HR3846-119

What This Bill Does

The Retired Law Enforcement Officers Continuing Service Act adds a grant program to the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act. Eligible entities are state, local, Tribal, or territorial law-enforcement agencies that certify retired personnel hired with grant funds have reasonably current training and experience or will complete continuing education. Grants can be used to hire retired law-enforcement personnel to train civilian employees on civilian law-enforcement tasks and to perform those tasks for the agency. Covered tasks include homicide, carjacking, and financial-crime investigations; compliance reporting; camera-footage review; crime-scene analysis; forensics analysis; and computer, network, information-technology, or internet expertise. The tasks do not include arrest authority or use of force under color of law. Before hiring a retired officer with grant funds, grantees must make good-faith efforts to check the National Decertification Index or request personnel records from prior law-enforcement employers, and the agency head or designee must review misconduct findings. DOJ Inspector General audits must occur each fiscal year to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. Grantees with unresolved audit findings are barred from grant funding for two fiscal years, and DOJ must prioritize applicants without unresolved audit findings in the prior three fiscal years.

Who Benefits and How

Local law-enforcement agencies benefit from grants to hire experienced retired personnel for investigative and technical civilian tasks. Retired law-enforcement officers benefit from funded non-arrest roles that use investigative, forensic, compliance, and IT experience. Civilian law-enforcement employees benefit from training by retired personnel on specialized tasks. Communities with investigative backlogs benefit if agencies add camera review, forensics, financial-crime, and crime-scene capacity.

Who Bears the Burden and How

DOJ grant administrators must create, award, monitor, and prioritize grants under the new program. Grant recipients must check decertification or personnel records and review misconduct findings before hiring retired officers. DOJ Inspector General staff must audit grantees annually for waste, fraud, and abuse. Retired officers with misconduct records may be disqualified or face agency-head review before hiring.

Key Provisions

• Creates DOJ grants for hiring retired law-enforcement personnel for civilian law-enforcement tasks.
• Defines eligible civilian tasks and excludes arrest authority or use of force.
• Requires grantees to certify retired personnel training or continuing education.
• Requires National Decertification Index searches or personnel-record requests before hiring.
• Requires agency-head review of misconduct findings.
• Requires DOJ Inspector General audits and funding penalties for unresolved audit findings.