Press Releases

Today, the New Democrat Coalition announced it was endorsing 15 public safety bills for passage, including legislation written by Coalition Vice Chair Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24) to help local police departments mitigate staffing shortages.

The Filling Public Safety Vacancies Act, introduced in May with Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), provides an emergency boost to the federal grant program that provides funding to departments for the purposes of recruitment and hiring. 

“Law enforcement officials keep our families, neighborhoods, and communities safe. While our departments are stepping up to combat crime, gun violence, the opioid epidemic, and natural disasters, they should not have to worry about not having the resources they need to recruit, vet, and hire officers they need on the beat,” said Congressman Carbajal. “I’m proud to earn the endorsement of my New Democrat Coalition colleagues on my commonsense legislation to invest in public safety for all of our communities. The Filling Public Safety Vacancies Act is bipartisan recognition that our departments need more help from the federal government after years of declining hiring and staff shortages.” 

With an infusion of an additional $162 million for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program, the bill would double the amount of federal grant funding available for local departments this fiscal year.

The bipartisan bill also establishes a new vetting requirement for officers hired using the supplemental funding provided in the bill, creating the first-ever statutory requirement for background checks and mental health evaluations. Currently, federal law does not require agencies to perform background checks on new recruits through the COPS Hiring Program.

The text of the Filling Public Safety Vacancies Act can be found here.

The full list of legislation endorsed by the New Democrat Coalition can be found here.

The bill has the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police, Major County Sheriffs of America, California Police Chiefs Association, and the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), California’s largest law enforcement organization.

The bipartisan bill has a Senate companion led by Senators Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).

According to a 2023 Department of Justice report, local police departments reported a 50% rise in resignations and a 20% rise in retirements in 2022 compared to 2019.

California saw a similar trend, with more than 3,500 officers and 1,000 civilian staff leaving police departments between 2020 and 2022 – bringing the number of patrol officers per capita to its lowest level in California since 1994.