What This Bill Does
This bill creates a new grant program to give funding to state and local police agencies so they can fight auto theft and stop stolen vehicles from being trafficked. The Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services at the Department of Justice must set up this program within 60 days after the law passes. (Sec. 2)
Who It Affects
State police agencies and local police departments. The Attorneys General of each state who will receive and distribute the grants. Cities, counties, townships, towns, boroughs, parishes, villages and other local government areas. The federal government (through funding).
Key Provisions
• Each state's police get grant money based on how many cars were stolen there in the previous year. (Sec. 2(b))
• States must give at least 50 percent of their grant money to local police agencies as competitive subgrants (money awarded based on an application process), prioritizing areas with higher auto theft. (Sec. 2(c)(1))
• States must give at least 25 percent of their grant money to state police agencies to fight auto theft. (Sec. 2(c)(2))
• Police can use grant money to buy equipment like license plate readers (devices that photograph and record license plates), hire new officers, pay overtime, provide training, create task forces (groups of officers working together), collect data and research, and cover up to 5 percent for application and administrative costs. (Sec. 2(d))
• The program is authorized to receive 30 million dollars per year from 2024 through 2028. (Sec. 2(e))
What Changes
Police agencies gain a new funding source specifically for fighting auto theft. A new grant program gets created and starts accepting applications. Police departments get money they can use to purchase equipment and hire staff focused on stopping stolen vehicles. The existing Community Oriented Policing Services grant program also now allows funds to be used for combating auto theft and stolen vehicle trafficking. (Sec. 3)
Important Definitions
"Local law enforcement agency" means any government organization run by a city, county or town that exists mainly to prevent crime and enforce criminal laws. "Locality" means any city, county, township, town, borough, parish, village or other general purpose political subdivision of a state. "State" means any U.S. state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. "State law enforcement agency" means any state government organization that exists mainly to prevent crime and enforce criminal laws.
Effective Date
Not specified in bill text
I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 847
To provide funding to State and local law enforcement agencies to combat
auto theft and stolen automobile trafficking, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 6, 2023
Ms. SHERRILL (for herself, Mr. BACON, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr.
KIM of New Jersey, and Mr. TRONE) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To provide funding to State and local law enforcement agen-
cies to combat auto theft and stolen automobile traf-
ficking, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
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tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
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This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Auto Theft Prevention
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Act’’.
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SEC. 2. AUTO THEFT PREVENTION GRANT PROGRAM.
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(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days after
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the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the
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Office of Community Oriented Policing Services of the De-
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•HR 847 IH
partment of Justice shall establish an auto theft preven-
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tion grant program (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Pro-
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gram’’) to provide funding to State law enforcement agen-
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cies and local law enforcement agencies to combat auto
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theft and stolen vehicle trafficking.
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(b) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—The Director shall make
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grants under the Program to the Attorney General of each
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State, with the amount awarded proportional to the overall
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level of auto thefts within each State in the year prior
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to the date of the disbursement of the grant.
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(c) DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.—
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(1) LOCAL
LAW
ENFORCEMENT
AGENCIES.—
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The Attorney General of a State shall make at least
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50 percent of a grant awarded under the Program
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available as competitive subgrants to local law en-
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forcement agencies to combat auto theft, with the
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amount awarded determined by prioritizing localities
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with a higher overall level of auto thefts in the year
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prior to the date of the disbursement of the grant.
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(2) STATE
LAW
ENFORCEMENT
AGENCIES.—
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The Attorney General of a State shall make at least
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25 percent of a grant awarded under the Program
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available to State law enforcement agencies to com-
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bat auto theft.
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(3) OTHER AMOUNTS.—The Attorney General
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of a State shall make any proportion of the grant
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awarded under the Program not allocated under
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paragraph (1) or (2) available as competitive sub-
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grants to local law enforcement agencies or to State
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law enforcement agencies. Any subgrant made under
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this paragraph to a local law enforcement agency
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shall follow the prioritization under paragraph (1).
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(d) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—Amounts from a grant
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awarded under the Program may only be used for the pur-
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pose of combating auto theft and combating stolen auto-
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mobile trafficking, including—
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(1) purchasing equipment used to combat auto
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theft, such as law enforcement vehicles and license
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plate readers, and funding costs associated with that
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equipment, such as subscription fees and data stor-
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age fees for license plate readers;
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(2) hiring additional law enforcement officers
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and support staff to combat auto theft;
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(3) funding overtime costs and additional com-
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pensation for law enforcement officers and support
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staff involved in combating auto theft;
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(4) providing training for law enforcement offi-
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cers and support staff to combat auto theft;
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(5) providing resources for joint task forces es-
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tablished to combat auto theft;
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(6) funding law enforcement data collection,
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data storage, and research activities related to com-
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bating auto theft; and
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(7) funding for the administrative costs of ap-
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plying for and implementing the grant, up to a max-
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imum of 5 percent of the grant amount.
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(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
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authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000 for each of fis-
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cal years 2024 through 2028 to carry out the Program.
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SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZED USES OF COPS GRANT
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PROGRAM FUNDS.
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Section 1701(b) of the Omnibus Crime Control and
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Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381(b)) is amend-
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ed—
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(1) by redesignating paragraph (23) as para-
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graph (24);
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(2) in paragraph (22)—
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(A) by striking ‘‘(21)’’ and inserting
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‘‘(22)’’; and
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(B) by redesignating paragraph (22) as
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paragraph (23); and
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(3) by inserting after paragraph (21), the fol-
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lowing:
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‘‘(22) to combat auto thefts and stolen auto-
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mobile trafficking by purchasing equipment, hiring
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law enforcement officers and support staff, covering
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overtime and officer compensation costs, expanding
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access to training initiatives, funding joint task
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forces, and funding law enforcement data collection
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and research activities related to auto thefts;’’.
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SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
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In this Act:
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(1) LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The
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term ‘‘local law enforcement agency’’ means any en-
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tity administered by a locality that exists primarily
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to prevent and detect crime and enforce criminal
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laws.
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(2) LOCALITY.—The term ‘‘locality’’ means any
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city, county, township, town, borough, parish, vil-
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lage, or other general purpose political subdivision of
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a State.
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(3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any
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State of the United States, the District of Columbia,
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the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is-
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lands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Common-
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wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
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(4) STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The
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term ‘‘State law enforcement agency’’ means any
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State entity that exists primarily to prevent and de-
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tect crime and enforce criminal laws.
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