Rep. Omar Negotiates Major Public Safety Package
WASHINGTON—This week, Rep. Omar (D-MN), Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, played a decisive role in negotiating a major public safety package that will invest in desperately needed mental health support, violence prevention and intervention, and services for victims of gun violence, including legislation from Reps. Porter, Horsford, Demings and Gottheimer.
“The House took an important step this week in passing a public safety package that includes meaningful accountability, training and non-violent intervention for our communities,” Rep. Omar said. “Along with Congressional Progressive Caucus leader Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Congressional Black Caucus Leaders Reps. Joyce Beatty and Hakeem Jeffries, I was proud to negotiate major improvements to the package, ensuring funding was targeted to police departments with fewer than 125 officers, increasing funding for training, accountability and data collection.
“I will continue to advocate for a holistic, evidence-based approach to keeping our communities safe, including funding for programs proven to reduce crime, like community policing and after-school programs, along with investments in education, good jobs, social services, and affordable housing will help reduce crime and keep our families and communities safe.”
Specifically, Rep. Omar and negotiators narrowed the package to 4 bills that had the votes to pass, and secured changes to Invest and Protect Act of 2022, adding additional accountability to ensure that police departments in small cities and communities with fewer than 125 officers. This would apply to 14 out of 15 departments in in Minnesota's 5th District. Additionally, they secured critical accountability provisions, allowing DOJ to give preference to applicants who specify in their applications that grant amounts will be used for certain eligible activities, including de-escalation training, data collection, and evidence-based best practices on the use of lethal and nonlethal force. To ensure the efficacy of the training, the bill requires the Attorney General to, on an annual basis, evaluate the success of the training programs in reducing the incidence of use of force by each law enforcement agency.
You can read more on the bills below.
H.R. 8542 – Mental Health Justice Act of 2022 (Rep. Porter – Energy and Commerce)
The bill creates an HHS grant program for states, Tribes, and local governments to hire, train, and dispatch mental health professionals when responding to 911 calls due to a mental health crisis and support connecting these people into appropriate care rather than incarceration.
Link to fact sheet.
H.R. 6448 – Invest and Protect Act of 2022 (Rep. Gottheimer – Judiciary)
The bill will help ensure that police departments in small towns and communities with fewer than 125 officers have the resources and training they need by creating a grant program to provide resources to these small law enforcement agencies for training, recruiting, and retaining officers and providing mental health resources to their officers.
Additionally, the bill includes critical accountability provisions, allowing DOJ to preference applicants who specify in their applications that grant amounts will be used for certain eligible activities, including de-escalation training, data collection, and evidence-based best practices and training on the use of lethal and nonlethal force. To ensure the efficacy of the training, the bill requires the Attorney General to, on an annual basis, evaluate the success of the training programs in reducing the incidence of use of force by each law enforcement agency.
H.R. 4118 – Break the Cycle of Violence Act (Rep. Horsford – Judiciary)
The bill would authorize federal grants to communities for evidence-based community violence intervention and prevention programs designed to interrupt cycles of violence. It would create an Office of Community Violence Intervention at the Department of HHS to implement these programs and create a grant program at the Department of Labor to provide job training and work opportunities for youth in communities impacted by violence.
Link to fact sheet.
H.R. 5768 – VICTIM Act of 2022 (Rep. Demings – Judiciary)
The bill would establish a grant program at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to help State, Tribal, and local law enforcement agencies improve their clearance rates for homicides and non-fatal shootings. The resources could also be used to help police address the needs of victims and their family members. This bill responds to the declining percentage of murder cases being solved by law enforcement agencies across the country by giving additional tools to help law enforcement agencies solve crimes.
Link to fact sheet.
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