Law enf. community grants

AN ACT Relating to grant programs fostering community engagement 1
through law enforcement-community partnerships and immersion; 2
amending RCW 43.330.545; and adding a new section to chapter 43.330 3
RCW. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
Sec. 1. RCW 43.330.545 and 2023 c 189 s 1 are each amended to 6
read as follows: 7
(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this 8
specific purpose, a project is created in the department to foster 9
community engagement through neighborhood organizing, law 10
enforcement-community partnerships, youth mobilization, and business 11
engagement. The department shall administer the project. The project 12
must include funding for programs delivering services in a range of 13
rural and urban counties across Washington. 14
(2) The department shall adopt policies and procedures necessary 15
to administer the project including: (a) An application process; (b) 16
disbursement of the grant award to selected applicants; (c) tracking 17
compliance and proper use of funds; and (d) measuring outcomes.18
(3) Eligible applicants must: 19
(a) Be a public agency or nongovernmental organization;20
S-0625.3
SENATE BILL 5367
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Orwall, Conway, and Hasegawa
Read first time 01/20/25. Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.
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(b) Have demonstrated experience with community engagement 1
initiatives that impact public safety; 2
(c) Include community engagement in their services;3
(d) Have established or be willing to establish a coordinated 4
effort with committed partners, which must include law enforcement 5
and organizations committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion of 6
community members, including organizations whose leadership 7
specifically reflects the communities most impacted by racism; and8
(e) Have established priorities, policies, and measurable goals 9
in compliance with the requirements of the project as provided in 10
subsection (5) of this section. 11
(4) A law enforcement agency applying for a grant award shall not 12
be considered an eligible applicant unless there are no other 13
eligible applicants from the community or county the law enforcement 14
agency serves. 15
(5) The grant recipient shall: 16
(a) Lead and facilitate neighborhood organizing initiatives, 17
including: 18
(i) Empowering community members with tools, skills, confidence, 19
and connections to identify, eradicate, and prevent illegal activity;20
(ii) Making neighborhood improvements to deter future criminal 21
activity; or 22
(iii) Educating community members regarding how to connect with 23
city, county, and law enforcement resources; 24
(b) Build substantive law enforcement-community partnerships, 25
including: 26
(i) Building trust between community members and law enforcement 27
by facilitating purposeful antiracist practices and the development 28
of policies that lead to equal treatment under the law;29
(ii) Establishing clear expectations for law enforcement to be 30
competent to practice fair and equitable treatment including 31
facilitating dialogue between law enforcement and community members 32
to increase understanding of the impact of historical racist 33
practices and current conflicts; 34
(iii) Community members regularly informing law enforcement, 35
through presentations, workshops, or forums, on community perceptions 36
of law enforcement and public safety issues; 37
(iv) Educating community members on the role and function of law 38
enforcement in the community; 39
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(v) Clarifying expectations of law enforcement and of the role of 1
the community in crime prevention; 2
(vi) Educating community members on the best practices for 3
reporting emergency and nonemergency activities; 4
(vii) Recognizing community members for effective engagement and 5
community leadership; and 6
(viii) Recognizing law enforcement officials for efforts to 7
engage underrepresented communities, improve community engagement and 8
empowerment, and reform law enforcement practices; 9
(c) Mobilize youth to partner with neighborhood groups and law 10
enforcement to prevent violence by: 11
(i) Helping them develop knowledge and skills to serve as leaders 12
in their communities; 13
(ii) Focusing on prevention of violence and substance abuse; or14
(iii) Empowering youth to bring their voice to community issues 15
that impact healthy police-community relations; 16
(d) Engage businesses to help prevent crimes, such as vandalism 17
and burglaries, through safety training and other prevention 18
initiatives; 19
(e) Provide training and technical assistance on how to implement 20
community engagement, improving law enforcement and community 21
partnership, youth engagement, and business engagement;22
(f) Identify and maintain consistent, experienced, and committed 23
leadership for managing the grant, including an administrator who 24
acts as an available point of contact with the department; and25
(g) Collect and report data and information required by the 26
department. 27
(6) The department shall, in consultation with the Washington 28
state institute for public policy, develop reporting guidelines for 29
the grant recipients to measure whether the project had an impact on 30
crime rates and community engagement with, and perceptions of, law 31
enforcement. The department shall report to the appropriate 32
legislative policy committees by December 1st every odd-numbered year 33
with details on the implementation of the project and the outcomes of 34
the reported data and information. 35
(((7) This section expires January 1, 2029.))36
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 43.330 37
RCW to read as follows: 38
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Subject to the amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, 1
the department of commerce shall develop and administer a community 2
immersion law enforcement grant program. The program must facilitate 3
engagement in, and knowledge of, the unique aspects of the community 4
which a newly hired law enforcement officer will serve by placing 5
newly hired officers in community-based organizations to engage in 6
community-focused work while awaiting entry to the basic law 7
enforcement academy per RCW 43.101.200. In administering the program, 8
the department must: 9
(1) Award competitive grants to local law enforcement agencies 10
using a grants review committee comprised of a sheriff or police 11
chief, a law enforcement officer who holds a rank at or below that of 12
sergeant, and a member of a community-based organization;13
(2) Require grant recipients to gather and report data and engage 14
in an evaluation process informed by the city of Kent's experience 15
pursuant to section 129(60), chapter 334, Laws of 2021;16
(3) Require grant recipients to assign officers to the program 17
for not less than 45 days of service time; 18
(4) Prohibit grant recipients from providing a stipend or other 19
financial arrangement to community-based organizations participating 20
in the program in excess of $5,000 per participant;21
(5) Allow grant recipients to utilize grant funds to pay for 22
overtime costs required to fill vacant patrol shifts while the newly 23
hired officer participates in the program; 24
(6) Prioritize funding for the continuation of existing community 25
immersion law enforcement programs; and 26
(7) Limit the department's costs of administering the program to 27
no more than five percent of the amounts appropriated.28
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