Register now for NAPO’s 46th Annual Convention! Participate in setting NAPO’s legislative priorities for the 119th Congress and issuing NAPO’s endorsements for the Offices of President and Vice President of the United States of America. Learn from presentations by prominent law enforcement figures about the latest developments in police policies and services and help determine NAPO’s path forward. The 46th Annual Convention will be held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Click here for more information regarding the convention.
President Biden signed the Recruit and Retain Act into law (PL 118-64) on May 24, boosting recruitment opportunities for state and local law enforcement agencies by expanding the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program to help agencies that are both understaffed and struggling to attract new applicants. Police departments will now be able to use COPS Hiring Program funds to help reduce or pay for application-related fees, such as background checks, psychological evaluations, and testing. Through this Act, these funds can also be used to help law enforcement agencies establish a Pipeline Partnership with schools, community colleges, and universities to cultivate relationships to increase recruitment and interest in the profession.
The next action on the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82), which would repeal both the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and restore the retirement security of millions of public servants, is a June 7 Senate Finance Committee field hearing in Ohio that will focus on the adverse effect the WEP and GPO have on public servants’ retirement security. NAPO member organization, the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (OPBA), will be testifying at the hearing. The Senate version of the Social Security Fairness Act, S. 597, currently has 54 cosponsors. Garnering 60 cosponsors would make the Social Security Fairness Act filibuster-proof. NAPO is once again asking our members to please send a statement for the record or resubmit your previous statement to the Senate Finance Committee to drive the point home that the GPO and WEP are detrimental to the retirement security of millions of public sector retirees. The Committee is accepting comments through close of business Friday, June 21.
Representative Angie Craig (D-MN) introduced the Protect Local Law Enforcement Act (H.R. 8429), which would nullify part of President Biden’s executive order on police reform by removing restrictions on the types of vehicles that can be purchased with federal funds. NAPO worked with Representative Craig and her staff on this important legislation in response to the February 18 murder of two Burnsville, Minnesota police officers, Officers Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, and firefighter/paramedic Adam Finseth, who responded to a domestic abuse call that turned into an hours-long standoff. During the incident, a BearCat that belonged to the Rosemount Police Department was utilized by SWAT officers from the Apple Valley and Rosemount Police Departments. The armored vehicle was used to extract the fatally shot officers and firefighter and prevent further harm to first responders. It sustained heavy gunfire and by the end took 41 shots from a rifle, protecting the lives of the officers inside.
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), together with Senators Jon Ossoff (D-GA), James Lankford (R-OK), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), introduced the Detection Equipment and Technology Evaluation to Counter the Threat of (DETECT) Fentanyl and Xylazine Act (S. 4419). NAPO worked with Senator Cornyn’s staff on this bill, which would authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct research and development, testing, and evaluation on equipment that would help law enforcement better detect fentanyl and other drugs.
For more information about these and other legislative initiatives, please click here for the May 31, 2024 Washington Report.
