Recruit and Retain Act of 2024

IB Union Calendar No. 399 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3325 [Report No. 118–481] To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize law enforcement agencies to use COPS grants for recruitment activities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 15, 2023 Mr. HUNT (for himself and Mr. IVEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary MAY 6, 2024 Additional sponsors: Mr. NEHLS, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. ROSS, Mr. BACON, Mr. TRONE, Mr. LAWLER, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. GARBARINO, Mr. STAUBER, Mr. FLOOD, Mr. CISCOMANI, Mr. ARMSTRONG, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. OGLES, Ms. JACKSON LEE, and Mr. CORREA MAY 6, 2024 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 15, 2023] VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3325.RH H3325 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3325 RH A BILL To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize law enforcement agencies to use COPS grants for recruitment activities, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H3325.RH H3325 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3325 RH 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 ‘‘Recruit and Retain Act 4 of 2024’’. 5 SEC. 2. IMPROVING COPS GRANTS FOR POLICE HIRING 6 PURPOSES. 7 (a) GRANT USE EXPANSION.—Section 1701(b) of title 8 I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 9 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381(b)) is amended— 10 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (22) through 11 (23) as paragraphs (23) through (24), respectively; 12 and 13 (2) by inserting after paragraph (21) the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘(22) to support hiring activities by law enforce- 16 ment agencies experiencing declines in officer recruit- 17 ment applications by reducing application-related 18 fees, such as fees for background checks, psychological 19 evaluations, and testing;’’. 20 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 1701(b)(23) of 21 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 22 of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381(b)(23)), as so redesignated, is 23 amended by striking ‘‘(21)’’ and inserting ‘‘(22)’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3325.RH H3325 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3325 RH SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS; PIPELINE PARTNERSHIP 1 PROGRAM. 2 Section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 3 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amended 4 by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(o) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 2 per- 6 cent of a grant made for the hiring or rehiring of additional 7 career law enforcement officers may be used for costs in- 8 curred to administer such grant. 9 ‘‘(p) COPS PIPELINE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.— 10 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—In this sub- 11 section, the term ‘eligible entity’ means a law enforce- 12 ment agency in partnership with not less than 1 edu- 13 cational institution, which may include 1 or any 14 combination of the following: 15 ‘‘(A) An elementary school. 16 ‘‘(B) A secondary school. 17 ‘‘(C) An institution of higher education. 18 ‘‘(D) A Hispanic-serving institution. 19 ‘‘(E) A historically Black college or univer- 20 sity. 21 ‘‘(F) A Tribal college. 22 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.—The Attorney General shall 23 award competitive grants to eligible entities for re- 24 cruiting activities that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3325.RH H3325 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3325 RH ‘‘(A) support substantial student engage- 1 ment for the exploration of potential future ca- 2 reer opportunities in law enforcement; 3 ‘‘(B) strengthen recruitment by law enforce- 4 ment agencies experiencing a decline in recruits, 5 or high rates of resignations or retirements; 6 ‘‘(C) enhance community interactions be- 7 tween local youth and law enforcement agencies 8 that are designed to increase recruiting; and 9 ‘‘(D) otherwise improve the outcomes of 10 local law enforcement recruitment through ac- 11 tivities such as dedicated programming for stu- 12 dents, work-based learning opportunities, project- 13 based learning, mentoring, community liaisons, 14 career or job fairs, work site visits, job shad- 15 owing, apprenticeships, or skills-based intern- 16 ships. 17 ‘‘(3) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available 18 to carry out this part for a fiscal year, the Attorney 19 General may use not more than $3,000,000 to carry 20 out this subsection.’’. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3325.RH H3325 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3325 RH SEC. 4. COPS GRANT GUIDANCE FOR AGENCIES OPERATING 1 BELOW BUDGETED STRENGTH. 2 Section 1704 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 3 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10384) is amended 4 by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(d) GUIDANCE FOR UNDERSTAFFED LAW ENFORCE- 6 MENT AGENCIES.— 7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 8 ‘‘(A) COVERED APPLICANT.—The term ‘cov- 9 ered applicant’ means an applicant for a hiring 10 grant under this part seeking funding for a law 11 enforcement agency operating below the budgeted 12 strength of the law enforcement agency. 13 ‘‘(B) BUDGETED STRENGTH.—The term 14 ‘budgeted strength’ means the employment of the 15 maximum number of sworn law enforcement offi- 16 cers the budget of a law enforcement agency al- 17 lows the agency to employ. 18 ‘‘(2) PROCEDURES.—Not later than 180 days 19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 20 General shall establish consistent procedures for cov- 21 ered applicants, including guidance that— 22 ‘‘(A) clarifies that covered applicants re- 23 main eligible for funding under this part; and 24 ‘‘(B) enables covered applicants to attest 25 that the funding from a grant awarded under 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3325.RH H3325 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3325 RH this part is not being used by the law enforce- 1 ment agency to supplant State or local funds, as 2 described in subsection (a). 3 ‘‘(3) PAPERWORK REDUCTION.—In developing 4 the procedures and guidance under paragraph (2), the 5 Attorney General shall take measures to reduce paper- 6 work requirements for grants to covered applicants.’’. 7 SEC. 5. STUDY ON POLICE RECRUITMENT. 8 (a) STUDY.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 10 the United States shall conduct a study to consider 11 the comprehensive effects of recruitment and attrition 12 rates on Federal, State, Tribal, and local law enforce- 13 ment agencies in the United States, to identify— 14 (A) the primary reasons that law enforce- 15 ment officers— 16 (i) join law enforcement agencies; and 17 (ii) resign or retire from law enforce- 18 ment agencies; 19 (B) how the reasons described in subpara- 20 graph (A) may have changed over time; 21 (C) the effects of recruitment and attrition 22 on public safety; 23 (D) the effects of electronic media on re- 24 cruitment efforts; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3325.RH H3325 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3325 RH (E) barriers to the recruitment and reten- 1 tion of Federal, State, and local law enforcement 2 officers; and 3 (F) recommendations for potential ways to 4 address barriers to the recruitment and retention 5 of law enforcement officers, including the bar- 6 riers identified in subparagraph (E). 7 (2) REPRESENTATIVE CROSS-SECTION.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General 9 of the United States shall endeavor to ensure ac- 10 curate representation of law enforcement agencies 11 in the study conducted pursuant to paragraph 12 (1) by surveying a broad cross-section of law en- 13 forcement agencies— 14 (i) from various regions of the United 15 States; 16 (ii) of different sizes; and 17 (iii) from rural, suburban, and urban 18 jurisdictions. 19 (B) METHODS DESCRIPTION.—The study 20 conducted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall in- 21 clude in the report under subsection (b) a de- 22 scription of the methods used to identify a rep- 23 resentative sample of law enforcement agencies. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3325.RH H3325 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 3325 RH (b) REPORT.—Not later than 540 days after the date 1 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the 2 United States shall— 3 (1) submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of 4 the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the 5 House of Representatives a report containing the 6 study conducted under subsection (a); and 7 (2) make the report submitted under paragraph 8 (1) publicly available online. 9 (c) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Comptroller General of 10 the United States shall ensure that the study conducted 11 under subsection (a) protects the privacy of participating 12 law enforcement agencies. 13 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H3325.RH H3325 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB Union Calendar No. 399 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 3325 [Report No. 118–481] A BILL To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize law enforcement agencies to use COPS grants for recruitment ac- tivities, and for other purposes. MAY 6, 2024 Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com- mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H3325.RH H3325 kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB