Promoting Police Leadership Act
Officially: “Promoting Police Leadership Act” Read the full text
What it does
Read it in plain language
1Short title
This section would let the Act be called the 'Promoting Police Leadership Act.'
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1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Promoting Police Leadership Act .
2Commander curriculum development
This section would add a new definition to the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968: 'command-level personnel' would mean law enforcement officers employed by a State, local, or Tribal law enforcement agency whose job includes managing, directing, or overseeing law enforcement operations within a geographic subunit of the area the agency is primarily responsible for policing.
This section would also add a new subsection to the COPS program law requiring the Attorney General to build training for these command-level personnel. Within 180 days of enactment, the Attorney General would have to develop new training curricula, or identify existing curricula that already work well, covering leadership and strategic thinking; critical incident response and management, including understanding, preparing for, and responding to the effect of critical incidents on officers and communities; risk management; officer wellness; data analysis and data-driven policing tactics; evidence-based decision making; and building community trust. The curricula would have to rely primarily on in-person instruction and peer-to-peer learning. They would also have to include a practical, evidence-based problem-solving component in which each participating officer identifies a leadership, operational, or management challenge relevant to personnel at their own employing agency, develops a proposed solution, receives feedback from curriculum instructors and other participating officers to refine the solution to meet the needs of the agency and the community it serves, and then presents a final, implementable product emphasizing evidence-based strategies to program instructors and to the officer's own district or geographic command. The curricula would also have to include pre-course and post-course assessments measuring knowledge gained and leadership competencies relevant to the training curricula. The Attorney General would have to develop or identify this training in consultation with relevant law enforcement agencies of States and units of local government, universities with appropriate law enforcement or leadership programs, and any other entities the Attorney General determines appropriate.
Within 180 days after the curricula are developed or identified, the Attorney General would have to set up a process to certify training programs and courses offered to command-level personnel that incorporate one or more of the required curricula, or their equivalent, and this may include certifying programs or courses that were already being offered before the certification process was established. The Attorney General would also be able to terminate the certification of any program or course that fails to meet the required standards. Within that same 180-day window measured from when the curricula are developed or identified, the Attorney General would have to develop criteria requiring entities that offer a certified training program or course to collaborate with educational institutions to evaluate and continuously improve the curricula and coursework of those institutions.
Within 1 year after the Attorney General completes both the curriculum work and the certification process, the Attorney General would have to publish a list of law enforcement agencies of States and units of local government that employ officers who have successfully completed a course using the required curricula or its equivalent. For each listed agency, the published list would have to show the total number of law enforcement officers the agency employs and the number of those officers who have completed such a course.
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2. Commander curriculum development (a) Definitions Section 901(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 ( 34 U.S.C. 10251(a) ) is amended— (1) in paragraph (32), by striking and at the end; (2) in paragraph (33), by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (34) the term command-level personnel means law enforcement officers employed by a State, local, or Tribal law enforcement agency whose responsibilities include managing, directing, or overseeing law enforcement operations within a geographic subunit of the jurisdiction in which such agency has primary responsibility for law enforcement activities. . (b) COPS program Section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 ( 34 U.S.C. 10381 ) is amended by adding at the end the following: (q) Training in improving police command-Level personnel leadership, management, and effectiveness (1) Training curricula (A) In general Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Attorney General shall develop training curricula or identify effective existing training curricula for command-level personnel relating to— (i) leadership and strategic thinking; (ii) critical incident response and management, including understanding, preparing for, and responding to the effect of critical incidents on officers and communities; (iii) risk management; (iv) officer wellness; (v) data analysis and data-driven policing tactics; (vi) evidence-based decision making; and (vii) building community trust. (B) Requirements The training curricula developed or identified under this paragraph shall include— (i) primarily in-person instruction and peer-to-peer learning; (ii) a framework for a practical, evidence-based problem solving component under which participating command-level personnel— (I) identify and develop a proposed solution to a leadership, operational, or management challenge relevant to personnel in the command-level personnel’s employing law enforcement agency; (II) receive feedback from curriculum instructors and other participating command-level personnel to refine the proposed solution accordingly to meet the needs of the law enforcement agency and community served; and (III) present a final, implementable product emphasizing evidence-based strategies to program instructors and the command-level personnel’s district or geographic command; and (iii) the incorporation of pre-course and post-course assessments to measure knowledge acquisition and leadership competencies relevant to the training curricula. (C) Consultation The Attorney General shall develop and identify training curricula under this paragraph in consultation with relevant law enforcement agencies of States and units of local government, universities with appropriate law-enforcement or leadership programs, and any other entities the Attorney General determines appropriate. (2) Certified programs and courses (A) In general Not later than 180 days after the date on which training curricula are developed or identified under paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall establish a process to— (i) certify training programs and courses offered to command-level personnel which incorporate 1 or more of the training curricula developed or identified under paragraph (1), or equivalents to such training curricula, which may include certifying training programs or courses offered on or before the date on which the Attorney General establishes the process; and (ii) terminate the certification of a training program or course that fails to meet the standards developed or identified under paragraph (1). (B) Partnerships with educational institutions Not later than 180 days after the date on which training curricula are developed or identified under paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall develop criteria to ensure that entities which offer training programs or courses that are certified under subparagraph (A) collaborate with educational institutions to evaluate and continuously improve the curricula and coursework of those educational institutions. (3) List Not later than 1 year after the date on which the Attorney General completes the activities required under paragraphs (1) and (2), the Attorney General shall publish a list of law enforcement agencies of States and units of local government employing law enforcement officers who have successfully completed a course using the training curricula developed or identified under paragraph (1), or equivalents to such training curricula, which shall include— (A) the total number of law enforcement officers that are employed by the law enforcement agency; and (B) the number of law enforcement officers who have completed such a course. .
3Attorney General reports
This section would require the Attorney General to submit a report to Congress on the activities carried out as a result of the training and certification requirements added by section 2. The first report would be due no later than 2 years after the Act is enacted, and the Attorney General would have to submit another report every year after that until the date that is 3 years after enactment. Each report would have to include, at a minimum, the steps the Attorney General took to develop or identify the training curricula; any assessments the Attorney General conducted or identified on the effectiveness and use of the curricula; recommendations for updating and improving the curricula; and barriers to putting the training into practice.
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3. Attorney General reports (1) In general Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until the date that is 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report on the activities carried out as a result of the amendments made under section 2. (2) Contents Each report under paragraph (1) shall include, at a minimum, information on— (A) steps taken by the Attorney General to develop or identify curricula under section 1701(q)(1) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as added by section 2; (B) any assessments conducted or identified by the Attorney General on the effectiveness and utilization of curricula developed or identified under section 1701(q)(1) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as added by section 2; (C) recommendations for curriculum updates and improvements; and (D) barriers to training implementation.
4GAO report
This section would require the Comptroller General of the United States, no later than 3 years after the Act is enacted, to review the actions the Attorney General took under this Act and its amendments, and to submit a report to Congress on that review. The report would have to describe the process for developing and identifying the training curricula required by section 2, including how effective the Attorney General's consultation with the agencies, associations, and organizations identified under section 2 was. The report would also have to describe the certification of training programs and courses required by section 2, including how the Attorney General developed the certification process and how it was carried out.
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4. GAO report Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall— (1) conduct a review of the actions taken by the Attorney General pursuant to this Act and the amendments made by this Act; and (2) submit to Congress a report on the review conducted under paragraph (1), which shall include a description of— (A) the process for developing and identifying curricula under section 1701(q)(1) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as added by section 2, including the effectiveness of the consultation by the Attorney General with the agencies, associations, and organizations identified under that section; and (B) the certification of training programs and courses under section 1701(q)(2) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as added by section 2, including the development of the process for certification and its implementation.
5State certifications and training standards
This section would state that nothing in the Act, or in any amendment it makes, takes away or replaces the authority of any State or local government, including any Peace Officer Standards and Training entity or similar certifying body, to set and enforce its own certification, training, or qualification standards for law enforcement officers.
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5. State certifications and training standards Nothing in this Act, or an amendment made by this Act, shall be construed to preempt or replace the authority of any State or local government, including any Peace Officer Standards and Training entity or similar certifying body, to set and enforce certification, training, or qualification standards for law enforcement officers.
Where it is
In the Senate.