Across the United States, over 90 percent of police departments have fewer than 200 officers.
These smaller police departments constantly fight with larger police departments over access to critical resources. In hopes to support our police in smaller departments, Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) introduced the bipartisan Invest to Protect Act.
Invest to Protect Act
The bipartisan Invest to Protect Act will provide $250 million over the next five years to support small police departments with 200 officers or less across the country. This funding will help police departments make meaningful investments in training, equipment, mental health support and recruitment & retention.
This bill also requires a grant application process so small departments without dedicated grant-writing staff can access the funding.
Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock also supports the Invest to Protect Act for the police departments in Georgia. “Communities all across Georgia rely on our law enforcement officers every day, but our smallest communities often have the hardest time getting the support they need to attract and train officers and make sure they have the resources they need to serve,” said Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock. “This bipartisan legislation will direct additional, much-needed federal support to some of the local law enforcement agencies in Georgia and around our nation who are most in need, strengthening public safety and investing in our brave police officers’ mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. I’m proud to support it.”
Police departments across the U.S. are having difficulty with recruiting people to be on the police force. Grassley states, “ We need to ensure our law enforcement agencies have the resources needed to recruit, train and retain police – especially as crime rates continue soaring across the country.”
Grassley hopes the Invest to protect Act will let our police departments know that we have their backs.
After years of Defunding Police, it’s great to see pro-police voters and politicians stepping up to support police and provide them with the resources they need to support our communities.
