Register today for NAPO's Annual Lobby Day & Legislative Awards Luncheon on Capital Hill Tuesday, May 14th. Lobby Congressional Representatives and Senators on behalf of your members concerning the issues which affect law enforcement. Prior to lobbying, plan to attend NAPO’s Legislative Breakfast for an update on NAPO’s legislative priorities, results to date from the 118th Congress, and to receive handouts to use during your Capitol Hill visits. Click here to register online or download the registration form and return to NAPO at aedmiston@napo.org or eloranger@napo.org by May 1, 2024.

NAPO, together with our law enforcement coalition – Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies (ASCIA); Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA); Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA); Major County Sheriffs of America (MCSA); National District Attorneys Association (NDAA): National Narcotics Officers Associations’ Coalition (NNOAC); and National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) – continues to push our National Police Week agenda with Congressional leadership. We discussed the need for legislation to increase penalties for the murder, attempted murder, or assault of federal, state, and local law enforcement officers, the LEOSA Reform Act, legislation aiding state and local agencies to hire and retain qualified officers, a bill to cover exposure-related cancers under the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program, and legislation to provide public safety officers with access to affordable homeownership. We also touched on our strong opposition to the Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act (FANFSA), which would restrict law enforcement access to critical, publicly available investigative information that is utilized every day to combat violent and serious crimes such as murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, human trafficking, child sexual exploitation, terrorism, and threats of mass violence. 

Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced the Senate version of the Providing Childcare for Police Officers Act (S. 3884). NAPO has thrown its full support behind this bill, which was spearheaded by NAPO member organization, the San Diego Police Officers Association (SDPOA), and is modeled after its childcare center, the first such center specifically for law enforcement officers and their families in the nation.

NAPO pledged its support for the Targeting Online Sales of Fentanyl Act (H.R. 7730), which would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the methods used to enable the online sale of fentanyl and assess efforts by federal law enforcement and online providers to combat the practice.

Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and John Kennedy (R-LA) reintroduced the Violent Incident Clearance and Technological Investigative Methods Act (VICTIM) Act of 2024 (S. 3763). NAPO supports this bill to establish a grant program under the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to help state, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies improve their clearance rates for homicides and non-fatal shootings. The grant funding can be used to hire additional detectives, officers, and personnel to improve clearance rates and train detectives and police personnel to investigate, solve, and respond to homicides and non-fatal shootings.

On March 12, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing entitled, “Examining Proposals to Address Housing Affordability, Availability, and Other Community Needs.” While the hearing addressed the various obstacles to affordable homeownership, Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) took the opportunity to highlight the HELPER Act (S. 1514) as a solution: “[T]he HELPER Act, which I introduced with Senators Rubio and Ossoff, will create a new type of FHA mortgage to make first-time homeownership more affordable for the law enforcement personnel, firefighters, and teachers who are serving our communities but can’t afford to live there."

President Biden released his proposed budget request for Fiscal Year 2025 on March 11. In general, the President’s budget proposal for the DOJ is very similar to his FY 2023 request and focuses on supporting police and criminal justice reform initiatives. It proposes adequate sustained funding for several of NAPO’s priority grant programs, including the Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Grant Program, the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP), also known as the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act (MIOTCRA), the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA) and Supporting and Treating Officers in Crisis (STOIC) Act programs. It also includes significant funding for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program, most of which is prioritized for the President’s anti-violence and police reform priorities.

Funding is available through the FY 2024 Collaborative Crisis Response and Intervention Training (CRIT) Program, which supports improved law enforcement engagement with people in crisis who have behavioral health conditions, intellectual disabilities, developmental disabilities, or physical disabilities, and/or traumatic brain injuries to achieve safe outcomes for all individuals in the community. 

For more details on these and other legislative issues, click here for the March 22, 2024 Washington Report.