NAPO had a significant victory after leading the charge to protect the independence of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). NAPO was able to secure language in the FY 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) spending measure, which Congress passed this week, directing the DOJ to maintain the COPS Office as “a distinct organizational grantmaking entity within the Department”.  NAPO sent a letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders thanking them for safeguarding and continuing an independent COPS Office within the Department and for their longstanding support for our nation’s law enforcement community.

Grant funding is available through early February 2026 for the FY25 Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement Officers and Ensuring Officer Resilience and Survivability (VALOR) Initiative. The funding supports safety, wellness and resilience of law enforcement by identifying and addressing officer safety and wellness needs and gaps. Submissions are being accepted through 11:59 p.m. EST Feb. 5 at Grants.Gov and 8:59 p.m. EST Feb. 12 for submission to JustGrants.gov.

NAPO was successful in moving several legislative and policy priorities forward in 2025, which are highlighted in our 2025 year in review below as follows: The Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act recognizes exposure-related cancers as covered line of duty injuries under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program for death and disability benefits. Halt All Lethal Trafficking (HALT) Fentanyl Act makes permanent the current classwide scheduling of all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule 1 drugs under the Controlled Substances Act. Improving Police Critical Aid for Responding to Emergencies (CARE) Act establishes baseline standards for trauma kits purchased with grant funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) and requires the development of best practices for training officers to use trauma kits, and for deployment and maintenance of the kits in vehicles and government facilities. The PROTECT Our Children Reauthorization Act reauthorizes and improves the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program to combat child exploitation and abuse. The Chief Herbert D. Proffitt Act covers retired law enforcement officers who are killed or permanently and catastrophically disabled due to previous line of duty work under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program. The TAKE IT DOWN Act establishes federal liability for those who generate and distribute deepfake intimate and explicit images, giving police tools to bring justice to victims.

Find out how your representatives and senators voted on NAPO’s priority legislation by reviewing NAPO’s Legislative Priorities & Positions. For a more complete picture of individual representative's and senator's support for our issues, please see our Sponsor/Cosponsor map. 

For more details on these and other legislative issues, please click here for the full Jan. 16, 2026 Washington Report.