SB 22-145

Senate Bill 22-145, titled "Resources To Increase Community Safety," is a Colorado law that creates three new grant programs aimed at improving community safety. These grants will help local governments, tribal communities, and organizations implement crime prevention strategies, support police training and recruitment efforts, and ensure that the police force better represents the communities it serves. The bill has been signed into law, meaning these grant programs are now in place with specific funding allocated for each program to start operating immediately. This means that various community groups and law enforcement agencies can begin applying for grants to enhance safety measures and improve relationships between law enforcement and local communities.

Official Summary

The act establishes 3 new grant programs within the division of criminal justice (division) in the department of public safety: A multidisciplinary crime prevention and crisis intervention grant program to award grants to law enforcement, other local governmental agencies, federally recognized Indian tribes, community-based organizations, and third-party membership organizations or administrators 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, improve training, and improve relationships between law enforcement and impacted communities; 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 act directs the executive director of the department of public safety to establish policies and procedures and create advisory committees consisting of diverse members to review applications and make recommendations on who should receive grants and the amount of the grants. The act requires the division to create a project management team to coordinate grant programs. The act requires the division to host a statewide forum which may be facilitated by a national criminal justice organization to solicit suggestions on crime prevention measures related to the grant programs. The act 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. The act appropriates from the general fund: $300,000 to the division of criminal justice in the department of public safety to implement the act; $7.5 million to the multidisciplinary crime prevention and intervention grant fund; $3.75 million to the law enforcement workforce recruitment, retention, and tuition grant fund; and $3.75 million to the SMART policing grant fund.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

Related Legislation

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