WASHINGTON – Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) announced that he is once again backing the bipartisan, bicameral Invest to Protect Act of 2025 to help small and mid-sized police departments, including Tribal police departments, recruit and provide safety training, de-escalation training, and mental health support for their officers. Gallego previously supported the legislation in the 117th Congress.
“Arizona’s smaller and Tribal police departments often don’t have the luxury of massive budgets or endless backup, but their officers still show up everyday to keep our communities safe,” said Senator Gallego. “This bipartisan bill helps departments recruit and retain officers, improve training, and respond more effectively to violent crime, fentanyl trafficking, and other threats facing Arizona.”
“The Invest to Protect Act will allow our smaller agencies in Rual areas an opportunity to obtain much needed training and resources to allow them to better protect their communities and address consistent staffing challenges with recruitment and retention,” said Joe Clure, Executive Director of the Arizona Police Association.
The bipartisan, bicameral Invest to Protect Act of 2025 would:
- Invest in officer safety, de-escalation, and domestic violence response training, allowing officers to receive critical training that will make them more effective at their jobs;
- Create grants for small departments to recruit new officers to bolster their departments;
- Provide retention bonuses to keep existing officers as a part of their communities;
- Fund officers’ tuition for graduate studies in mental health, public health, and social work up to $10,000; and
- Allow departments to provide mental health resources for their officers.
The critical need to support small and midsized police departments:
- The vast majority of law enforcement agencies in the U.S. are smaller than 200 full-time sworn officers.
- More than 94% of local U.S. police departments have fewer than 100 sworn officers.
- Small law enforcement agencies protect and serve our communities with strained resources and growing needs for additional support, training, and funding.
The bipartisan legislation was reintroduced in the Senate by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and is endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO), the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), the National Troopers Coalition,the National Sheriffs’ Association, Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA), National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA), and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA).
Read the full bill HERE.
4/16/25