# Plain Language Summary: COPS on the Beat Grant Program Reauthorization and Parity Act of 2022

This bill extends and expands a federal grant program that gives money to local police departments to hire and pay law enforcement officers. The main change is that it allows police departments to use these federal grants not just to hire new officers, but also to increase the pay of officers they already have. The bill extends the program through 2031, meaning the federal government will continue funding it for the next decade.

The bill specifically tries to help smaller towns and rural areas that struggle to attract and keep police officers because they can't compete with bigger cities on pay. If a community has a lower median household income than the national average, it can get a better deal on the grant—the federal government will cover up to 90 percent of the costs in the first year, gradually decreasing to 75 percent over time. This is more generous than the standard 75 percent federal share offered to wealthier areas. The bill also allows leftover grant money that wasn't claimed by larger cities to be redirected to smaller communities and rural areas, giving them a better shot at funding.

There are limits built in to prevent abuse: police departments can't use these grants to pay any single officer more than 80 percent of the national median household income, and the federal funding for hiring or raising pay is capped at $75,000 per officer (unless the Attorney General grants an exception). The bill also emphasizes that police departments should use these grants to hire officers who reflect the diversity of their communities, and it requires the government to study whether police departments are becoming more representative of the people they serve.

COPS on the Beat Grant Program Reauthorization and Parity Act of 2022

Rice, Tom

COPS on the Beat Grant Program Reauthorization and Parity Act of 2022 This bill reauthorizes through FY2031 and makes changes to the Community Oriented Policing Services grant program. Among the changes, the bill <ul> <li>reduces the required matching contribution for certain rural communities during the first three years of a grant and eliminates the preference for agencies that exceed the matching requirements; </li> <li>allows grant funds to be used to increase wages of career law enforcement officers in states or localities that have a median household income of less than 70% of the national median household income and qualify for a reduced matching contribution; and</li> <li> provides statutory authority for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services within the Department of Justice. </li> </ul> Additionally, the bill requires the Government Accountability Office to report on whether law enforcement workforces are representative of the communities they serve, the percentage of law enforcement employees who live in the community they serve, the average pay of officers compared to the cost of living in the community they serve, and recommendations for improvements.