The purpose of the Act is to assist state and/or local units of government which are experiencing law enforcement emergencies to respond to those emergencies through the provision of Federal law enforcement assistance. The authority and responsibility for implementation of this section is vested in the Attorney General of the United States.

The purpose of emergency Federal law enforcement assistance is to provide necessary assistance to (and through) a state government to provide an adequate response to an uncommon situation which requires law enforcement, which is or threatens to become of serious or epidemic proportions, and with respect to which state and local resources are inadequate to protect the lives and property of citizens, or to enforce the criminal law.

Excluded from the situations for which this assistance is intended are:

(a) The perceived need for planning or other activities related to crowd control for general public safety projects; and,

(b) A situation requiring the enforcement of laws associated with scheduled public events, including political conventions and sports events.