Following signature by President Joe Biden, the Recruit and Retain Act (S. 546) recently became law, giving law enforcement nationwide access to expanded federal grants and a new partnership program that will tie schools and law enforcement closer together.
The main goal of the bill was to combat staffing shortages, particularly through expansion of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants. Now, they will be able to cover more onboarding costs. Further, it will lead to establishment of a new partnership program between schools and departments, which its backers hoped would generate strong local hiring pipelines.
“Staffing shortages are burdening law enforcement officers and threatening public safety,” U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE), one of the bill’s authors, said. “My Recruit and Retain Act will give departments resources to rebuild. I’m grateful to the Nebraska officers and sheriffs who worked with me to craft this legislation, and I’m grateful the president signed it.”
Fischer introduced the bill alongside U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) in the Senate, while the legislation was pushed by U.S. Reps. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) and Glenn Ivey (D-MD) in the House.
On top of the expanded grant and school provisions, the bill also authorized up to two percent of grant funding to go to alleviating administrative costs, created new guidance for COPS hiring grants to keep them consistent and aid understaffed agencies, and approved a new study to investigate the latest recruitment and retention challenges for law enforcement agencies nationwide.
“The law enforcement leaders I speak with in Delaware all express the same concern: They are struggling with recruiting, hiring, and retaining quality police officers,” Coons said. “This weekend, President Biden signed my bipartisan bill with Senator Fischer into law that will actually do something to address those challenges. The Recruit and Retain Act will strengthen community policing by establishing a new recruitment pipeline program and by reducing onboarding costs for new officers. I’m proud this bipartisan bill will now get to work to support our police departments across Delaware and across the country.”
The bill was also backed by major law enforcement groups, including the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, Fraternal Order of Police, Major Cities Chiefs Association, Major County Sheriffs of America, National Association of Police Organizations, National Sheriffs Association, R Street Institute, and the Peace Officers Research Association of California.