H.R. 2502 — Law Enforcement Training for Mental Health Crisis Response Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings on law enforcement and corrections responses to mental health crises and substance use disorders—including that 1 in 10 police calls involve persons with mental illness, 1 in 4 people killed by police have mental health problems, and 1 in 3 psychiatric emergency room transports are by police—and declares the Act's purpose to provide grants to state, local, and tribal law enforcement and corrections agencies for behavioral health crisis response training to (1) better train officers to resolve such crises, (2) reduce officer deaths or injuries, and (3) reduce deaths or injuries to individuals in such crises.

This section authorizes the Attorney General to reserve not more than $10 million of funds available under the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program (i.e., formula and discretionary grants to states and units of local government for law enforcement, prosecution and courts, corrections, crime prevention, and victims assistance; 34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) to carry out the program under section 509. The section also establishes a new Law Enforcement Training for Mental Health Crisis grant program. Under the program, the Attorney General may award grants to law enforcement agencies and corrections agencies to cover costs for officers to attend approved training programs and related transportation and lodging. Such programs must provide crisis intervention training on behavioral health responses—including to suspected drug influence, suicidality, or mental illness—developed with healthcare professionals and individuals with lived mental health experience, and must cover de-escalation, communication, empathy, community resources, and practical strategies to protect officer, public, inmate, and facility safety. Grant applications must describe the training program, agency officer totals, recent crisis-related officer deaths or serious injuries, and existing training; optional details may cover relevant incidents and per-officer costs. Grants must supplement (not supplant) other funds, with no more than 3% for administrative costs; grantees must submit annual reports on activities and training numbers and maintain auditable records. Definitions include "program," "applicant," "law enforcement agency," and others.