The bill establishes 3 new grant programs within the division of
criminal justice (division) in the department of public safety:
•
A multidisciplinary crime prevention and intervention grant program to award grants to law enforcement, other local governmental agencies, and community-based organizations to identify high-crime areas and to implement
crime prevention and intervention strategies in those areas;
•
A law enforcement workforce recruitment, retention, and tuition grant program to award grants to law enforcement agencies to address workforce shortages, increase the number of people being trained for law enforcement positions, and improve training through enhanced curriculum, including mental health training; and
•
A state's mission for assistance in recruitment and training (SMART) policing grant program to increase the number of P.O.S.T.-certified and non-certified law enforcement officers who are representative of the communities they police and provide training for those additional law enforcement officers.
The bill directs the executive director of the department of public
safety to establish policies and procedures and create advisory committees to review applications and make recommendations on who should receive grants and the amount of the grants.
The bill requires the division to host a statewide forum facilitated
by a national criminal justice organization to solicit suggestions on crime prevention measures related to the grant programs.
The bill requires the division to create a project management team
to coordinate grant programs.
The bill requires the general assembly to appropriate money for the
grant programs in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 fiscal years, for the statewide forum in the 2022-23 fiscal year, and for the project management team in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 fiscal years.
