Register today for NAPO’s 47th Annual Convention set for July 20 – 23, 2025 at the Arizona Biltmore Resort in Phoenix. Participate in setting NAPO’s legislative priorities for the 119th Congress, elect NAPO’s Leadership, and learn about the latest developments in police policies and services from prominent law enforcement officials.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that courts must consider the totality of the circumstances, not just the split second when an officer perceives a threat before use of force, in their Barnes v Felix decision on May 15, 2025. The case involves Harris County (Texas) Officer Roberto Felix, Jr. who pulled over Ashtian Barnes for suspected toll violations. Officer Felix asked Barnes for his driver's license and a tense exchange occurred. The officer told Barnes to stop "digging" in the car and asked him to open the trunk. He then ordered Barnes out of the vehicle and Barnes attempted to drive away with the car door open. Officer Felix put his foot on the driver’s side doorsill and ordered Barnes to stop moving multiple times, but he failed to comply. Officer Felix did what any reasonable officer would do to safeguard his own life and that of others and took two shots, killing Barnes. Lower courts had ruled that only the final two seconds – when Felix was on the doorsill – mattered, not what led to that moment. NAPO joined the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT) in an amicus brief affirming the constitutionality of Officer Felix’s actions and calling on the Court to clarify that judges may review segments of an event which precede the use of deadly force only to determine the officer’s knowledge, not to second-guess prior tactics, actions, or decisions. The case is now remanded to be reconsidered under the “totality of the circumstances” standard.
President Trump released his proposed FY 2026 budget on May 30, which includes funding requests for NAPO’s priority grant programs within the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security (DOJ, DHS). The proposal for DOJ focuses on reducing violent crime, fighting the fentanyl crisis, and enforcing immigration law. The budget proposed merging the COPS Program into the Office of Justice Programs (OJP), which oversees the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Byrne-JAG, the Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Grant Program, the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP), and the PSOB Office, along with other vital law enforcement assistance programs. It also seeks integration of the Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) and the Office of Tribal Justice (OTJ) into OJP. The purpose is to consolidate all of DOJ’s state and local law enforcement assistance programs and bureaus under one office. The President’s budget also involves merging the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) into the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and transferring the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) to OJP. NAPO sent a letter to House and Senate appropriations leadership and Attorney General Bondi thanking them for their support of state and local law enforcement assistance programs and restating our concerns with merging the COPS Office into OJP with HIDTA, OVW, and OTJ. The COPS Office is the only one in the Department dedicated only to state and local law enforcement needs.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act on May 22nd. It includes several NAPO-backed tax provisions: no tax on overtime pay, an increase in the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap, and an end to de minimis treatment for all low-value commercial shipments. On June 2, NAPO sent a letter to Republican House and Senate leadership urging them to maintain these priorities while negotiating the final reconciliation package.
On Feb. 25, President Trump signed an Executive Order on Making America Healthy Again by Empowering Patients with Clear, Accurate, and Actionable Healthcare Pricing Information. This order will enhance hospital and drug pricing transparency by requiring the disclosure of the actual prices of items and services, ensure pricing information is standardized and easily comparable across hospitals and health plans, and updating enforcement policies to improve reporting requirement compliance. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services also issued stricter requirements for hospitals to post actual prices of services and launched its own RFI to enhance compliance and data accuracy. NAPO supports the Administration’s efforts to promote more transparency and lower healthcare costs.
For more details on these legislative issues, click here for the June 6, 2025 Washington Report.
