HR 1139

HR 1139 IH

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to enhance the COPS ON THE BEAT grant program, and for other purposes.

February 23, 2009

Mr. WEINER (for himself, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. BORDALLO, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HALL of New York, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. HOLT, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, Mr. LATOURETTE, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. MARKEY of Massachusetts, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCMAHON, Mr. NADLER of New York, Mr. ROSS, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. SIRES, Mr. STUPAK, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. WILSON of Ohio, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. BISHOP of New York, and Mr. ENGEL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to enhance the COPS ON THE BEAT grant program, 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 ‘COPS Improvements Act of 2009’.

SEC. 2. COPS GRANT IMPROVEMENTS.

(a) In General- Section 1701 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd) is amended--

(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

‘(a) Grant Authorization- The Attorney General shall carry out grant programs under which the Attorney General makes grants to States, units of local government, Indian tribal governments, other public and private entities, multi-jurisdictional or regional consortia, and individuals for the purposes described in subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e).’;

(2) in subsection (b)--

(A) by striking the subsection heading text and inserting ‘Community Policing and Crime Prevention Grants’;

(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘, to increase the number of officers deployed in community-oriented policing’;

(C) by amending paragraph (4) to read as follows:

‘(4) award grants to pay for or train officers hired to perform intelligence, anti-terror, or homeland security duties;’;

(D) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:

‘(5) award grants to hire school resource officers and to establish school-based partnerships between local law enforcement agencies and local school systems to combat crime, gangs, drug activities, and other problems in and around elementary and secondary schools;’;

(E) by striking paragraph (9);

(F) by redesignating paragraphs (10) through (12) as paragraphs (9) through (11), respectively;

(G) by striking paragraph (13);

(H) by redesignating paragraphs (14) through (17) as paragraphs (12) through (15), respectively;

(I) in paragraph (14), as so redesignated, by striking ‘and’ at the end;

(J) in paragraph (15), as so redesignated, by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and

(K) by adding at the end the following:

‘(16) establish and implement innovative programs to reduce and prevent illegal drug manufacturing, distribution, and use, including the manufacturing, distribution, and use of methamphetamine;

‘(17) establish criminal gang enforcement task forces, consisting of members of Federal, State, and local law enforcement authorities (including Federal, State, and local prosecutors), for the coordinated investigation, disruption, apprehension, and prosecution of criminal gangs and offenders involved in local or multi-jurisdictional gang activities; and

‘(18) award enhancing community policing and crime prevention grants that meet emerging law enforcement needs, as warranted.’;

(3) by striking subsection (c);

(4) by striking subsections (h) and (i);

(5) by redesignating subsections (d) through (g) as subsections (f) through (i), respectively;

(6) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:

‘(c) Troops-to-Cops Programs-

‘(1) IN GENERAL- Grants made under subsection (a) may be used to hire former members of the Armed Forces to serve as career law enforcement officers for deployment in community-oriented policing, particularly in communities that are adversely affected by a recent military base closing.

‘(2) DEFINITION- In this subsection, ‘former member of the Armed Forces’ means a member of the Armed Forces of the United States who has been honorably discharged from the Armed Forces of the United States.

‘(d) Community Prosecutors Program- The Attorney General may make grants under subsection (a) to pay for additional community prosecuting programs, including programs that assign prosecutors to--

‘(1) handle cases from specific geographic areas; and

‘(2) address counter-terrorism problems, specific violent crime problems (including intensive illegal gang, gun, and drug enforcement and quality of life initiatives), and localized violent and other crime problems based on needs identified by local law enforcement agencies, community organizations, and others.

‘(e) Technology Grants- The Attorney General may make grants under subsection (a) to develop and use new technologies (including interoperable communications technologies, modernized criminal record technology, and forensic technology) to assist State and local law enforcement agencies in reorienting the emphasis of their activities from reacting to crime to preventing crime and to train law enforcement officers to use such technologies.’;

(7) in subsection (f), as so redesignated--

(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘to States, units of local government, Indian tribal governments, and to other public and private entities,’;

(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘define for State and local governments, and other public and private entities,’ and inserting ‘establish’;

(C) in the first sentence of paragraph (3), by inserting ‘(including regional community policing institutes)’ after ‘training centers or facilities’; and

(D) by adding at the end the following:

‘(4) EXCLUSIVITY- The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services shall be the exclusive component of the Department of Justice to perform the functions and activities specified in this paragraph.’;

(8) in subsection (g), as so redesignated, by striking ‘may utilize any component’, and all that follows and inserting ‘shall use the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services of the Department of Justice in carrying out this part.’;

(9) in subsection (h), as so redesignated--

(A) by striking ‘subsection (a)’ the first place that term appears and inserting ‘paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b)’; and

(B) by striking ‘in each fiscal year pursuant to subsection (a)’ and inserting ‘in each fiscal year for purposes described in paragraph (1) and (2) of subsection (b)’;

(10) in subsection (i), as so redesignated--

(A) by striking ‘the Federal share shall decrease from year to year for up to 5 years’ and inserting ‘unless the Attorney General waives the non-Federal contribution requirement as described in the preceding sentence, the non-Federal share of the costs of hiring or rehiring such officers may be less than 25 percent of such costs for any year during the grant period, provided that the non-Federal share of such costs shall not be less than 25 percent in the aggregate for the entire grant period, but the State or local government should make an effort to increase the non-Federal share of such costs during the grant period’; and

(B) by adding at the end the following new sentence: ‘The preceding sentences shall not apply with respect to any program, project, or activity provided by a grant made pursuant to subsection (b)(4).’; and

(11) by adding at the end the following:

‘(j) Retention of Additional Officer Positions- For any grant under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b) for hiring or rehiring career law enforcement officers, a grant recipient shall retain each additional law enforcement officer position created under that grant for not less than 12 months after the end of the period of that grant, unless the Attorney General waives, wholly or in part, the retention requirement of a program, project, or activity.’.

(b) Applications- Section 1702 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd-1) is amended--

(1) in subsection (c)--

(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting ‘, unless waived by the Attorney General’ after ‘under this part shall’; and

(B) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘share of the cost’ and all that follows and inserting ‘share of the costs during the grant period, how the applicant will maintain the increased hiring level of the law enforcement officers, and how the applicant will eventually assume responsibility for all of the costs for such officers;’; and

(2) by striking subsection (d).

(c) Renewal of Grants- Section 1703 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd-2) is amended to read as follows:

‘SEC. 1703. RENEWAL OF GRANTS.

Full Text of Legislation