WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) celebrated Wednesday’s Senate passage of his bipartisan Recruit and Retain Ac, which would support law enforcement agencies by helping to address workforce challenges and bolster recruitment. The bill now heads to the U.S. House of Representatives.

“As Co-Chair of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus, I know the critical role that our law enforcement officers have on the front lines of our communities in Delaware and across our nation,” said Senator Coons. “The Recruit and Retain Act would provide staffing assistance to these agencies and help build trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. I’m glad my Senate colleagues unanimously passed my bipartisan legislation to ensure our police departments recruit qualified officers who reflect our communities.”

The Recruit and Retain Act has received national endorsements from the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, Fraternal Order of Police, Major Cities Chiefs Association, Major County Sheriffs of America, National Association of Police Organizations, National Sheriffs Association, R Street Institute, and the Peace Officers Research Association of California.

In addition to Senator Coons, the legislation is co-sponsored by Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).


The Recruit and Retain Act would primarily boost the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants to make them more responsive to onboarding costs and hiring challenges. This would help law enforcement agencies across the country hire new officers more easily, as many continue to face staffing shortages and struggle to attract new applicants. The bill also includes the creation of a new program to encourage voluntary partnerships between schools and police departments to foster a stronger local pipeline for law enforcement careers. 

The Recruit and Retain Act:

  • Supports officer onboarding. Makes the U.S. Department of Justice’s COPS grants more flexible to reduce the financial costs of hiring new law enforcement officers, including for background checks, psychological evaluations, and other needs.
  • Reduces administrative burdens. Allows up to 2% of grant funding to alleviate the administrative costs of implementing COPS grants. Many law enforcement agencies have noted that this would offset the paperwork burden associated with COPS grants. 
  • Authorizes a new pipeline recruitment program. Authorizes the Pipeline Partnership Program within COPS to encourage collaboration between agencies and local elementary schools, secondary schools, and institutions of higher education for students interested in future careers in law enforcement. Qualifying partnership activities would include dedicated programming for students, work-based learning opportunities, project-based learning, mentoring, community liaisons, career or jobs fairs, work site visits, job shadowing, and skills-based internships.
  • Provides better grant guidance for understaffed agencies. Creates new guidance for COPS hiring grants to clarify the lack of consistent application procedures for understaffed agencies. This will ensure that more eligible police departments are able to access COPS grants.
  • Shines a light on recruitment and retention challenges. Directs a comprehensive study to illuminate the latest recruitment and retention challenges law enforcement agencies face nationwide and document how these trends are impacting public safety.


The text of the bill is available here.

Senator Coons is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Co-Chair of the Senate Law Enforcement Caucus. 

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