Senator Reverend Warnock’s new legislation, the Invest to Protect Act, will invest in training, equipment, mental health support, officer recruitment and retention to support small law enforcement agencies in Georgia and across the country

This legislation makes critical investments to increase officer safety, fund de-escalation and domestic violence training, purchase body worn cameras and more

Senator Reverend Warnock: “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 securing the resources they need to serve”

Legislation builds on robust investments for law enforcement secured by Senator Reverend Warnock in recently-passed annual funding bill

Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police: “Over the last few years law enforcement officers have faced many challenges and threats to their well-being that have created a dangerous environment for those sworn to protect the public… We look forward to working with these Senators in a bipartisan way to gets resources into the field where they can help officers, agencies and the public we serve.”

John B. Edwards, Executive Director of the Peace Officers’ Association of Georgia: “We are pleased to see the spirit of bi-partisan cooperation in the effort to provide meaningful assistance to our States peace officers. The legislative focus is consistent with our goal toward the professional development and growth of Georgia’s peace officers.”

A mental health advocate for police and communities statewide, Senator Warnock recently introduced a series of bills to improve mental health across Georgia, nationwide

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) introduced the bipartisan Invest to Protect Act to provide $250 million over the next five years to support small law enforcement agencies in Georgia and across the country. This funding will make critical, targeted investments in local police departments and ensure that police officers in smaller communities in Georgia and across the country have the resources and training they need to keep themselves and their communities safe.

This funding will invest in officer safety, de-escalation and domestic violence response training, body cameras, recruitment, retention, and mental health resources. The bipartisan legislation is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA). Congressmen Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and John Rutherford (R-FL) have introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“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 securing 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.”

Over 90% of all police departments nationally have fewer than 200 full-time officers. In Georgia and across the country, these small departments often struggle to compete with larger ones for access to critical resources. The bipartisan Invest to Protect Act would establish a grant through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program to provide $50 million per year for five years specifically to help local law enforcement agencies with fewer than 200 officers make meaningful investments in their officers and communities. The bill also requires a grant application process that can be completed within 30 minutes so that small agencies without dedicated grant-writing staff can access the funding.

This bill is endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Sheriffs’ Association and the Peace Officers’ Association of Georgia.

“Over the last few years law enforcement officers have faced many challenges and threats to their well-being that have created a dangerous environment for those sworn to protect the public,” said Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police. “Smaller municipalities have seen an increased strain on the men and women in blue.  The “Invest to Protect Act” establishes a new COPS Office program to support officer training for smaller agencies on areas like de-escalation, domestic violence, and officer safety programs. These new grant funds can also be used for the recruitment of new officers, and to help address the retention issue of current officers—which incudes tuition aid in some circumstances.  These funds could also be used for mental health services, treatments, and therapies for active police officers. We look forward to working with these Senators in a bipartisan way to gets resources into the field where they can help officers, agencies and the public we serve.” 

“We are pleased to see the spirit of bi-partisan cooperation in the effort to provide meaningful assistance to our States peace officers,” said John B. Edwards, Executive Director of the Peace Officers’ Association of Georgia. “This funding that targets organizations with 200 or fewer officers cover a large portion of Georgia’s agencies. The legislative focus is consistent with our goal toward the professional development and growth of Georgia’s peace officers.”

The Invest to Protect Act builds on Senator Warnock’s steadfast support for Georgia’s law enforcement officers and agencies. Senator Warnock recently helped to secure $3.9 billion in grants to local and state law enforcement in the annual government funding bill, which is an increase of $506.4 million above the previous year’s enacted spending. Additionally, Senator Warnock requested strong funding for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program in the package, which provides funds to local police departments to hire additional officers for community policing and supports other initiatives related to community policing; the funding bill provides $512 million for this program, more than $126 million than last year—an increase of nearly 33%.

Read the full bill text and one-pager here.

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