[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2318 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2318

  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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 14, 2015

  Mr. Reichert (for himself, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. King of New York, Ms. 
DelBene, Mr. Lance, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Benishek, Mr. Hanna, and Mr. Dent) 
 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 
  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 Improvement and Reauthorization 
Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. COPS GRANT IMPROVEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd) is amended--
            (1) by striking subsection (c);
            (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c);
            (3) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
    ``(a) The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.--
            ``(1) Office.--There is within the Department of Justice, 
        under the general authority of the Attorney General, a separate 
        and distinct office to be known as the Office of Community 
        Oriented Policing Services (referred to in this subsection as 
        the `COPS Office').
            ``(2) Director.--The COPS Office shall be headed by a 
        Director who shall--
                    ``(A) be appointed by the Attorney General; and
                    ``(B) have final authority over all grants, 
                cooperative agreements, and contracts awarded by the 
                COPS Office.
    ``(b) 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, and multi-jurisdictional or regional consortia for 
the purposes described in subsections (c), (d), and (e).'';
            (4) in subsection (c), as so redesignated--
                    (A) in the heading, by striking ``uses of grant 
                amounts.--'' 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) in paragraph (4)--
                            (i) by striking ``pay for offices'' and 
                        inserting ``pay for or train officers''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``, and to provide for 
                        the initial hiring of such officers'' after 
                        ``duties'';
                    (D) by striking paragraph (9);
                    (E) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through (8) as 
                paragraphs (6) through (9), respectively;
                    (F) 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 enhance school 
        safety and to combat crime, gangs, drug activities, and other 
        problems in and around elementary and secondary schools, 
        including assisting schools with emergency preparedness and 
        preventative measures plans for natural disasters and acts of 
        violence and terrorism.'';
                    (G) by striking paragraph (13);
                    (H) by redesignating paragraphs (14), (15), and 
                (16) as paragraphs (13), (14), and (15), respectively;
                    (I) in paragraph (15), as so redesignated, by 
                striking ``and'' at the end;
                    (J) by redesignating paragraph (17) as paragraph 
                (18);
                    (K) by inserting after paragraph (15), as so 
                redesignated, 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; and
            ``(17) award enhancing community policing and crime 
        prevention grants that meet emerging law enforcement needs, as 
        warranted.''; and
                    (L) in paragraph (18), as so redesignated, by 
                striking ``through (16)'' and inserting ``through 
                (17)'';
            (5) by striking subsections (h) and (i);
            (6) by redesignating subsections (d) through (g) as 
        subsections (f) through (i), respectively;
            (7) by inserting after subsection (c), as so redesignated, 
        the following:
    ``(d) Troops-to-Cops Programs.--
            ``(1) In general.--Grants made under subsection (b) 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 is involuntarily separated from the Armed 
        Forces within the meaning of section 1141 of title 10, United 
        States Code.
    ``(e) Technology Grants.--The Attorney General may make grants 
under subsection (b) 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.'';
            (8) 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''; and
                    (C) in the first sentence of paragraph (3), by 
                inserting ``(including regional community policing 
                institutes)'' after ``training centers or facilities'';
            (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 (c)''; 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 (c)'';
            (10) in subsection (i), as so redesignated, by striking 
        ``subsection (a)'' and inserting ``subsection (b)''; and
            (11) in subsection (j)(1), by striking ``subsection (b)'' 
        and inserting ``subsection (c)''.
    (b) Applications.--Section 1702(c) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd-1(c)) is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (8) through (11) as 
        paragraphs (9) through (12), respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the following:
            ``(8) if the application is for a grant for officers 
        performing homeland security duties, explain how the applicant 
        intends to coordinate with Federal law enforcement in support 
        of the applicant's homeland security mission;''.
    (c) Limitation on Use of Funds.--Section 1704(c) of title I of the 
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd-
3(c)) is amended by striking ``$75,000'' and inserting ``$125,000''.
    (d) Definitions.--Section 1709(1) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd-8(1)) is amended 
by striking ``who is authorized'' and inserting ``who is a sworn law 
enforcement officer and is authorized''.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 1001(a)(11) of title 
I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
3793(a)(11)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``fiscal years 2006 
        through 2009'' and inserting ``fiscal years 2015 through 
        2019''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (B)--
                    (A) in the first sentence--
                            (i) by striking ``3 percent'' and inserting 
                        ``5 percent''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``section 1701(d)'' and 
                        inserting ``section 1701(f)''; and
                    (B) by striking the second sentence and inserting 
                the following: ``Of the funds available for grants 
                under part Q, not less than $600,000,000 shall be used 
                for grants for the purposes specified in section 
                1701(c), and not more than $250,000,000 shall be used 
                for grants under section 1701(e).''.
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