[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1464 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1464
To provide grants to State, local, territorial, and tribal law
enforcement agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis response
training for law enforcement officers.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 14, 2019
Mr. Inhofe (for himself and Mr. Brown) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide grants to State, local, territorial, and tribal law
enforcement agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis response
training for law enforcement officers.
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 ``Law Enforcement Training for Mental
Health Crisis Response Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Law enforcement officers routinely respond to
emergencies involving individuals suffering from a mental
health crisis.
(2) Recent statistics have shown that as many as--
(A) 1 in every 10 calls for police response involve
a person suffering from a mental illness;
(B) 1 in every 4 people killed by police suffer
from a mental health problem; and
(C) 1 in 3 people transported to a hospital
emergency room for psychiatric reasons are taken by the
police.
(3) Law enforcement response calls to individuals suffering
from substance use disorder have increased during the current
opioid epidemic.
(4) There is a need to ensure that law enforcement officers
have access to proper evidence-based training in responding to
mental health crises.
(5) Proper training for response to individuals suffering
from a mental health crisis can better protect the safety of
the general public and law enforcement officers.
(6) Law enforcement officers in the United States can
better serve their communities if the law enforcement officers
receive training to effectively and safely resolve the mental
health crises.
(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to provide grants to
State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies to obtain behavioral
health crisis response training for law enforcement officers to--
(1) better train law enforcement officers to resolve
behavioral health crisis situations;
(2) reduce the number of law enforcement officers killed or
injured while responding to a behavioral health crisis; and
(3) reduce the number of individuals killed or injured
during a behavioral health crisis in which a law enforcement
officer responds.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Applicant.--The term ``applicant'' means a law
enforcement agency that applies for a grant under section 4.
(2) Attorney general.--The term ``Attorney General'' means
the Attorney General, acting through the Assistant Attorney
General for the Office of Justice Programs.
(3) Chief law enforcement officer.--The term ``chief law
enforcement officer'' has the meaning given the term in section
922(s) of title 18, United States Code.
(4) Grant funds.--The term ``grant funds'' means funds from
a grant awarded under section 4.
(5) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the
meaning given the term ``Indian tribe'' in section 4 of the
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25
U.S.C. 5304).
(6) Law enforcement agency.--The term ``law enforcement
agency'' means an agency of a State, unit of local government,
or Indian Tribe that is authorized by law or by a government
agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection,
investigation, or prosecution of any violation of criminal law.
(7) Program.--The term ``program'' means a program or class
that--
(A) provides instructional training to law
enforcement officers for response to a behavioral
health crisis, including response to people suspected
to be under the influence of a drug or psychoactive
substance, and response to circumstances in which a
person is suspected to be suicidal or suffering from a
mental illness; and
(B) includes training on techniques and strategies
designed to protect the health and safety of law
enforcement officers and the public, including the
person or persons a law enforcement officer encounters
during a behavioral health crisis response.
(8) Recipient.--The term ``recipient'' means an applicant
that receives a grant under section 4.
(9) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given the
term in section 901 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251).
SEC. 4. GRANTS.
(a) Grants Authorized.--The Attorney General shall award grants to
applicants for--
(1) law enforcement officers to receive training from
behavioral health crisis response program; and
(2) the cost of transportation and lodging associated with
law enforcement officers attending program.
(b) Program Standards.--The Attorney General shall establish and
publish qualification standards for organizations that provide
behavioral health crisis response programs.
(c) Applications.--
(1) In general.--The chief law enforcement officer of an
applicant shall submit to the Attorney General an application
that--
(A) shall include--
(i) a statement describing the program the
law enforcement officers will complete;
(ii) the total number of law enforcement
officers in the agency;
(iii) the number of law enforcement
officers of the agency that have been killed,
or seriously injured while responding to a
behavioral health crisis during the 5-year-
period preceding the date of the application;
and
(iv) whether the law enforcement officers
employed by the agency receive any behavioral
health crisis response training, including
during basic police officer training; and
(B) in addition to the information required under
subparagraph (A), may, at the option of the applicant,
include information relating to--
(i) recent incidents involving law
enforcement officers of the agency in which
behavioral health crisis response training
could have played a role in protecting the
safety of the law enforcement officer or the
public, including the persons or persons the
law enforcement officers encountered; and
(ii) estimated cost of attendance of a
program per law enforcement officer.
(d) Restrictions.--
(1) Supplemental funds.--Grant funds shall be used to
supplement, and not supplant, State, local, and tribal funds
made available to any applicant for any of the purposes
described in subsection (a).
(2) Administrative costs.--Not more than 3 percent of any
grant made under this section may be used for administrative
costs.
(e) Reports and Records.--
(1) Reports.--For each year during which grant funds are
used, the recipient shall submit to the Attorney General a
report containing--
(A) a summary of any activity carried out using
grant funds;
(B) the number of officers that received training
using grant funds; and
(C) any other information relevant to the purpose
of this Act that the Attorney General may determine
appropriate.
(2) Records.--For the purpose of an audit by the Attorney
General of the receipt and use of grant funds, a recipient
shall--
(A) keep--
(i) any record relating to the receipt and
use of grant funds; and
(ii) any other record as the Attorney
General may require; and
(B) make the records described in subparagraph (A)
available to the Attorney General upon request by the
Attorney General.
SEC. 5. USE OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS.
Of the total amount appropriated to carry out the Edward Byrne
Memorial Justice Assistance Grant under subpart 1 of part E of title I
of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C.
10151 et seq.) for each of fiscal years 2020, 2021, and 2022,
$5,000,000 shall be used to carry out this Act for each such fiscal
year.
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