§ 3796dd. Authority to make public safety and community policing grants

(a) Grant authorization

The Attorney General shall carry out a single grant program under which the Attorney General makes grants to States, units of local government, Indian tribal governments, other public and private entities, and multi-jurisdictional or regional consortia for the purposes described in subsection (b) of this section.

(b) Uses of grant amounts

The purposes for which grants made under subsection (a) of this section may be made are—

(1) rehire law enforcement officers who have been laid off as a result of State and local budget reductions for deployment in community-oriented policing;

(2) hire and train new, additional career law enforcement officers for deployment in community-oriented policing across the Nation;

(3) procure equipment, technology, or support systems, or pay overtime, to increase the number of officers deployed in community-oriented policing;

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

(6) ^[1] increase the number of law enforcement officers involved in activities that are focused on interaction with members of the community on proactive crime control and prevention by redeploying officers to such activities;

(7) provide specialized training to law enforcement officers to enhance their conflict resolution, mediation, problem solving, service, and other skills needed to work in partnership with members of the community;

(8) increase police participation in multidisciplinary early intervention teams;

(9) develop 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;

(10) develop and implement innovative programs to permit members of the community to assist State and local law enforcement agencies in the prevention of crime in the community, such as a citizens’ police academy, including programs designed to increase the level of access to the criminal justice system enjoyed by victims, witnesses, and ordinary citizens by establishing decentralized satellite offices (including video facilities) of principal criminal courts buildings;

(11) establish innovative programs to reduce, and keep to a minimum, the amount of time that law enforcement officers must be away from the community while awaiting court appearances;

(12) establish and implement innovative programs to increase and enhance proactive crime control and prevention programs involving law enforcement officers and young persons in the community;

(13) establish school-based partnerships between local law enforcement agencies and local school systems by using school resource officers who operate in and around elementary and secondary schools to combat school-related crime and disorder problems, gangs, and drug activities;

(14) develop and establish new administrative and managerial systems to facilitate the adoption of community-oriented policing as an organization-wide philosophy;

(15) assist a State in enforcing a law throughout the State which requires that a convicted sex offender register his or her address with a State or local law enforcement agency and be subject to criminal prosecution for failure to comply;

(16) establish, implement, and coordinate crime prevention and control programs (involving law enforcement officers working with community members) with other Federal programs that serve the community and community members to better address the comprehensive needs of the community and its members; and

(17) support the purchase by a law enforcement agency of no more than 1 service weapon per officer, upon hiring for deployment in community-oriented policing or, if necessary, upon existing officers’ initial redeployment to community-oriented policing.

In awarding grants under this subchapter, the Attorney General may give preferential consideration, where feasible, to applications for hiring and rehiring additional career law enforcement officers that involve a non-Federal contribution exceeding the 25 percent minimum under subsection (g) of this section.

(d) Technical assistance

(1) In general

The Attorney General may provide technical assistance to States, units of local government, Indian tribal governments, and to other public and private entities, in furtherance of the purposes of the Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Act of 1994.

(2) Model

The technical assistance provided by the Attorney General may include the development of a flexible model that will define for State and local governments, and other public and private entities, definitions and strategies associated with community or problem-oriented policing and methodologies for its implementation.

(3) Training centers and facilities

The technical assistance provided by the Attorney General may include the establishment and operation of training centers or facilities, either directly or by contracting or cooperative arrangements. The functions of the centers or facilities established under this paragraph may include instruction and seminars for police executives, managers, trainers, supervisors, and such others as the Attorney General considers to be appropriate concerning community or problem-oriented policing and improvements in police-community interaction and cooperation that further the purposes of the Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Act of 1994.

(e) Utilization of components

The Attorney General may utilize any component or components of the Department of Justice in carrying out this subchapter.

(f) Minimum amount

Unless all applications submitted by any State and grantee within the State pursuant to subsection (a) of this section have been funded, each qualifying State, together with grantees within the State, shall receive in each fiscal year pursuant to subsection (a) of this section not less than 0.5 percent of the total amount appropriated in the fiscal year for grants pursuant to that subsection. In this subsection, “qualifying State” means any State which has submitted an application for a grant, or in which an eligible entity has submitted an application for a grant, which meets the requirements prescribed by the Attorney General and the conditions set out in this subchapter.

(g) Matching funds

The portion of the costs of a program, project, or activity provided by a grant under subsection (a) of this section may not exceed 75 percent, unless the Attorney General waives, wholly or in part, the requirement under this subsection of a non-Federal contribution to the costs of a program, project, or activity. In relation to a grant for a period exceeding 1 year for hiring or rehiring career law enforcement officers, the Federal share shall decrease from year to year for up to 5 years, looking toward the continuation of the increased hiring level using State or local sources of funding following the conclusion of Federal support, as provided in an approved plan pursuant to section 3796dd–1 (c)(8) of this title.

(h) Allocation of funds

The funds available under this subchapter shall be allocated as provided in section 3793 (a)(11)(B) of this title.

(i) Termination of grants for hiring officers

The authority under subsection (a) of this section to make grants for the hiring and rehiring of additional career law enforcement officers shall lapse at the conclusion of 6 years from September 13, 1994. Prior to the expiration of this grant authority, the Attorney General shall submit a report to Congress concerning the experience with and effects of such grants. The report may include any recommendations the Attorney General may have for amendments to this subchapter and related provisions of law in light of the termination of the authority to make grants for the hiring and rehiring of additional career law enforcement officers.

[1] No par. (5) has been enacted.

U.S. Code

§ 3796dd. Authority to make public safety and community policing grants