HR-8746-119
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Sponsored by Dwight Evans (D-PA)
What it does
This bill would direct the Attorney General to create a federal grant program, administered through the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), to help state, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies improve their rates of solving homicides and firearm-related violent crimes. Grants could be used for hiring and training investigators, purchasing forensic technology, supporting crime victims and their families, and developing civil-rights safeguards for new investigative tools. The bill would authorize $60 million per year for fiscal years 2027 through 2031, with at least 5% reserved for Tribal agencies and 5% for rural agencies.
Who benefits
Victims of homicides and firearm-related violent crimes and their families, who would gain access to emergency services, counseling, legal advice, and financial compensation. Communities with high unsolved violent crime rates, particularly urban areas with historically low clearance rates. Tribal and rural law enforcement agencies, which receive dedicated funding set-asides. Forensic technology vendors and private contractors who supply investigative equipment. Law enforcement personnel who would benefit from mental health and trauma support programs. Non-English-speaking and disabled crime victims who would gain language and disability access services.
Who is hurt
Taxpayers who fund the $300 million authorization over five years. Law enforcement agencies that do not receive grants but face competitive disadvantage in hiring against grant-funded agencies. Civil liberties advocates and individuals in communities where new surveillance or forensic technologies are deployed, who may face expanded investigative scrutiny. Agencies with prior unresolved audit findings, which would be temporarily barred from receiving funds. Existing COPS office staff who would absorb new administrative and oversight responsibilities.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that the United States' homicide clearance rate has fallen to roughly 50% — a historic low — meaning half of all murders go unsolved, denying justice to victims' families and leaving dangerous offenders free. They contend that targeted federal funding for investigative personnel, forensic technology, and victim services directly addresses the resource gaps that drive low clearance rates, particularly in under-resourced Tribal and rural jurisdictions. The bill's built-in civil rights safeguards, audit requirements, and biennial evaluations by the National Institute of Justice, they argue, ensure accountability and evidence-based use of public funds.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that a $60 million annual grant program is too small to meaningfully move clearance rates nationally, and that the bill's focus on technology and personnel hiring may incentivize over-policing in communities of color without addressing the structural factors — such as lack of community trust — that most research identifies as the primary driver of low clearance rates. They contend that the bill's requirement to consider grant applications "notwithstanding other Department policies for grant eligibility" could allow agencies with problematic civil rights records to receive federal funds, and that annual reporting requirements impose significant administrative burdens on small agencies least equipped to handle them.