To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to establish a grant program to recruit, retain, certify, and train bilingual law enforcement officers, and for other purposes.
About This Bill
Committee
Latest Action · January 11, 2024
Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
The Bilingual Public Safety Act establishes a federal grant program to help law enforcement agencies recruit, train, and retain bilingual and multilingual officers who can better communicate with communities that have limited English proficiency. Administered by the Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, the program would award grants to state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund language training, hire bilingual officers, and provide recruitment or retention bonuses for officers committed to serving limited-English-speaking populations. The grants cannot be used to pay for remote translation services like phone interpreters; instead, they must support direct hiring and training of bilingual personnel. The Attorney General must establish the program within 180 days and develop approved language training curricula in consultation with law enforcement agencies, civil rights groups, and community organizations. The legislation authorizes $50 million annually from fiscal year 2024 through 2033, with grant recipients required to submit annual reports on their progress and the National Institute of Justice tasked with evaluating the program's effectiveness every two years.
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