American Law Enforcement Heroes Act incentivizes law enforcement agencies to hire military veterans through grant applications

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Cornyn introduced the American Law Enforcement Heroes Act, which will prioritize the U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant applications of law enforcement agencies who use that funding to hire veterans. The COPS program awards grants to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies throughout the United States so they can hire and train law enforcement officers to participate in community policing, purchase and deploy new crime-fighting technologies, and develop and test new and innovative policing strategies.

“Our young men and women in uniform return home equipped with critical skills they learned in the military and the need for good jobs,” Klobuchar said. “At the same time, our communities need more cops on the beat to reduce crime and help keep our streets safe. Our bipartisan legislation would encourage local police departments to hire and train veterans as law enforcement officers, while providing our veterans with the opportunity to continue to serve their communities.”

The legislation is cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Dean Heller (R-NV).

In February, Klobuchar and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced the COPS Improvement Act that would provide for the hiring of more police officers and expand the COPS program to account for developments in community policing techniques that have proven effective in preventing and fighting crime. The senators also sent a letter to the President about the importance of this law enforcement program in conjunction with the bill’s introduction.

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