Invest to Protect Act of 2025
The Invest to Protect Act of 2025 would create a new grant program within the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to support small local and tribal police agencies. Eligible jurisdictions are counties, municipalities, townships, etc., and tribal governments employing fewer than 175 sworn law enforcement officers. The grants would fund a range of activities designed to improve officer mental health, promote de-escalation and safer policing practices, and help recruit and retain staff. The program emphasizes training (including de-escalation and DV-focused, safety-related, and evidence-based force-use practices), access to mental health resources for officers, overtime offsets, signing and retention bonuses, tuition stipends for graduate study in related fields, and data collection on policing practices. The Act also includes streamlined grant applications, strong oversight and accountability measures (audits, mandatory exclusions for unresolved findings, and potential reimbursements to the Treasury), annual program evaluation, and protections against duplicative grant awards. Authorization would cap appropriations at up to $50 million per year from FY2026 through FY2030. In short, the bill aims to invest federal funds in smaller local and tribal police departments to modernize training, bolster officer well-being and retention, and improve community safety through evidence-based practices, with robust reporting and accountability to prevent misuse.
Key Points
- 1Establishes a grant program within the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to fund training, mental health resources, and recruitment/retention for small local and tribal law enforcement agencies (fewer than 175 officers).
- 2Eligible activities include: de-escalation training; victim-centered domestic violence training; evidence-based safety training for active shooter responses, drug handling, rescues, and ambush prevention; duty of care and duty to intervene training; and data collection on police practices.
- 3Financial incentives and supports for officers and agencies, such as overtime offsets for training, signing bonuses, retention bonuses (up to 20% of salary with conditions), graduate education stipends (up to $10,000 or the officer’s actual costs), and access to behavioral health services (including trauma-informed care and telehealth).
- 4Strong accountability and reporting framework: mandatory audits by the DOJ Inspector General; mandatory exclusions from grants for unresolved audit findings for three fiscal years; potential reimbursement to the General Fund if funds are improperly awarded; annual certifications to Congress about audits, exclusions, and reimbursements; and annual program evaluation by the Attorney General.
- 5Streamlined grant process and coordination to avoid duplicative funding: plan to streamline applications (targeting not more than a 2-hour completion time) and proactive technical assistance; reports to Congress if an agency receives multiple similar grants.