mr.
Coons, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Padilla, Mrs. Blackburn, and Mr. Welch)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to
provide that COPS grant funds may be used for local law enforcement
recruits to attend schools or academies if the recruits agree to serve
in precincts of law enforcement agencies in their communities.
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 ``Strong Communities Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. STRONG COMMUNITIES 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:
``(q) COPS Strong Communities Program.--
``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity'
means--
``(i) an institution of higher education,
as defined in section 101 of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001), that,
in coordination or through an agreement with a
local law enforcement agency, offers a law
enforcement training program; or
``(ii) a local law enforcement agency that
offers a law enforcement training program.
``(B) Local law enforcement agency.--The term
`local law enforcement agency' means an agency of a
State, unit of local government, or Indian Tribe that
is authorized by law or by a government agency to
engage in or supervise the prevention, detection,
investigation, or prosecution of any violation of
criminal law.
``(2) Grants.--The Attorney General may use amounts
otherwise appropriated to carry out this section for a fiscal
year (beginning with fiscal year 2025) to make competitive
grants to local law enforcement agencies to be used for
officers and recruits to attend law enforcement training
programs at eligible entities if the officers and recruits
agree to serve in law enforcement agencies in their
communities.
``(3) Eligibility.--To be eligible for a grant through a
local law enforcement agency under this subsection, each
officer or recruit described in paragraph (2) shall--
``(A) serve as a full-time law enforcement officer
for a total of not fewer than 4 years during the 8-year
period beginning on the date on which the officer or
recruit completes a law enforcement training program
for which the officer or recruit receives benefits;
``(B) complete the service described in
subparagraph (A) in a local law enforcement agency
located within--
``(i) 7 miles of the residence of the
officer or recruit where the officer or recruit
has resided for not fewer than 5 years; or
``(ii) if the officer or recruit resides in
a county with fewer than 150,000 residents,
within 20 miles of the residence of the officer
or recruit where the officer or recruit has
resided for not fewer than 5 years; and
``(C) submit to the eligible entity providing a law
enforcement training program to the officer or recruit
evidence of employment of the officer or recruit in the
form of a certification by the chief administrative
officer of the local law enforcement agency where the
officer or recruit is employed.
``(4) Repayment.--
``(A) In general.--If an officer or recruit does
not complete the service described in paragraph (3),
the officer or recruit shall submit to the local law
enforcement agency an amount equal to any benefits the
officer or recruit received through the local law
enforcement agency under this subsection.
``(B) Regulations.--The Attorney General shall
promulgate regulations that establish categories of
extenuating circumstances under which an officer or
recruit may be excused from repayment under
subparagraph (A).''.
SEC. 3. TRANSPARENCY.
Not less frequently than annually, 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 details, with respect to recipients of grants under section
1701(q) of title I of the Omnibus and Crime Control and Safe Streets
Act of 1968, as added by section 2--
(1) during the 1-year period preceding the date of the
report--
(A) the number and location of those recipients;
and
(B) the number of law enforcement officers and
recruits each recipient intends to send to law
enforcement training programs at eligible entities (as
defined in paragraph (1) of such section 1701(q)) with
amounts from the grant; and
(2) during the period between the date of enactment of this
Act and the date of the report--
(A) the number of law enforcement officers or
recruits who attended the training described in
paragraph (1)(B) with amounts from the grant and
returned from the training as employees of the
recipient; and
(B) the number of law enforcement officers or
recruits described in subparagraph (A) who remain an
employee of the recipient.
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