TITLE 42 - US CODE - SUBCHAPTER XIIE - PUBLIC SAFETY AND COMMUNITY POLICING; COPS ON THE BEAT

42 USC 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.

(c) Preferential consideration of applications for certain grants
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.

42 USC 3796dd1 - Applications

(a) In general
No grant may be made under this subchapter unless an application has been submitted to, and approved by, the Attorney General.

(b) Application
An application for a grant under this subchapter shall be submitted in such form, and contain such information, as the Attorney General may prescribe by regulation or guidelines.

(c) Contents
In accordance with the regulations or guidelines established by the Attorney General, each application for a grant under this subchapter shall

(1) include a long-term strategy and detailed implementation plan that reflects consultation with community groups and appropriate private and public agencies;

(2) demonstrate a specific public safety need;

(3) explain the applicants inability to address the need without Federal assistance;

(4) identify related governmental and community initiatives which complement or will be coordinated with the proposal;

(5) certify that there has been appropriate coordination with all affected agencies;

(6) outline the initial and ongoing level of community support for implementing the proposal including financial and in-kind contributions or other tangible commitments;

(7) specify plans for obtaining necessary support and continuing the proposed program, project, or activity following the conclusion of Federal support;

(8) if the application is for a grant for hiring or rehiring additional career law enforcement officers, specify plans for the assumption by the applicant of a progressively larger share of the cost in the course of time, looking toward the continuation of the increased hiring level using State or local sources of funding following the conclusion of Federal support;

(9) assess the impact, if any, of the increase in police resources on other components of the criminal justice system;

(10) explain how the grant will be utilized to reorient the affected law enforcement agencys mission toward community-oriented policing or enhance its involvement in or commitment to community-oriented policing; and

(11) provide assurances that the applicant will, to the extent practicable, seek, recruit, and hire members of racial and ethnic minority groups and women in order to increase their ranks within the sworn positions in the law enforcement agency.

(d) Special provisions

(1) Small jurisdictions
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, in relation to applications under this subchapter of units of local government or law enforcement agencies having jurisdiction over areas with populations of less than 50,000, the Attorney General may waive 1 or more of the requirements of subsection (c) of this section and may otherwise make special provisions to facilitate the expedited submission, processing, and approval of such applications.

(2) Small grant amount
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, in relation to applications under section 3796dd (b) of this title for grants of less than $1,000,000, the Attorney General may waive 1 or more of the requirements of subsection (c) of this section and may otherwise make special provisions to facilitate the expedited submission, processing, and approval of such applications.

42 USC 3796dd2 - Renewal of grants

(a) In general
Except for grants made for hiring or rehiring additional career law enforcement officers, a grant under this subchapter may be renewed for up to 2 additional years after the first fiscal year during which a recipient receives its initial grant, if the Attorney General determines that the funds made available to the recipient were used in a manner required under an approved application and if the recipient can demonstrate significant progress in achieving the objectives of the initial application.

(b) Grants for hiring
Grants made for hiring or rehiring additional career law enforcement officers may be renewed for up to 5 years, subject to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, but notwithstanding the limitation in that subsection concerning the number of years for which grants may be renewed.

(c) Multiyear grants
A grant for a period exceeding 1 year may be renewed as provided in this section, except that the total duration of such a grant including any renewals may not exceed 3 years, or 5 years if it is a grant made for hiring or rehiring additional career law enforcement officers.

42 USC 3796dd3 - Limitation on use of funds

(a) Nonsupplanting requirement
Funds made available under this subchapter to States or units of local government shall not be used to supplant State or local funds, or, in the case of Indian tribal governments, funds supplied by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but shall be used to increase the amount of funds that would, in the absence of Federal funds received under this subchapter, be made available from State or local sources, or in the case of Indian tribal governments, from funds supplied by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

(b) Non-Federal costs

(1) In general
States and units of local government may use assets received through the Assets Forfeiture equitable sharing program to provide the non-Federal share of the cost of programs, projects, and activities funded under this subchapter.

(2) Indian tribal governments
Funds appropriated by the Congress for the activities of any agency of an Indian tribal government or the Bureau of Indian Affairs performing law enforcement functions on any Indian lands may be used to provide the non-Federal share of the cost of programs or projects funded under this subchapter.

(c) Hiring costs
Funding provided under this subchapter for hiring or rehiring a career law enforcement officer may not exceed $75,000, unless the Attorney General grants a waiver from this limitation.

42 USC 3796dd4 - Performance evaluation

(a) Monitoring components
Each program, project, or activity funded under this subchapter shall contain a monitoring component, developed pursuant to guidelines established by the Attorney General. The monitoring required by this subsection shall include systematic identification and collection of data about activities, accomplishments, and programs throughout the life of the program, project, or activity and presentation of such data in a usable form.

(b) Evaluation components
Selected grant recipients shall be evaluated on the local level or as part of a national evaluation, pursuant to guidelines established by the Attorney General. Such evaluations may include assessments of individual program implementations. In selected jurisdictions that are able to support outcome evaluations, the effectiveness of funded programs, projects, and activities may be required. Outcome measures may include crime and victimization indicators, quality of life measures, community perceptions, and police perceptions of their own work.

(c) Periodic review and reports
The Attorney General may require a grant recipient to submit to the Attorney General the results of the monitoring and evaluations required under subsections (a) and (b) of this section and such other data and information as the Attorney General deems reasonably necessary.

42 USC 3796dd5 - Revocation or suspension of funding

If the Attorney General determines, as a result of the reviews required by section 3796dd–4 of this title, or otherwise, that a grant recipient under this subchapter is not in substantial compliance with the terms and requirements of an approved grant application submitted under section 3796dd–1 of this title, the Attorney General may revoke or suspend funding of that grant, in whole or in part.

42 USC 3796dd6 - Access to documents

(a) By Attorney General
The Attorney General shall have access for the purpose of audit and examination to any pertinent books, documents, papers, or records of a grant recipient under this subchapter and to the pertinent books, documents, papers, or records of State and local governments, persons, businesses, and other entities that are involved in programs, projects, or activities for which assistance is provided under this subchapter.

(b) By Comptroller General
Subsection (a) of this section shall apply with respect to audits and examinations conducted by the Comptroller General of the United States or by an authorized representative of the Comptroller General.

42 USC 3796dd7 - General regulatory authority

The Attorney General may promulgate regulations and guidelines to carry out this subchapter.

42 USC 3796dd8 - Definitions

In this subchapter

(1) career law enforcement officer means a person hired on a permanent basis who is authorized by law or by a State or local public agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, or investigation of violations of criminal laws.

(2) citizens police academy means a program by local law enforcement agencies or private nonprofit">nonprofit organizations in which citizens, especially those who participate in neighborhood watch programs, are trained in ways of facilitating communication between the community and local law enforcement in the prevention of crime.

(3) Indian tribe means a tribe, band, pueblo, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians, including an Alaska Native village (as defined in or established under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)), that is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians.

(4) school resource officer means a career law enforcement officer, with sworn authority, deployed in community-oriented policing, and assigned by the employing police department or agency to work in collaboration with schools and community-based organizations

(A) to address crime and disorder problems, gangs, and drug activities affecting or occurring in or around an elementary or secondary school;

(B) to develop or expand crime prevention efforts for students;

(D) to develop or expand community justice initiatives for students;

(E) to train students in conflict resolution, restorative justice, and crime awareness;

(F) to assist in the identification of physical changes in the environment that may reduce crime in or around the school; and

(G) to assist in developing school policy that addresses crime and to recommend procedural changes.