WASHINGTON — Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) have re-introduced the Invest to Protect Act, a bipartisan bill that would allocate $250 million over five years to support small law enforcement agencies across the country, FOX 5 San Diego reported.
The proposed funding would be available to police departments with 175 or fewer officers, which make up the majority of agencies in the U.S., according to the report. It would help cover training, mental health support and recruitment and retention efforts.
“This bipartisan bill is simple – it gets our police in rural, suburban and Tribal communities the resources they need,” Cortez Masto said.
The funding could be used for training in active shooter situations and mental health crisis response, graduate degrees in social work and retention bonuses for officers who commit to staying in small departments for at least three years, according to the report.
Administered through the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, the funding aims to address low recruitment and retention rates affecting law enforcement agencies nationwide.
“Our bipartisan bill would unlock access to critical resources, allowing local law enforcement to grow and strengthen their forces,” Grassley said.
The bill has received bipartisan support, with Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) signing on as co-sponsors, according to the report.
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