Sponsors (2)
The bill channels federal funds to strengthen homicide and firearm-crime investigations and victim services—particularly for rural and Tribal areas—while increasing oversight, but it raises privacy risks, adds administrative burdens, and costs taxpayers roughly $60M per year.
Law enforcement agencies and local communities: provides up to $60 million per year to hire personnel, fund training, improve forensics, and buy investigative technology to help solve homicides and firearm-related crimes.
Victims and their families: funds victim services (travel, housing, counseling) and requires access to these services, improving support during investigations and aftermath.
Rural and Tribal jurisdictions: guarantees geographic and Tribal set-asides (at least 5% each) so smaller, rural, and Tribal agencies can access grant funding and resources.
People broadly, especially marginalized groups: expanded investigative technologies and increased data collection raise risks to privacy and civil liberties if required safeguards are ineffective.
Federal taxpayers: authorizes roughly $60 million per year (FY2027–2031) for the program, increasing federal spending to support these grants and activities.
Small and rural law enforcement agencies: detailed data collection, reporting requirements, and compliance activities may strain already limited administrative capacity despite application streamlining.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a DOJ COPS grant program to fund investigative technology, training, and victim services to improve homicide and firearm-related violent crime clearance rates.
Official title: Direct the Attorney General to establish a grant program to establish, implement, and administer violent incident clearance and technology investigative methods, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 12, 2026 by John Neely Kennedy · Last progress May 12, 2026
Creates a DOJ COPS grant program to help state, tribal, and local law enforcement improve clearance rates for homicides and firearm-related violent crimes by funding investigative technology, training, victim services components, and related activities. The Attorney General must establish the program within 180 days, accept applications from eligible public policing agencies (including Tribal and village public safety programs), and award grants based on proposed plans to raise clearance rates while ensuring both rural and urban recipients receive funding. The bill defines key terms used for measuring clearance (clearance by arrest, clearance by exception, clearance rate), who is an eligible entity and grant recipient, and what counts as rural; it sets application and selection rules focused solely on the quality of proposed plans to improve clearance rates and allows awardees to use funds for investigative tools, evidence collection, victim services and associated activities.