[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 546 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.546

                     One Hundred Eighteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
         the third day of January, two thousand and twenty four


                                 An Act


 
   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.

    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 ``Recruit and Retain Act''.
SEC. 2. IMPROVING COPS GRANTS FOR POLICE HIRING PURPOSES.
    (a) Grant Use Expansion.--Section 1701(b) of title I of the Omnibus 
Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381(b)) is 
amended--
        (1) by redesignating paragraphs (5) through (23) as paragraphs 
    (6) through (24), respectively; and
        (2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
        ``(5) to support hiring activities by law enforcement agencies 
    experiencing declines in officer recruitment applications by 
    reducing application-related fees, such as fees for background 
    checks, psychological evaluations, and testing;''.
    (b) Technical Amendment.--Section 1701(b)(23) of title I of the 
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 
10381(b)(23)) is amended by striking ``(21)'' and inserting ``(22)''.
SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.
    Section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amended--
        (1) by redesignating subsections (i) through (n) as subsections 
    (j) through (o), respectively; and
        (2) by inserting after subsection (h) the following:
    ``(i) Administrative Costs.--Not more than 2 percent of a grant 
made for the hiring or rehiring of additional career law enforcement 
officers may be used for costs incurred to administer such grant.''.
SEC. 4. PIPELINE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.
    Section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amended by inserting after 
subsection (o) the following:
    ``(p) COPS Pipeline Partnership Program.--
        ``(1) Eligible entity defined.--In this subsection, the term 
    `eligible entity' means a law enforcement agency in partnership 
    with not less than 1 educational institution, which may include 1 
    or any combination of the following:
            ``(A) An elementary school.
            ``(B) A secondary school.
            ``(C) An institution of higher education.
            ``(D) A Hispanic-serving institution.
            ``(E) A historically Black college or university.
            ``(F) A Tribal college.
        ``(2) Grants.--The Attorney General shall award competitive 
    grants to eligible entities for recruiting activities that--
            ``(A) support substantial student engagement for the 
        exploration of potential future career opportunities in law 
        enforcement;
            ``(B) strengthen recruitment by law enforcement agencies 
        experiencing a decline in recruits, or high rates of 
        resignations or retirements;
            ``(C) enhance community interactions between local youth 
        and law enforcement agencies that are designed to increase 
        recruiting; and
            ``(D) otherwise improve the outcomes of local law 
        enforcement recruitment through activities such as dedicated 
        programming for students, work-based learning opportunities, 
        project-based learning, mentoring, community liaisons, career 
        or job fairs, work site visits, job shadowing, apprenticeships, 
        or skills-based internships.
        ``(3) Funding.--Of the amounts made available to carry out this 
    part for a fiscal year, the Attorney General may use not more than 
    $3,000,000 to carry out this subsection.''.
SEC. 5. COPS GRANT GUIDANCE FOR AGENCIES OPERATING BELOW BUDGETED 
STRENGTH.
    Section 1704 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10384) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
    ``(d) Guidance for Understaffed Law Enforcement Agencies.--
        ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
            ``(A) Covered applicant.--The term `covered applicant' 
        means an applicant for a hiring grant under this part seeking 
        funding for a law enforcement agency operating below the 
        budgeted strength of the law enforcement agency.
            ``(B) Budgeted strength.--The term `budgeted strength' 
        means the employment of the maximum number of sworn law 
        enforcement officers the budget of a law enforcement agency 
        allows the agency to employ.
        ``(2) Procedures.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
    enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish 
    consistent procedures for covered applicants, including guidance 
    that--
            ``(A) clarifies that covered applicants remain eligible for 
        funding under this part; and
            ``(B) enables covered applicants to attest that the funding 
        from a grant awarded under this part is not being used by the 
        law enforcement agency to supplant State or local funds, as 
        described in subsection (a).
        ``(3) Paperwork reduction.--In developing the procedures and 
    guidance under paragraph (2), the Attorney General shall take 
    measures to reduce paperwork requirements for grants to covered 
    applicants.''.
SEC. 6. STUDY ON POLICE RECRUITMENT.
    (a) Study.--
        (1) In general.--The Comptroller General of the United States 
    shall conduct a study to consider the comprehensive effects of 
    recruitment and attrition rates on Federal, State, Tribal, and 
    local law enforcement agencies in the United States, to identify--
            (A) the primary reasons that law enforcement officers--
                (i) join law enforcement agencies; and
                (ii) resign or retire from law enforcement agencies;
            (B) how the reasons described in subparagraph (A) may have 
        changed over time;
            (C) the effects of recruitment and attrition on public 
        safety;
            (D) the effects of electronic media on recruitment efforts;
            (E) barriers to the recruitment and retention of Federal, 
        State, and local law enforcement officers; and
            (F) recommendations for potential ways to address barriers 
        to the recruitment and retention of law enforcement officers, 
        including the barriers identified in subparagraph (E).
        (2) Representative cross-section.--
            (A) In general.--The Comptroller General of the United 
        States shall endeavor to ensure accurate representation of law 
        enforcement agencies in the study conducted pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) by surveying a broad cross-section of law 
        enforcement agencies--
                (i) from various regions of the United States;
                (ii) of different sizes; and
                (iii) from rural, suburban, and urban jurisdictions.
            (B) Methods description.--The study conducted pursuant to 
        paragraph (1) shall include in the report under subsection (b) 
        a description of the methods used to identify a representative 
        sample of law enforcement agencies.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 540 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
        (1) submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and 
    the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a 
    report containing the study conducted under subsection (a); and
        (2) make the report submitted under paragraph (1) publicly 
    available online.
    (c) Confidentiality.--The Comptroller General of the United States 
shall ensure that the study conducted under subsection (a) protects the 
privacy of participating law enforcement agencies.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.