Council accepts COPS de‑escalation training grant with reservations; Hall votes no

The City Council voted to accept a U.S. Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant for de‑escalation and crisis response training, but did so with clear caveats: the city will accept funds only contingent on the preliminary injunction in related federal litigation remaining in effect and will return any unspent funds if the federal government later insists that the city adopt conditions inconsistent with local policy.

Council Member Hall pressed the city attorney and manager for clarity on whether accepting federal funds could later require policy concessions on DEI or data‑sharing for immigration enforcement; Hall said, “I cannot conscably accept any risk of conditions that require us to cooperate with the Trump administration on immigration or capitulate to the removal of our DEI programs.”

City attorneys said the city will accept the grant with a cover letter and reservation of rights that makes the acceptance contingent on the preliminary injunction and with an agreement to return to council if the DOJ attempts to impose conditions that conflict with council policy. Council approved acceptance with that caveat; the vote was 6 in favor, 1 opposed (Council Member Hall).

Council directed staff to monitor litigation progress and to return to the council if the federal position changes and the city is asked to affirm conditions at odds with its policies. The grant will fund de‑escalation training for city public safety staff if the city proceeds with implementation under the terms now allowed.

Next steps: staff to accept the grant using conditional language and report back if the legal posture changes.