Safer Streets Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3738 To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to establish a grant program for jurisdictions with high rates of violent crime, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 12, 2019 Mr. COHEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to establish a grant program for jurisdic- tions with high rates of violent crime, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safer Streets Act of 4 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3738.IH H3738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3738 IH SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 1 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 2 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended 3 by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘PART NN—GRANTS FOR JURISDICTIONS WITH 5 HIGH RATES OF VIOLENT CRIME 6 ‘‘SEC. 3201. IN GENERAL. 7 ‘‘The Attorney General shall, each fiscal year, make 8 grants to eligible units of local government. 9 ‘‘SEC. 3202. ELIGIBILITY AND INCENTIVES. 10 ‘‘To be eligible for a grant under this part, a unit 11 of local government shall submit to the Attorney General 12 information establishing that the rate of occurrence of vio- 13 lent crime within that unit of local government is 2 times 14 or more the national violent crime rate. Of any amounts 15 made available for grants under this part for a fiscal 16 year— 17 ‘‘(1) 50 percent of such amounts shall be for 18 grants, of an equal amount to each, to units of local 19 government for which such rate of occurrence is 4 20 times the national violent crime rate or higher; 21 ‘‘(2) 20 percent of such amounts shall be for 22 grants, of an equal amount to each, to units of local 23 government for which such rate of occurrence is 3 24 times the national violent crime rate or higher; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3738.IH H3738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3738 IH ‘‘(3) 10 percent of such amounts shall be for 1 grants, of an equal amount to each, to all other eli- 2 gible units of local government; and 3 ‘‘(4) remaining amounts shall be for emergency 4 grants to such units of local government as the At- 5 torney General determines appropriate. 6 ‘‘SEC. 3203. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS. 7 ‘‘Not more than 10 percent of a grant made under 8 this part may be used for costs incurred to administer 9 such grant. 10 ‘‘SEC. 3204. USE OF FUNDS. 11 ‘‘Amounts made available as a grant under this part 12 may be used by a grantee for law enforcement purposes 13 including— 14 ‘‘(1) hiring additional law enforcement officers; 15 ‘‘(2) investing in surveillance equipment; and 16 ‘‘(3) prevention programs. 17 ‘‘SEC. 3205. EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE. 18 ‘‘Any unit of local government that experiences, for 19 a fiscal year, an increase of 10 percent in the rate of oc- 20 currence in violent crime over the preceding fiscal year, 21 shall be eligible for an additional amount equal to 10 per- 22 cent of the amount otherwise available under this part. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3738.IH H3738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3738 IH ‘‘SEC. 3206. DEFINITION. 1 ‘‘The term ‘violent crime’ has the meaning given that 2 term by the Attorney General for purposes of the Uniform 3 Crime Reporting Program, for the fiscal year during 4 which the grants are made.’’. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:04 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3738.IH H3738 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS