WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del) introduced the Protecting Our Lives by Initiating COPS Expansion (POLICE) Act of 2016, which will allow law enforcement and medical personnel across the country to use federal grant funds to train and better prepare for active shooter situations, including training civilians how to respond if confronted by an active shooter.
“Police officers risk their lives to keep us safe, and we need to ensure that they have the support and training to do their job safely,” said Senator Coons, co-founder of the Senate’s Law Enforcement Caucus. "Our bipartisan bill would support grants to provide training to help local law enforcement react to and protect the public from active shooters. As Wilmington and cities across the country continue to struggle with gun violence, I urge Congress to come together to pass this bill that will help make our communities safer.”
The POLICE Act would revise the rules of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Service (COPS) to allow first responders to use grants received through the program for active shooter response training. Representative John Carter (R-TX) introduced a version of the POLICE Act in the House of Representatives in February. The bill is supported by the National Fraternal Order of Police and the Department of Justice’s VALOR program.