# Plain Language Summary: Recruit and Retain Act of 2023

This bill makes a simple but important change to how police departments can spend federal grant money. Right now, police departments receive federal grants through a program called COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) to help them hire and train officers. However, the current rules limit what they can use that money for. This bill expands those rules to explicitly allow police departments to use their COPS grant funds specifically for recruiting new officers and keeping experienced officers from leaving for other jobs.

Think of it this way: if a police department gets a federal grant, they can currently use it for certain approved purposes, but recruiting and retention weren't clearly listed as allowed uses. This bill adds recruiting and retention to the official list of things they can spend the money on. This means police departments that are struggling to hire enough officers or are losing experienced officers to other departments or careers can now use federal grant money to offer signing bonuses, better pay, or other incentives to attract and keep officers.

The practical impact is that police departments across the country would have more flexibility in addressing staffing shortages. Many departments have faced challenges filling positions and keeping officers, which can affect their ability to provide community policing and public safety services. By allowing grant money to go toward recruitment and retention, the bill aims to help departments maintain adequate staffing levels without having to find money from other parts of their budgets.

Recruit and Retain Act of 2023

Carter, John R.

Recruit and Retain Act of 2023 This bill allows funds under the Community Oriented Policing Services grant program to be used to recruit and retain law enforcement officers for community-oriented policing.