Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “National Law Enforcement Officers Remembrance, Support, and Community Outreach Act.”
National Law Enforcement Officers Remembrance, Support, and Community Outreach Act.
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide funding for the National Law Enforcement Museum, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings
Congress finds that—
the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and the National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington, DC, represent the only law enforcement campus in the United States and serve a critical national mission of honoring and remembering those law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty, educating the public about the important role of law enforcement in a democratic society and working to reduce the number of line-of-duty deaths and injuries among law enforcement officers;
it is in the national interest to ensure that the unique education and outreach programs of the National Law Enforcement Museum be maintained and enhanced;
in 1984, Congress passed and President Ronald Reagan signed into law Public Law 98–534 (98 Stat. 2712), a joint resolution to authorize the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, Inc., to establish a National Law Enforcement Heroes Memorial in Washington, DC;
dedicated on October 15, 1991, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial honors Federal, Tribal, State, and local law enforcement officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for the safety and protection of the United States and the people of the United States;
the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial is centered in the 400 block of E Street NW, in Washington, DC, and is the national monument to law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty;
the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial was built entirely with private funds;
in 2000, Congress passed and President William J. Clinton signed into law the National Law Enforcement Museum Act (Public Law 106–492; 114 Stat. 2210), which authorized the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, Inc., to build and operate the National Law Enforcement Museum on Federal land in the District of Columbia to honor and commemorate the service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers in the United States;
in April 2016, construction began on the National Law Enforcement Museum in the District of Columbia across the street from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Judiciary Square;
in October 2018, the National Law Enforcement Museum was completed and formally opened;
no Federal funds were used to build the National Law Enforcement Museum;
the mission of the National Law Enforcement Museum is—
to honor and commemorate the extraordinary service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers in the United States;
to serve as an important bridge between past and present with respect to law enforcement, between the heroes of yesteryear and those who have followed in their footsteps, and between the peace officers of the United States and the public they serve;
to increase public understanding and support for law enforcement; and
to promote safety in law enforcement;
the programs of the National Law Enforcement Museum play a critical role in educating the public about—
the vital importance of law enforcement in a democratic society;
the critical role law enforcement officers play in protecting and serving the public; and
the sacrifices law enforcement officers have made to serve in that role;
the community education and outreach programs, activities, and special exhibits within the National Law Enforcement Museum—
help bring local law enforcement agencies closer to the communities they serve; and
help to foster a better understanding between law enforcement officers and communities;
the officer safety and wellness education and outreach programs, activities, and special exhibits of the National Law Enforcement Museum—
help provide local, State, and Federal law enforcement agencies with critical information on best practices to reduce the number of line-of-duty deaths and injuries;
provide communities and the public with education concerning the sacrifices made; and
are vitally important at a time when annual line-of-duty deaths among law enforcement officers remain at a historically high level;
since the establishment of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in 1991 and the dedication of the National Law Enforcement Museum in 2018, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and the National Law Enforcement Museum have worked cooperatively with local, State, and Federal law enforcement agencies—
to properly honor the sacrifices made by law enforcement officers; and
to provide key programming—
to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries in law enforcement; and
to foster better understanding between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve;
law enforcement agencies around the United States are dedicated to—
continuous improvement and innovation in officer and community safety; and
building trust through community-based engagement and interventions;
since 2020, there has been a significant increase in the number of law enforcement officers resigning or retiring;
across the United States—
a number of law enforcement agencies remain understaffed and many law enforcement agencies—
have been forced to declare personnel emergencies; and
require mandatory overtime; and
the resulting deficit in confidence and support jeopardizes public safety;
there is a critical need—
to enhance public understanding of law enforcement, which will enhance public appreciation of law enforcement; and
to improve the safety and wellness of officers who serve communities across the United States;
fostering a more informed and positive relationship between law enforcement officers and the public is essential for community safety; and
a sustained national effort to restore confidence and understanding in law enforcement is urgently needed.
Sec. 3 Support for the National Law Enforcement Museum
During the first 7 fiscal years beginning after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall award a grant to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund for the expenses associated with operating and enhancing the community outreach, public education, and officer safety and wellness programs of the National Law Enforcement Museum, including programs—
to memorialize law enforcement heroes who die in the line of duty; and
to compile statistics on law enforcement fatalities and injuries;
to honor and commemorate the extraordinary service and sacrifice of law enforcement officers in the United States;
to develop and make available accurate, relevant, and accessible resources to promote the understanding of law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness training, which include digital resources and other types of resources, such as print resources and traveling exhibitions;
to increase technical resources to better engage the public in person and via online platforms to provide education and information to the public about community policing and officer safety and wellness;
to create, expand, and disseminate scholarly work through research, curricula, in-house and traveling exhibitions, publications, and other outreach initiatives;
to expand the collection acquisition and collection processes, including staffing, conservation, processing, and digitization;
to augment law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness education activities, including the development, dissemination, and implementation of principles of sound pedagogy for teaching about law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness;
to promote professional development, including through—
local, regional, and national workshops;
teacher trainings; and
partnerships with appropriate entities to better educate and inform the public about law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness education;
to engage with local and independent educational agencies and expand teacher engagement to cultivate and support the development of leaders in the teaching of law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness education;
to engage with State and local education leaders to encourage the adoption of resources supported under this Act into curricula across diverse disciplines;
to create, develop, implement, replicate, or take to scale entrepreneurial, evidence-based, field-initiated innovations for improving—
the National Law Enforcement Museum; and
officer safety and wellness; and
to rigorously evaluate those innovations;
to provide—
free admission to the National Law Enforcement Museum for—
active and retired law enforcement officers; and
family members of fallen law enforcement officers; and
dedicated free admission hours for the general public at least once a week; and
to develop online law enforcement history and officer safety and wellness education resources for the general public and scholarly research.
Sec. 4 Progress reports; accounting
Progress reports— For each of the first 7 fiscal years beginning after the date of enactment of this Act, the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund shall submit to the Secretary of the Interior a report that—
documents, consistent with the funding provided by the Secretary of the Interior under section 3, the progress in delivering public education, community outreach, and officer safety and wellness programming; and
provides a formal accounting of the total amount of Federal funds expended during the fiscal year by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
Submission to Congress— The Secretary of the Interior shall submit to Congress and make publicly available on the website of the Department of the Interior each report submitted under subsection (a).
Sec. 5 Continuation of activities
To the extent that the National Law Enforcement Museum is engaged in an activity described in section 3 on the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior may use the funds appropriated under section 6 to continue that activity.
Sec. 6 Authorization of appropriations
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior to carry out this Act $6,000,000 for each of the first 7 fiscal years beginning after the date of enactment of this Act.