Union Calendar No. 348
116th CONGRESS 2d Session |
[Report No. 116–434, Part I]
To hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct in court, improve transparency through data collection, and reform police training and policies.
June 8, 2020
Ms. Bass (for herself, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Jeffries, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Lewis, Ms. Adams, Ms. Barragán, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Bera, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Brown of Maryland, Ms. Brownley of California, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Cartwright, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. Castro of Texas, Ms. Judy Chu of California, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Clay, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Correa, Mr. Crow, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mrs. Davis of California, Ms. Dean, Mr. DeFazio, Ms. DeGette, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Deutch, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Michael F. Doyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. Engel, Ms. Escobar, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Evans, Ms. Frankel, Ms. Fudge, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. García of Illinois, Mr. Green of Texas, Ms. Haaland, Mr. Hastings, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Higgins of New York, Mr. Horsford, Mr. Huffman, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Jayapal, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Kaptur, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kildee, Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Lawson of Florida, Mr. Ted Lieu of California, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Lynch, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mrs. McBath, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McEachin, Mr. McGovern, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Meng, Mr. Mfume, Ms. Mucarsel-Powell, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Neal, Mr. Neguse, Ms. Norton, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Payne, Ms. Pingree, Ms. Plaskett, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Price of North Carolina, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Richmond, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Ryan, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Ms. Shalala, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Sires, Ms. Speier, Mr. Stanton, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Swalwell of California, Mr. Takano, Mr. Thompson of California, Mrs. Torres of California, Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Trone, Mr. Veasey, Ms. Velázquez, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms. Waters, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Welch, Mr. Yarmuth, Ms. Sánchez, Ms. Underwood, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. Vela, Ms. Titus, Mr. Heck, Mr. Gonzalez of Texas, Mr. Norcross, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Moulton, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Allred, Mr. Kilmer, Ms. Pressley, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Khanna, Mrs. Bustos, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Perlmutter, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Cárdenas, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Peters, Mr. Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Ms. Omar, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Rush, Ms. Moore, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mrs. Demings, Mr. Delgado, Mr. Courtney, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Aguilar, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Mr. Keating, Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, Ms. Tlaib, and Mr. Thompson of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Armed Services, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
June 19, 2020
Additional sponsors: Mrs. Axne, Mr. Case, Mr. Casten of Illinois, Mr. Cooper, Ms. Craig, Mr. Crist, Ms. Finkenauer, Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. Foster, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. Gottheimer, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Himes, Ms. Kendra S. Horn of Oklahoma, Mr. Kim, Mr. Kind, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Levin of Michigan, Mr. Loebsack, Mr. Luján, Mrs. Luria, Mr. Malinowski, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Morelle, Mrs. Murphy of Florida, Mr. O'Halleran, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Quigley, Miss Rice of New York, Mr. Ruppersberger, Mr. Schneider, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Soto, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Visclosky, Ms. Wexton, Ms. Davids of Kansas, Ms. Wild, Ms. Houlahan, Mr. Phillips, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Spanberger, Ms. Schrier, Mr. Harder of California, Mr. Ruiz, Mr. Cuellar, Mr. Costa, Mr. Cox of California, Ms. Gabbard, Mr. Levin of California, Ms. Porter, Ms. Stevens, Ms. Slotkin, Mr. Lamb, Mr. Pappas, Mr. Sablan, Mr. Rouda, Ms. Torres Small of New Mexico, Mr. Cisneros, Mr. Rose of New York, Mrs. Lee of Nevada, Mr. Cunningham, and Mr. Schrader
June 19, 2020
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
June 19, 2020
Committees on Armed Services and Energy and Commerce discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 8, 2020]
To hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct in court, improve transparency through data collection, and reform police training and policies.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
(b) Table of contents.—The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 101. Deprivation of rights under color of law.
Sec. 102. Qualified immunity reform.
Sec. 103. Pattern and practice investigations.
Sec. 104. Independent investigations.
Sec. 111. Short title.
Sec. 112. Definitions.
Sec. 113. Accreditation of law enforcement agencies.
Sec. 114. Law enforcement grants.
Sec. 115. Attorney General to conduct study.
Sec. 116. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 117. National task force on law enforcement oversight.
Sec. 118. Federal data collection on law enforcement practices.
Sec. 201. Establishment of National Police Misconduct Registry.
Sec. 202. Certification requirements for hiring of law enforcement officers.
Sec. 221. Short title.
Sec. 222. Definitions.
Sec. 223. Use of force reporting.
Sec. 224. Use of force data reporting.
Sec. 225. Compliance with reporting requirements.
Sec. 226. Federal law enforcement reporting.
Sec. 227. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 301. Short title.
Sec. 302. Definitions.
Sec. 311. Prohibition.
Sec. 312. Enforcement.
Sec. 321. Policies to eliminate racial profiling.
Sec. 331. Policies required for grants.
Sec. 332. Involvement of Attorney General.
Sec. 333. Data collection demonstration project.
Sec. 334. Development of best practices.
Sec. 335. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 341. Attorney General to issue regulations.
Sec. 342. Publication of data.
Sec. 343. Limitations on publication of data.
Sec. 351. Attorney General to issue regulations and reports.
Sec. 361. Training on racial bias and duty to intervene.
Sec. 362. Ban on no-knock warrants in drug cases.
Sec. 363. Incentivizing banning of chokeholds and carotid holds.
Sec. 364. PEACE Act.
Sec. 365. Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act.
Sec. 366. Public safety innovation grants.
Sec. 371. Short title.
Sec. 372. Requirements for Federal law enforcement officers regarding the use of body cameras.
Sec. 373. Patrol vehicles with in-car video recording cameras.
Sec. 374. Facial recognition technology.
Sec. 375. GAO study.
Sec. 376. Regulations.
Sec. 377. Rule of construction.
Sec. 381. Short title.
Sec. 382. Law enforcement body-worn camera requirements.
Sec. 401. Short title.
Sec. 402. Findings.
Sec. 403. Lynching.
Sec. 501. Severability.
Sec. 502. Savings clause.
In this Act:
(1) BYRNE GRANT PROGRAM.—The term “Byrne grant program” means any grant program under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.), without regard to whether the funds are characterized as being made available under the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Programs, the Local Government Law Enforcement Block Grants Program, the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, or otherwise.
(2) COPS GRANT PROGRAM.—The term “COPS grant program” means the grant program authorized under section 1701 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381).
(3) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term “Federal law enforcement agency” means any agency of the United States authorized to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution of any violation of Federal criminal law.
(4) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term “Federal law enforcement officer” has the meaning given the term in section 115 of title 18, United States Code.
(5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term “Indian Tribe” has the meaning given the term “Indian tribe” in section 901 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251).
(6) LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term “local law enforcement officer” means any officer, agent, or employee of a State or unit of local government authorized by law or by a government agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, or investigation of any violation of criminal law.
(7) STATE.—The term “State” has the meaning given the term in section 901 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251).
(8) TRIBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term “tribal law enforcement officer” means any officer, agent, or employee of an Indian tribe, or the Bureau of Indian Affairs, authorized by law or by a government agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, or investigation of any violation of criminal law.
(9) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term “unit of local government” has the meaning given the term in section 901 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251).
(10) DEADLY FORCE.—The term “deadly force” means that force which a reasonable person would consider likely to cause death or serious bodily harm, including—
(11) USE OF FORCE.—The term “use of force” includes—
(A) the use of a firearm, Taser, explosive device, chemical agent (such as pepper spray), baton, impact projectile, blunt instrument, hand, fist, foot, canine, or vehicle against an individual;
Section 242 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
Section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1983) is amended by adding at the end the following:
““It shall not be a defense or immunity in any action brought under this section against a local law enforcement officer (as such term is defined in section 2 of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020), or in any action under any source of law against a Federal investigative or law enforcement officer (as such term is defined in section 2680(h) of title 28, United States Code), that—“(1) the defendant was acting in good faith, or that the defendant believed, reasonably or otherwise, that his or her conduct was lawful at the time when the conduct was committed; or
“(2) the rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws were not clearly established at the time of their deprivation by the defendant, or that at such time, the state of the law was otherwise such that the defendant could not reasonably have been expected to know whether his or her conduct was lawful.”.
(a) Subpoena authority.—Section 210401 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting “, by prosecutors,” after “conduct by law enforcement officers”;
(3) by adding at the end the following:
“(c) Subpoena authority.—In carrying out the authority in subsection (b), the Attorney General may require by subpoena the production of all information, documents, reports, answers, records, accounts, papers, and other data in any medium (including electronically stored information), as well as any tangible thing and documentary evidence, and the attendance and testimony of witnesses necessary in the performance of the Attorney General under subsection (b). Such a subpoena, in the case of contumacy or refusal to obey, shall be enforceable by order of any appropriate district court of the United States.
“(d) Civil action by State attorneys general.—Whenever it shall appear to the attorney general of any State, or such other official as a State may designate, that a violation of subsection (a) has occurred within their State, the State attorney general or official, in the name of the State, may bring a civil action in the appropriate district court of the United States to obtain appropriate equitable and declaratory relief to eliminate the pattern or practice. In carrying out the authority in this subsection, the State attorney general or official shall have the same subpoena authority as is available to the Attorney General under subsection (c).
“(e) Rule of construction.—Nothing in this section may be construed to limit the authority of the Attorney General under subsection (b) in any case in which a State attorney general has brought a civil action under subsection (d).
“(f) Reporting requirements.—On the date that is one year after the enactment of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020, and annually thereafter, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice shall make publicly available on an internet website a report on, during the previous year—
(b) Grant program.—
(1) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Attorney General may award a grant to a State to assist the State in conducting pattern and practice investigations under section 210401(d) of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601).
(c) Data on Excessive Use of Force.—Section 210402 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12602) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(B) by adding at the end the following:
“(2) STATE COLLECTION OF DATA.—The attorney general of a State may, through appropriate means, acquire data about the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers and such data may be used by the attorney general in conducting investigations under section 210401. This data may not contain any information that may reveal the identity of the victim or any law enforcement officer.”; and
(a) In general.—
(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:
(A) INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION.—The term “independent investigation” means a criminal investigation or prosecution of a law enforcement officer’s use of deadly force, including one or more of the following:
(i) Using an agency or civilian review board that investigates and independently reviews all allegations of use of deadly force made against law enforcement officers in the jurisdiction.
(ii) Assigning of the attorney general of the State in which the alleged use of deadly force was committed to conduct the criminal investigation and prosecution.
(iii) Adopting a procedure under which an independent prosecutor is assigned to investigate and prosecute the case, including a procedure under which an automatic referral is made to an independent prosecutor appointed and overseen by the attorney general of the State in which the alleged use of deadly force was committed.
(iv) Adopting a procedure under which an independent prosecutor is assigned to investigate and prosecute the case.
(B) INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT STATUTE.—The term “independent investigation of law enforcement statute” means a statute requiring an independent investigation in a criminal matter in which—
(C) INDEPENDENT PROSECUTOR.—The term “independent prosecutor” means, with respect to a criminal investigation or prosecution of a law enforcement officer’s use of deadly force, a prosecutor who—
(2) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Attorney General may award grants to eligible States and Indian Tribes to assist in implementing an independent investigation of law enforcement statute.
(b) COPS grant program used for civilian review boards.—Part Q of title I of the of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381 et seq.) is amended—
(1) in section 1701(b) (34 U.S.C. 10381(b))—
(2) in section 1709 (34 U.S.C. 10389), by adding at the end the following:
This subtitle may be cited as the “Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act of 2020”.
In this subtitle:
(1) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION.—The term “community-based organization” means a grassroots organization that monitors the issue of police misconduct and that has a local or national presence and membership, such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), UnidosUS, the National Urban League, the National Congress of American Indians, or the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (NAPALC).
(2) LAW ENFORCEMENT ACCREDITATION ORGANIZATION.—The term “law enforcement accreditation organization” means a professional law enforcement organization involved in the development of standards of accreditation for law enforcement agencies at the national, State, regional, or Tribal level, such as the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA).
(3) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term “law enforcement agency” means a State, local, Indian tribal, or campus public agency engaged in the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution, or adjudication of violations of criminal laws.
(4) PROFESSIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSOCIATION.—The term “professional law enforcement association” means a law enforcement membership association that works for the needs of Federal, State, local, or Indian tribal law enforcement agencies and with the civilian community on matters of common interest, such as the Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association (HAPCOA), the National Asian Pacific Officers Association (NAPOA), the National Black Police Association (NBPA), the National Latino Peace Officers Association (NLPOA), the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), Women in Law Enforcement, the Native American Law Enforcement Association (NALEA), the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA), the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), or the National Association of School Resource Officers.
(5) PROFESSIONAL CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT ORGANIZATION.—The term “professional civilian oversight organization” means a membership organization formed to address and advance civilian oversight of law enforcement and whose members are from Federal, State, regional, local, or Tribal organizations that review issues or complaints against law enforcement agencies or officers, such as the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE).
(a) Standards.—
(1) INITIAL ANALYSIS.—The Attorney General shall perform an initial analysis of existing accreditation standards and methodology developed by law enforcement accreditation organizations nationwide, including national, State, regional, and Tribal accreditation organizations. Such an analysis shall include a review of the recommendations of the Final Report of the President's Taskforce on 21st Century Policing, issued by the Department of Justice, in May 2015.
(2) DEVELOPMENT OF UNIFORM STANDARDS.—After completion of the initial review and analysis under paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall—
(A) recommend, in consultation with law enforcement accreditation organizations and community-based organizations, the adoption of additional standards that will result in greater community accountability of law enforcement agencies and an increased focus on policing with a guardian mentality, including standards relating to—
(B) recommend additional areas for the development of national standards for the accreditation of law enforcement agencies in consultation with existing law enforcement accreditation organizations, professional law enforcement associations, labor organizations, community-based organizations, and professional civilian oversight organizations.
(3) CONTINUING ACCREDITATION PROCESS.—The Attorney General shall adopt policies and procedures to partner with law enforcement accreditation organizations, professional law enforcement associations, labor organizations, community-based organizations, and professional civilian oversight organizations to—
(b) Use of funds requirements.—Section 502(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10153(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(7) An assurance that, for each fiscal year covered by an application, the applicant will use not less than 5 percent of the total amount of the grant award for the fiscal year to assist law enforcement agencies of the applicant, including campus public safety departments, gain or maintain accreditation from certified law enforcement accreditation organizations in accordance with section 113 of the Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act of 2020.”.
(a) Use of funds requirement.—Section 502(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10153(a)), as amended by section 113, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(8) An assurance that, for each fiscal year covered by an application, the applicant will use not less than 5 percent of the total amount of the grant award for the fiscal year to study and implement effective management, training, recruiting, hiring, and oversight standards and programs to promote effective community and problem solving strategies for law enforcement agencies in accordance with section 114 of the Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act of 2020.”.
(b) Grant program for community organizations.—The Attorney General may make grants to community-based organizations to study and implement—
(c) Use of funds.—Grant amounts described in paragraph (8) of section 502(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10153(a)), as added by subsection (a) of this section, and grant amounts awarded under subsection (b) shall be used to—
(1) study management and operations standards for law enforcement agencies, including standards relating to administrative due process, residency requirements, compensation and benefits, use of force, racial profiling, early warning and intervention systems, youth justice, school safety, civilian review boards or analogous procedures, or research into the effectiveness of existing programs, projects, or other activities designed to address misconduct; and
(d) Components of pilot program.—A pilot program developed under subsection (c)(2) shall include implementation of the following:
(1) TRAINING.—The implementation of policies, practices, and procedures addressing training and instruction to comply with accreditation standards in the areas of—
(B) investigation of officer misconduct and practices and procedures for referring to prosecuting authorities allegations of officer use of excessive force or racial profiling;
(2) RECRUITMENT, HIRING, RETENTION, AND PROMOTION OF DIVERSE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.—Policies, procedures, and practices for—
(A) the hiring and recruitment of diverse law enforcement officers who are representative of the communities they serve;
(B) the development of selection, promotion, educational, background, and psychological standards that comport with title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.); and
(3) OVERSIGHT.—Complaint procedures, including the establishment of civilian review boards or analogous procedures for jurisdictions across a range of sizes and agency configurations, complaint procedures by community-based organizations, early warning systems and related intervention programs, video monitoring technology, data collection and transparency, and administrative due process requirements inherent to complaint procedures for members of the public and law enforcement.
(4) YOUTH JUSTICE AND SCHOOL SAFETY.—Uniform standards on youth justice and school safety that include best practices for law enforcement interaction and communication with children and youth, taking into consideration adolescent development and any disability, including—
(A) the right to effective and timely notification of a parent or legal guardian of any law enforcement interaction, regardless of the immigration status of the individuals involved; and
(e) Technical assistance.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may provide technical assistance to States and community-based organizations in furtherance of the purposes of this section.
(2) MODELS FOR REDUCTION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT MISCONDUCT.—The technical assistance provided by the Attorney General may include the development of models for States and community-based organizations to reduce law enforcement officer misconduct. Any development of such models shall be in consultation with community-based organizations.
(f) Use of components.—The Attorney General may use any component or components of the Department of Justice in carrying out this section.
(g) Applications.—An application for a grant under subsection (b) shall be submitted in such form, and contain such information, as the Attorney General may prescribe by rule.
(h) Performance evaluation.—
(1) MONITORING COMPONENTS.—
(2) EVALUATION COMPONENTS.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Selected grant recipients shall be evaluated on the local level or as part of a national evaluation, pursuant to rules made by the Attorney General.
(B) REQUIREMENTS.—An evaluation conducted under subparagraph (A) may include independent audits of police behavior and other assessments of individual program implementations. For community-based organizations in selected jurisdictions that are able to support outcome evaluations, the effectiveness of funded programs, projects, and activities may be required.
(3) PERIODIC REVIEW AND REPORTS.—The Attorney General may require a grant recipient to submit biannually to the Attorney General the results of the monitoring and evaluations required under paragraphs (1) and (2) and such other data and information as the Attorney General determines to be necessary.
(i) Revocation or suspension of funding.—If the Attorney General determines, as a result of monitoring under subsection (h) or otherwise, that a grant recipient under the Byrne grant program or under subsection (b) is not in substantial compliance with the requirements of this section, the Attorney General may revoke or suspend funding of that grant, in whole or in part.
(a) Study.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall conduct a nationwide study of the prevalence and effect of any law, rule, or procedure that allows a law enforcement officer to delay the response to questions posed by a local internal affairs officer, or review board on the investigative integrity and prosecution of law enforcement misconduct, including pre-interview warnings and termination policies.
(2) INITIAL ANALYSIS.—The Attorney General shall perform an initial analysis of existing State laws, rules, and procedures to determine whether, at a threshold level, the effect of the type of law, rule, or procedure that raises material investigatory issues that could impair or hinder a prompt and thorough investigation of possible misconduct, including criminal conduct.
(3) DATA COLLECTION.—After completion of the initial analysis under paragraph (2), and considering material investigatory issues, the Attorney General shall gather additional data nationwide on similar laws, rules, and procedures from a representative and statistically significant sample of jurisdictions, to determine whether such laws, rules, and procedures raise such material investigatory issues.
There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2021, in addition to any other sums authorized to be appropriated—
(1) $25,000,000 for additional expenses relating to the enforcement of section 210401 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601), criminal enforcement under sections 241 and 242 of title 18, United States Code, and administrative enforcement by the Department of Justice of such sections, including compliance with consent decrees or judgments entered into under such section 210401; and
(a) Establishment.—There is established within the Department of Justice a task force to be known as the Task Force on Law Enforcement Oversight (hereinafter in this section referred to as the “Task Force”).
(b) Composition.—The Task Force shall be composed of individuals appointed by the Attorney General, who shall appoint not less than 1 individual from each of the following:
(a) Agencies To report.—Each Federal, State, Tribal, and local law enforcement agency shall report data of the practices enumerated in subsection (c) of that agency to the Attorney General.
(b) Breakdown of information by race, ethnicity, and gender.—For each practice enumerated in subsection (c), the reporting law enforcement agency shall provide a breakdown of the numbers of incidents of that practice by race, ethnicity, age, and gender of the officers of the agency and of members of the public involved in the practice.
(c) Practices To be reported on.—The practices to be reported on are the following:
(d) Retention of data.—Each law enforcement agency required to report data under this section shall maintain records relating to any matter reported for not less than 4 years after those records are created.
(e) Penalty for States failing To report as required.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—For any fiscal year, a State shall not receive any amount that would otherwise be allocated to that State under section 505(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10156(a)), or any amount from any other law enforcement assistance program of the Department of Justice, unless the State has ensured, to the satisfaction of the Attorney General, that the State and each local law enforcement agency of the State is in substantial compliance with the requirements of this section.
(a) In general.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish a National Police Misconduct Registry to be compiled and maintained by the Department of Justice.
(b) Contents of registry.—The Registry required to be established under subsection (a) shall contain the following data with respect to all Federal and local law enforcement officers:
(1) Each complaint filed against a law enforcement officer, aggregated by—
(A) complaints that were found to be credible or that resulted in disciplinary action against the law enforcement officer, disaggregated by whether the complaint involved a use of force or racial profiling (as such term is defined in section 302);
(2) Discipline records, disaggregated by whether the complaint involved a use of force or racial profiling.
(c) Federal agency reporting requirements.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 6 months thereafter, the head of each Federal law enforcement agency shall submit to the Attorney General the information described in subsection (b).
(d) State and local law enforcement agency reporting requirements.—Beginning in the first fiscal year that begins after the date that is one year after the date of enactment of this Act and each fiscal year thereafter in which a State receives funds under the Byrne grant program, the State shall, once every 180 days, submit to the Attorney General the information described in subsection (b) for the State and each local law enforcement agency within the State.
(e) Public availability of registry.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In establishing the Registry required under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall make the Registry available to the public on an internet website of the Attorney General in a manner that allows members of the public to search for an individual law enforcement officer’s records of misconduct, as described in subsection (b), involving a use of force or racial profiling.
(a) In general.— Beginning in the first fiscal year that begins after the date that is one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, a State or unit of local government, other than an Indian Tribe, may not receive funds under the Byrne grant program for that fiscal year if, on the day before the first day of the fiscal year, the State or unit of local government has not—
(1) submitted to the Attorney General evidence that the State or unit of local government has a certification and decertification program for purposes of employment as a law enforcement officer in that State or unit of local government that is consistent with the rules made under subsection (c); and
(b) Availability of information.—The Attorney General shall make available to law enforcement agencies all information in the registry under section 201 for purposes of compliance with the certification and decertification programs described in subsection (a)(1) and considering applications for employment.
This subtitle may be cited as the “Police Reporting Information, Data, and Evidence Act of 2020” or the “PRIDE Act of 2020”.
In this subtitle:
(1) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term “local educational agency” has the meaning given the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(2) LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term “local law enforcement officer” has the meaning given the term in section 2, and includes a school resource officer.
(3) SCHOOL.—The term “school” means an elementary school or secondary school (as those terms are defined in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)).
(a) Reporting requirements.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning in the first fiscal year that begins after the date that is one year after the date of enactment of this Act and each fiscal year thereafter in which a State or Indian Tribe receives funds under a Byrne grant program, the State or Indian Tribe shall—
(A) report to the Attorney General, on a quarterly basis and pursuant to guidelines established by the Attorney General, information regarding—
(i) any incident involving the use of deadly force against a civilian by—
(ii) any incident involving the shooting of a local law enforcement officer or tribal law enforcement officer described in clause (i) by a civilian;
(iii) any incident involving the death or arrest of a local law enforcement officer or tribal law enforcement officer;
(2) REPORT INFORMATION REQUIRED.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The report required under paragraph (1)(A) shall contain information that includes, at a minimum—
(i) the national origin, sex, race, ethnicity, age, disability, English language proficiency, and housing status of each civilian against whom a local law enforcement officer or tribal law enforcement officer used force;
(ii) the date, time, and location, including whether it was on school grounds, and the zip code, of the incident and whether the jurisdiction in which the incident occurred allows for the open-carry or concealed-carry of a firearm;
(iv) the type of force used against the officer, the civilian, or both, including the types of weapons used;
(ix) a brief description regarding the circumstances surrounding the incident, which shall include information on—
(III) the resistance encountered by each local law enforcement officer or tribal law enforcement officer involved in the incident;
(B) INCIDENTS REPORTED UNDER DEATH IN CUSTODY REPORTING ACT.—A State or Indian Tribe is not required to include in a report under subsection (a)(1) an incident reported by the State or Indian Tribe in accordance with section 20104(a)(2) of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12104(a)(2)).
(3) AUDIT OF USE-OF-FORCE REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter, each State or Indian Tribe described in paragraph (1) shall—
(4) COMPLIANCE PROCEDURE.—Prior to submitting a report under paragraph (1)(A), the State or Indian Tribe submitting such report shall compare the information compiled to be reported pursuant to clause (i) of paragraph (1)(A) to publicly available sources, and shall revise such report to include any incident determined to be missing from the report based on such comparison. Failure to comply with the procedures described in the previous sentence shall be considered a failure to comply with the requirements of this section.
(b) Ineligibility for funds.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—For any fiscal year in which a State or Indian Tribe fails to comply with this section, the State or Indian Tribe, at the discretion of the Attorney General, shall be subject to not more than a 10-percent reduction of the funds that would otherwise be allocated for that fiscal year to the State or Indian Tribe under a Byrne grant program.
(2) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated under a Byrne grant program in accordance with paragraph (1) to a State for failure to comply with this section shall be reallocated under the Byrne grant program to States that have not failed to comply with this section.
(3) INFORMATION REGARDING SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICERS.—The State or Indian Tribe shall ensure that all schools and local educational agencies within the jurisdiction of the State or Indian Tribe provide the State or Indian Tribe with the information needed regarding school resource officers to comply with this section.
(c) Public availability of data.—
(d) Guidance.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in coordination with the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, shall issue guidance on best practices relating to establishing standard data collection systems that capture the information required to be reported under subsection (a)(2), which shall include standard and consistent definitions for terms.
(a) Technical assistance grants authorized.—The Attorney General may make grants to eligible law enforcement agencies to be used for the activities described in subsection (c).
(b) Eligibility.—In order to be eligible to receive a grant under this section a law enforcement agency shall—
(1) be a tribal law enforcement agency or be located in a State that receives funds under a Byrne grant program;
(3) demonstrate that the use of force policy for local law enforcement officers or tribal law enforcement officers employed by the law enforcement agency is publicly available; and
(c) Activities described.—A grant made under this section may be used by a law enforcement agency for—
(1) the cost of assisting the State or Indian Tribe in which the law enforcement agency is located in complying with the reporting requirements described in section 223;
(2) the cost of establishing necessary systems required to investigate and report incidents as required under subsection (b)(4);
(a) In general.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter, the Attorney General shall conduct an audit and review of the information provided under this subtitle to determine whether each State or Indian Tribe described in section 223(a)(1) is in compliance with the requirements of this subtitle.
The head of each Federal law enforcement agency shall submit to the Attorney General, on a quarterly basis and pursuant to guidelines established by the Attorney General, the information required to be reported by a State or Indian Tribe under section 223.
This subtitle may be cited as the “End Racial and Religious Profiling Act of 2020” or “ERRPA”.
In this subtitle:
(1) COVERED PROGRAM.—The term “covered program” means any program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds made available under—
(B) the COPS grant program, except that no program, project, or other activity specified in section 1701(b)(13) of part Q of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381 et seq.) shall be a covered program under this paragraph.
(2) GOVERNMENTAL BODY.—The term “governmental body” means any department, agency, special purpose district, or other instrumentality of Federal, State, local, or Indian Tribal government.
(3) HIT RATE.—The term “hit rate” means the percentage of stops and searches in which a law enforcement agent finds drugs, a gun, or something else that leads to an arrest. The hit rate is calculated by dividing the total number of searches by the number of searches that yield contraband. The hit rate is complementary to the rate of false stops.
(4) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term “law enforcement agency” means any Federal, State, or local public agency engaged in the prevention, detection, or investigation of violations of criminal, immigration, or customs laws.
(5) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT.—The term “law enforcement agent” means any Federal, State, or local official responsible for enforcing criminal, immigration, or customs laws, including police officers and other agents of a law enforcement agency.
(6) RACIAL PROFILING.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term “racial profiling” means the practice of a law enforcement agent or agency relying, to any degree, on actual or perceived race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation in selecting which individual to subject to routine or spontaneous investigatory activities or in deciding upon the scope and substance of law enforcement activity following the initial investigatory procedure, except when there is trustworthy information, relevant to the locality and timeframe, that links a person with a particular characteristic described in this paragraph to an identified criminal incident or scheme.
(B) EXCEPTION.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), a tribal law enforcement officer exercising law enforcement authority within Indian country, as that term is defined in section 1151 of title 18, United States Code, is not considered to be racial profiling with respect to making key jurisdictional determinations that are necessarily tied to reliance on actual or perceived race, ethnicity, or tribal affiliation.
(7) ROUTINE OR SPONTANEOUS INVESTIGATORY ACTIVITIES.—The term “routine or spontaneous investigatory activities” means the following activities by a law enforcement agent:
(E) Consensual or nonconsensual searches of the persons, property, or possessions (including vehicles) of individuals using any form of public or private transportation, including motorists and pedestrians.
No law enforcement agent or law enforcement agency shall engage in racial profiling.
(a) Remedy.—The United States, or an individual injured by racial profiling, may enforce this part in a civil action for declaratory or injunctive relief, filed either in a State court of general jurisdiction or in a district court of the United States.
(c) Nature of proof.—Proof that the routine or spontaneous investigatory activities of law enforcement agents in a jurisdiction have had a disparate impact on individuals with a particular characteristic described in section 302(6) shall constitute prima facie evidence of a violation of this part.
(d) Attorney’s fees.—In any action or proceeding to enforce this part against any governmental body, the court may allow a prevailing plaintiff, other than the United States, reasonable attorney’s fees as part of the costs, and may include expert fees as part of the attorney’s fee. The term “prevailing plaintiff” means a plaintiff that substantially prevails pursuant to a judicial or administrative judgment or order, or an enforceable written agreement.
(b) Policies.—The policies and procedures described in subsection (a)(1) shall include—
(3) the collection of data in accordance with the regulations issued by the Attorney General under section 341;
(a) In general.—An application by a State or a unit of local government for funding under a covered program shall include a certification that such State, unit of local government, and any law enforcement agency to which it will distribute funds—
(b) Policies.—The policies and procedures described in subsection (a)(1) shall include—
(3) the collection of data in accordance with the regulations issued by the Attorney General under section 341; and
(4) participation in an administrative complaint procedure or independent audit program that meets the requirements of section 332.
(a) Regulations.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act and in consultation with stakeholders, including Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies and community, professional, research, and civil rights organizations, the Attorney General shall issue regulations for the operation of administrative complaint procedures and independent audit programs to ensure that such procedures and programs provide an appropriate response to allegations of racial profiling by law enforcement agents or agencies.
(2) GUIDELINES.—The regulations issued under paragraph (1) shall contain guidelines that ensure the fairness, effectiveness, and independence of the administrative complaint procedures and independent auditor programs.
(b) Noncompliance.—If the Attorney General determines that the recipient of a grant from any covered program is not in compliance with the requirements of section 331 or the regulations issued under subsection (a), the Attorney General shall withhold, in whole or in part (at the discretion of the Attorney General), funds for one or more grants to the recipient under the covered program, until the recipient establishes compliance.
(a) Technical assistance grants for data collection.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may, through competitive grants or contracts, carry out a 2-year demonstration project for the purpose of developing and implementing data collection programs on the hit rates for stops and searches by law enforcement agencies. The data collected shall be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, and religion.
(c) Evaluation.—Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall enter into a contract with an institution of higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) to analyze the data collected by each of the grantees funded under this section.
(d) Authorization of appropriations.—There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out activities under this section—
(1) $5,000,000, over a 2-year period, to carry out the demonstration program under subsection (a); and
(2) $500,000 to carry out the evaluation under subsection (c).
(a) Use of funds requirement.—Section 502(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10153(a)), as amended by sections 113 and 114, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(9) An assurance that, for each fiscal year covered by an application, the applicant will use not less than 10 percent of the total amount of the grant award for the fiscal year to develop and implement best practice devices and systems to eliminate racial profiling in accordance with section 334 of the End Racial and Religious Profiling Act of 2020”..”.
(b) Development of best practices.—Grant amounts described in paragraph (9) of section 502(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10153(a)), as added by subsection (a) of this section, shall be for programs that include the following:
(1) The development and implementation of training to prevent racial profiling and to encourage more respectful interaction with the public.
(2) The acquisition and use of technology to facilitate the accurate collection and analysis of data.
(a) Regulations.—Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with stakeholders, including Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies and community, professional, research, and civil rights organizations, shall issue regulations for the collection and compilation of data under sections 321 and 331.
(b) Requirements.—The regulations issued under subsection (a) shall—
(2) provide that the data collected shall—
(3) provide that a standardized form shall be made available to law enforcement agencies for the submission of collected data to the Department of Justice;
(4) provide that law enforcement agencies shall compile data on the standardized form made available under paragraph (3), and submit the form to the Civil Rights Division and the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics;
(5) provide that law enforcement agencies shall maintain all data collected under this subtitle for not less than 4 years;
(6) include guidelines for setting comparative benchmarks, consistent with best practices, against which collected data shall be measured;
(7) provide that the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics shall—
(A) analyze the data for any statistically significant disparities, including—
(B) not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter—
(i) prepare a report regarding the findings of the analysis conducted under subparagraph (A);
(iii) make such report available to the public, including on a website of the Department of Justice, and in accordance with accessibility standards under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.); and
(8) protect the privacy of individuals whose data is collected by—
(A) limiting the use of the data collected under this subtitle to the purposes set forth in this subtitle;
(B) except as otherwise provided in this subtitle, limiting access to the data collected under this subtitle to those Federal, State, or local employees or agents who require such access in order to fulfill the purposes for the data set forth in this subtitle;
The Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the Department of Justice shall provide to Congress and make available to the public, together with each annual report described in section 341, the data collected pursuant to this subtitle, excluding any personally identifiable information described in section 343.
(a) Regulations.—In addition to the regulations required under sections 333 and 341, the Attorney General shall issue such other regulations as the Attorney General determines are necessary to implement this subtitle.
(b) Reports.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report on racial profiling by law enforcement agencies.
(2) SCOPE.—Each report submitted under paragraph (1) shall include—
(A) a summary of data collected under sections 321(b)(3) and 331(b)(3) and from any other reliable source of information regarding racial profiling in the United States;
(B) a discussion of the findings in the most recent report prepared by the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics under section 341(b)(7);
(a) In general.—The Attorney General shall establish—
(b) Mandatory training for Federal law enforcement officers.—The head of each Federal law enforcement agency shall require each Federal law enforcement officer employed by the agency to complete the training programs established under subsection (a).
(c) Limitation on eligibility for funds.—Beginning in the first fiscal year that begins after the date that is one year after the date of enactment of this Act, a State or unit of local government may not receive funds under the Byrne grant program for a fiscal year if, on the day before the first day of the fiscal year, the State or unit of local government does not require each law enforcement officer in the State or unit of local government to complete the training programs established under subsection (a).
(d) Grants To train law enforcement officers on use of force.—Section 501(a)(1) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10152(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(a) Ban on Federal warrants in drug cases.—Section 509 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 879) is amended by adding at the end the following: “A search warrant authorized under this section shall require that a law enforcement officer execute the search warrant only after providing notice of his or her authority and purpose.”.
(b) Limitation on eligibility for funds.—Beginning in the first fiscal year that begins after the date that is one year after the date of enactment of this Act, a State or unit of local government may not receive funds under the COPS grant program for a fiscal year if, on the day before the first day of the fiscal year, the State or unit of local government does not have in effect a law that prohibits the issuance of a no-knock warrant in a drug case.
(c) Definition.—In this section, the term “no-knock warrant” means a warrant that allows a law enforcement officer to enter a property without requiring the law enforcement officer to announce the presence of the law enforcement officer or the intention of the law enforcement officer to enter the property.
(a) Definition.—In this section, the term “chokehold or carotid hold” means the application of any pressure to the throat or windpipe, the use of maneuvers that restrict blood or oxygen flow to the brain, or carotid artery restraints that prevent or hinder breathing or reduce intake of air of an individual.
(b) Limitation on eligibility for funds.—Beginning in the first fiscal year that begins after the date that is one year after the date of enactment of this Act, a State or unit of local government may not receive funds under the Byrne grant program or the COPS grant program for a fiscal year if, on the day before the first day of the fiscal year, the State or unit of local government does not have in effect a law that prohibits law enforcement officers in the State or unit of local government from using a chokehold or carotid hold.
(c) Chokeholds as civil rights violations.—
(1) SHORT TITLE.—This subsection may be cited as the “Eric Garner Excessive Use of Force Prevention Act”.
(2) CHOKEHOLDS AS CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS.—Section 242 of title 18, United States Code, as amended by section 101, is amended by adding at the end the following: “For the purposes of this section, the application of any pressure to the throat or windpipe, use of maneuvers that restrict blood or oxygen flow to the brain, or carotid artery restraints which prevent or hinder breathing or reduce intake of air is a punishment, pain, or penalty.”.
(a) Short title.—This section may be cited as the “Police Exercising Absolute Care With Everyone Act of 2020” or the “PEACE Act of 2020”.
(b) Use of force by Federal law enforcement officers.—
(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection:
(A) DEESCALATION TACTICS AND TECHNIQUES.—The term “deescalation tactics and techniques” means proactive actions and approaches used by a Federal law enforcement officer to stabilize the situation so that more time, options, and resources are available to gain a person’s voluntary compliance and reduce or eliminate the need to use force, including verbal persuasion, warnings, tactical techniques, slowing down the pace of an incident, waiting out a subject, creating distance between the officer and the threat, and requesting additional resources to resolve the incident.
(B) NECESSARY.—The term “necessary” means that another reasonable Federal law enforcement officer would objectively conclude, under the totality of the circumstances, that there was no reasonable alternative to the use of force.
(C) REASONABLE ALTERNATIVES.—
(i) IN GENERAL.—The term “reasonable alternatives” means tactics and methods used by a Federal law enforcement officer to effectuate an arrest that do not unreasonably increase the risk posed to the law enforcement officer or another person, including verbal communication, distance, warnings, deescalation tactics and techniques, tactical repositioning, and other tactics and techniques intended to stabilize the situation and reduce the immediacy of the risk so that more time, options, and resources can be called upon to resolve the situation without the use of force.
(D) TOTALITY OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES.—The term “totality of the circumstances” means all credible facts known to the Federal law enforcement officer leading up to and at the time of the use of force, including the actions of the person against whom the Federal law enforcement officer uses such force and the actions of the Federal law enforcement officer.
(2) PROHIBITION ON LESS LETHAL FORCE.—A Federal law enforcement officer may not use any less lethal force unless—
(3) PROHIBITION ON DEADLY USE OF FORCE.—A Federal law enforcement officer may not use deadly force against a person unless—
(A) the form of deadly force used is necessary, as a last resort, to prevent imminent and serious bodily injury or death to the officer or another person;
(4) REQUIREMENT TO GIVE VERBAL WARNING.—When feasible, prior to using force against a person, a Federal law enforcement officer shall identify himself or herself as a Federal law enforcement officer, and issue a verbal warning to the person that the Federal law enforcement officer seeks to apprehend, which shall—
(5) GUIDANCE ON USE OF FORCE.—Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with impacted persons, communities, and organizations, including representatives of civil and human rights organizations, victims of police use of force, and representatives of law enforcement associations, shall provide guidance to Federal law enforcement agencies on—
(A) the types of less lethal force and deadly force that are prohibited under paragraphs (2) and (3); and
(6) TRAINING.—The Attorney General shall provide training to Federal law enforcement officers on interacting people described in subclauses (I) through (VII) of paragraph (5)(B)(ii).
(7) LIMITATION ON JUSTIFICATION DEFENSE.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 51 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
Ҥ 1123. Limitation on justification defense for Federal law enforcement officers
“(a) In general.—It is not a defense to an offense under section 1111 or 1112 that the use of less lethal force or deadly force by a Federal law enforcement officer was justified if—
(B) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for chapter 51 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1122 the following:
“1123. Limitation on justification defense for Federal law enforcement officers.”.
(c) Limitation on the receipt of funds under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.—
(1) LIMITATION.—A State or unit of local government, other than an Indian Tribe, may not receive funds that the State or unit of local government would otherwise receive under a Byrne grant program for a fiscal year if, on the day before the first day of the fiscal year, the State or unit of local government does not have in effect a law that is consistent with subsection (b) of this section and section 1123 of title 18, United States Code, as determined by the Attorney General.
(2) SUBSEQUENT ENACTMENT.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—If funds described in paragraph (1) are withheld from a State or unit of local government pursuant to paragraph (1) for 1 or more fiscal years, and the State or unit of local government enacts or puts in place a law described in paragraph (1), and demonstrates substantial efforts to enforce such law, subject to subparagraph (B), the State or unit of local government shall be eligible, in the fiscal year after the fiscal year during which the State or unit of local government demonstrates such substantial efforts, to receive the total amount that the State or unit of local government would have received during each fiscal year for which funds were withheld.
(B) LIMIT ON AMOUNT OF PRIOR YEAR FUNDS.—A State or unit of local government may not receive funds under subparagraph (A) in an amount that is more than the amount withheld from the State or unit of local government during the 5-fiscal-year period before the fiscal year during which funds are received under subparagraph (A).
(3) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with impacted persons, communities, and organizations, including representatives of civil and human rights organizations, individuals against whom a law enforcement officer used force, and representatives of law enforcement associations, shall make guidance available to States and units of local government on the criteria that the Attorney General will use in determining whether the State or unit of local government has in place a law described in paragraph (1).
(a) Findings.—Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Under section 2576a of title 10, United States Code, the Department of Defense is authorized to provide excess property to local law enforcement agencies. The Defense Logistics Agency, administers such section by operating the Law Enforcement Support Office program.
(2) New and used material, including mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles and weapons determined by the Department of Defense to be “military grade” are transferred to Federal, Tribal, State, and local law enforcement agencies through the program.
(3) As a result local law enforcement agencies, including police and sheriff’s departments, are acquiring this material for use in their normal operations.
(4) As a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, military equipment purchased for, and used in, those wars has become excess property and has been made available for transfer to local and Federal law enforcement agencies.
(5) In Fiscal Year 2017, $504,000,000 worth of property was transferred to law enforcement agencies.
(6) More than $6,800,000,000 worth of weapons and equipment have been transferred to police organizations in all 50 States and four territories through the program.
(7) In May 2012, the Defense Logistics Agency instituted a moratorium on weapons transfers through the program after reports of missing equipment and inappropriate weapons transfers.
(8) Though the moratorium was widely publicized, it was lifted in October 2013 without adequate safeguards.
(9) On January 16, 2015, President Barack Obama issued Executive Order 13688 to better coordinate and regulate the federal transfer of military weapons and equipment to State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies.
(10) In July, 2017, the Government Accountability Office reported that the program’s internal controls were inadequate to prevent fraudulent applicants’ access to the program.
(11) On August, 28, 2017, President Donald Trump rescinded Executive Order 13688 despite a July 2017 Government Accountability Office report finding deficiencies with the administration of the 1033 program.
(12) As a result, Federal, State, and local law enforcement departments across the country are eligible again to acquire free “military-grade” weapons and equipment that could be used inappropriately during policing efforts in which people and taxpayers could be harmed.
(13) The Department of Defense categorizes equipment eligible for transfer under the 1033 program as “controlled” and “un-controlled” equipment. “Controlled equipment” includes weapons, explosives such as flash-bang grenades, mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, long-range acoustic devices, aircraft capable of being modified to carry armament that are combat coded, and silencers, among other military grade items.
(b) Limitation on Department of Defense transfer of personal property to local law enforcement agencies.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2576a of title 10, United States Code, is amended—
(A) in subsection (a)—
(B) in subsection (b)—
(iii) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:
“(7) the recipient submits to the Department of Defense a description of how the recipient expects to use the property;
“(8) the recipient certifies to the Department of Defense that if the recipient determines that the property is surplus to the needs of the recipient, the recipient will return the property to the Department of Defense;
(E) by inserting after subsection (c) the following new subsections:
“(d) Annual certification accounting for transferred property.— (1) For each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to Congress certification in writing that each Federal or State agency to which the Secretary has transferred property under this section—
“(A) has provided to the Secretary documentation accounting for all controlled property, including arms and ammunition, that the Secretary has transferred to the agency, including any item described in subsection (f) so transferred before the date of the enactment of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020; and
“(e) Annual report on excess property.—Before making any property available for transfer under this section, the Secretary shall annually submit to Congress a description of the property to be transferred together with a certification that the transfer of the property would not violate this section or any other provision of law.
“(f) Limitations on transfers.— (1) The Secretary may not transfer to Federal, Tribal, State, or local law enforcement agencies the following under this section:
“(A) Controlled firearms, ammunition, bayonets, grenade launchers, grenades (including stun and flash-bang),and explosives.
“(B) Controlled vehicles, highly mobile multi-wheeled vehicles, mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, trucks, truck dump, truck utility, and truck carryall.
“(2) The Secretary may not require, as a condition of a transfer under this section, that a Federal or State agency demonstrate the use of any small arms or ammunition.
“(3) The limitations under this subsection shall also apply with respect to the transfer of previously transferred property of the Department of Defense from one Federal or State agency to another such agency.
“(4) (A) The Secretary may waive the applicability of paragraph (1) to a vehicle described in subparagraph (B) of such paragraph (other than a mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicle), if the Secretary determines that such a waiver is necessary for disaster or rescue purposes or for another purpose where life and public safety are at risk, as demonstrated by the proposed recipient of the vehicle.
“(B) If the Secretary issues a waiver under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall—
“(i) submit to Congress notice of the waiver, and post such notice on a public Internet website of the Department, by not later than 30 days after the date on which the waiver is issued; and
“(ii) require, as a condition of the waiver, that the recipient of the vehicle for which the waiver is issued provides public notice of the waiver and the transfer, including the type of vehicle and the purpose for which it is transferred, in the jurisdiction where the recipient is located by not later than 30 days after the date on which the waiver is issued.
“(5) The Secretary may provide for an exemption to the limitation under subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1) in the case of parts for aircraft described in such subparagraph that are transferred as part of regular maintenance of aircraft in an existing fleet.
“(g) Conditions for extension of program.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, amounts authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for any fiscal year may not be obligated or expended to carry out this section unless the Secretary submits to Congress certification that for the preceding fiscal year that—
“(1) each Federal or State agency that has received controlled property transferred under this section has—
“(2) with respect to each non-Federal agency that has received controlled property under this section, the State coordinator responsible for each such agency has verified that the coordinator or an agent of the coordinator has conducted an in-person inventory of the property transferred to the agency and that 100 percent of such property was accounted for during the inventory or that the agency has been suspended from the program pursuant to paragraph (4);
“(3) with respect to each Federal agency that has received controlled property under this section, the Secretary of Defense or an agent of the Secretary has conducted an in-person inventory of the property transferred to the agency and that 100 percent of such property was accounted for during the inventory or that the agency has been suspended from the program pursuant to paragraph (4);
“(4) the eligibility of any agency that has received controlled property under this section for which 100 percent of the property was not accounted for during an inventory described in paragraph (1) or (2), as applicable, to receive any property transferred under this section has been suspended; and
“(5) each State coordinator has certified, for each non-Federal agency located in the State for which the State coordinator is responsible that—
“(h) Prohibition on ownership of controlled property.—A Federal or State agency that receives controlled property under this section may not take ownership of the property.
“(i) Notice to Congress of property downgrades.—Not later than 30 days before downgrading the classification of any item of personal property from controlled or Federal Supply Class, the Secretary shall submit to Congress notice of the proposed downgrade.
“(j) Notice to Congress of property cannibalization.—Before the Defense Logistics Agency authorizes the recipient of property transferred under this section to cannibalize the property, the Secretary shall submit to Congress notice of such authorization, including the name of the recipient requesting the authorization, the purpose of the proposed cannibalization, and the type of property proposed to be cannibalized.
“(k) Quarterly reports on use of controlled equipment.—Not later than 30 days after the last day of a fiscal quarter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on any uses of controlled property transferred under this section during that fiscal quarter.
“(l) Reports to Congress.—Not later than 30 days after the last day of a fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the following for the preceding fiscal year:
“(1) The percentage of equipment lost by recipients of property transferred under this section, including specific information about the type of property lost, the monetary value of such property, and the recipient that lost the property.
“(2) The transfer of any new (condition code A) property transferred under this section, including specific information about the type of property, the recipient of the property, the monetary value of each item of the property, and the total monetary value of all such property transferred during the fiscal year.”.
(a) Byrne grants used for local task forces on public safety innovation.—Section 501(a) of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151(a)), as amended by this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“(3) LOCAL TASK FORCES ON PUBLIC SAFETY INNOVATION.—
“(A) IN GENERAL.—A law enforcement program under paragraph (1)(A) may include the development of best practices for and the creation of local task forces on public safety innovation, charged with exploring and developing new strategies for public safety, including non-law enforcement strategies.
“(B) DEFINITION.—The term ‘local task force on public safety innovation’ means an administrative entity, created from partnerships between community-based organizations and other local stakeholders, that may develop innovative law enforcement and non-law enforcement strategies to enhance just and equitable public safety, repair breaches of trust between law enforcement agencies and the community they pledge to serve, and enhance accountability of law enforcement officers.”.
(b) Crisis Intervention Teams.—Section 501(c) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10152(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(c) Use of COPS grant program To hire law enforcement officers who are residents of the communities they serve.—Section 1701(b) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381(b)), as amended by this Act, is further amended—
(3) by inserting after paragraph (22) the following:
“(23) to recruit, hire, incentivize, retain, develop, and train new, additional career law enforcement officers or current law enforcement officers who are willing to relocate to communities—
(a) Definitions.—In this section:
(c) Requirement To activate.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Both the video and audio recording functions of the body camera shall be activated whenever a Federal law enforcement officer is responding to a call for service or at the initiation of any other law enforcement or investigative stop (as such term is defined in section 373) between a Federal law enforcement officer and a member of the public, except that when an immediate threat to the officer's life or safety makes activating the camera impossible or dangerous, the officer shall activate the camera at the first reasonable opportunity to do so.
(d) Notification of subject of recording.—A Federal law enforcement officer who is wearing a body camera shall notify any subject of the recording that he or she is being recorded by a body camera as close to the inception of the stop as is reasonably possible.
(e) Requirements.—Notwithstanding subsection (c), the following shall apply to the use of a body camera:
(1) Prior to entering a private residence without a warrant or in non-exigent circumstances, a Federal law enforcement officer shall ask the occupant if the occupant wants the officer to discontinue use of the officer's body camera. If the occupant responds affirmatively, the Federal law enforcement officer shall immediately discontinue use of the body camera.
(2) When interacting with an apparent crime victim, a Federal law enforcement officer shall, as soon as practicable, ask the apparent crime victim if the apparent crime victim wants the officer to discontinue use of the officer's body camera. If the apparent crime victim responds affirmatively, the Federal law enforcement officer shall immediately discontinue use of the body camera.
(3) When interacting with a person seeking to anonymously report a crime or assist in an ongoing law enforcement investigation, a Federal law enforcement officer shall, as soon as practicable, ask the person seeking to remain anonymous, if the person seeking to remain anonymous wants the officer to discontinue use of the officer's body camera. If the person seeking to remain anonymous responds affirmatively, the Federal law enforcement officer shall immediately discontinue use of the body camera.
(f) Recording of offers To discontinue use of body camera.—Each offer of a Federal law enforcement officer to discontinue the use of a body camera made pursuant to subsection (e), and the responses thereto, shall be recorded by the body camera prior to discontinuing use of the body camera.
(g) Limitations on use of body camera.—Body cameras shall not be used to gather intelligence information based on First Amendment protected speech, associations, or religion, or to record activity that is unrelated to a response to a call for service or a law enforcement or investigative stop between a law enforcement officer and a member of the public, and shall not be equipped with or employ any real time facial recognition technologies.
(h) Exceptions.—Federal law enforcement officers—
(i) Retention of footage.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Body camera video footage shall be retained by the law enforcement agency that employs the officer whose camera captured the footage, or an authorized agent thereof, for 6 months after the date it was recorded, after which time such footage shall be permanently deleted.
(2) RIGHT TO INSPECT.—During the 6-month retention period described in paragraph (1), the following persons shall have the right to inspect the body camera footage:
(B) A parent or legal guardian of a minor subject of body camera video footage, and their designated legal counsel.
(C) The spouse, next of kin, or legally authorized designee of a deceased subject of body camera video footage, and their designated legal counsel.
(D) A Federal law enforcement officer whose body camera recorded the video footage, and their designated legal counsel, subject to the limitations and restrictions in this part.
(3) LIMITATION.—The right to inspect subject to subsection (j)(1) shall not include the right to possess a copy of the body camera video footage, unless the release of the body camera footage is otherwise authorized by this part or by another applicable law. When a body camera fails to capture some or all of the audio or video of an incident due to malfunction, displacement of camera, or any other cause, any audio or video footage that is captured shall be treated the same as any other body camera audio or video footage under this part.
(j) Additional retention requirements.—Notwithstanding the retention and deletion requirements in subsection (i), the following shall apply to body camera video footage under this part:
(1) Body camera video footage shall be automatically retained for not less than 3 years if the video footage captures an interaction or event involving—
(2) Body camera video footage shall be retained for not less than 3 years if a longer retention period is voluntarily requested by—
(A) the Federal law enforcement officer whose body camera recorded the video footage, if that officer reasonably asserts the video footage has evidentiary or exculpatory value in an ongoing investigation;
(B) any Federal law enforcement officer who is a subject of the video footage, if that officer reasonably asserts the video footage has evidentiary or exculpatory value;
(C) any superior officer of a Federal law enforcement officer whose body camera recorded the video footage or who is a subject of the video footage, if that superior officer reasonably asserts the video footage has evidentiary or exculpatory value;
(k) Public review.—For purposes of subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of subsection (j)(2), any member of the public who is a subject of video footage, the parent or legal guardian of a minor who is a subject of the video footage, or a deceased subject's next of kin or legally authorized designee, shall be permitted to review the specific video footage in question in order to make a determination as to whether they will voluntarily request it be subjected to a minimum 3-year retention period.
(l) Disclosure.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), all video footage of an interaction or event captured by a body camera, if that interaction or event is identified with reasonable specificity and requested by a member of the public, shall be provided to the person or entity making the request in accordance with the procedures for requesting and providing government records set forth in the section 552a of title 5, United States Code.
(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The following categories of video footage shall not be released to the public in the absence of express written permission from the non-law enforcement subjects of the video footage:
(3) PRIORITY OF REQUESTS.—Notwithstanding any time periods established for acknowledging and responding to records requests in section 552a of title 5, United States Code, responses to requests for video footage that is subject to a minimum 3-year retention period pursuant to subsection (j)(1)(A), where a subject of the video footage is recorded being killed, shot by a firearm, or grievously injured, shall be prioritized and, if approved, the requested video footage shall be provided as expeditiously as possible, but in no circumstances later than 5 days following receipt of the request.
(4) USE OF REDACTION TECHNOLOGY.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Whenever doing so is necessary to protect personal privacy, the right to a fair trial, the identity of a confidential source or crime victim, or the life or physical safety of any person appearing in video footage, redaction technology may be used to obscure the face and other personally identifying characteristics of that person, including the tone of the person's voice, provided the redaction does not interfere with a viewer's ability to fully, completely, and accurately comprehend the events captured on the video footage.
(m) Prohibited withholding of footage.—Body camera video footage may not be withheld from the public on the basis that it is an investigatory record or was compiled for law enforcement purposes where any person under investigation or whose conduct is under review is a police officer or other law enforcement employee and the video footage relates to that person's conduct in their official capacity.
(n) Admissibility.—Any video footage retained beyond 6 months solely and exclusively pursuant to subsection (j)(2)(D) shall not be admissible as evidence in any criminal or civil legal or administrative proceeding.
(o) Confidentiality.—No government agency or official, or law enforcement agency, officer, or official may publicly disclose, release, or share body camera video footage unless—
(p) Limitation on Federal law enforcement officer viewing of body camera footage.—No Federal law enforcement officer shall review or receive an accounting of any body camera video footage that is subject to a minimum 3-year retention period pursuant to subsection (j)(1) prior to completing any required initial reports, statements, and interviews regarding the recorded event, unless doing so is necessary, while in the field, to address an immediate threat to life or safety.
(q) Additional limitations.—Video footage may not be—
(r) Third party maintenance of footage.—Where a law enforcement agency authorizes a third party to act as its agent in maintaining body camera footage, the agent shall not be permitted to independently access, view, or alter any video footage, except to delete videos as required by law or agency retention policies.
(s) Enforcement.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—If any Federal law enforcement officer, or any employee or agent of a Federal law enforcement agency fails to adhere to the recording or retention requirements contained in this part, intentionally interferes with a body camera’s ability to accurately capture video footage, or otherwise manipulates the video footage captured by a body camera during or after its operation—
(A) appropriate disciplinary action shall be taken against the individual officer, employee, or agent;
(B) a rebuttable evidentiary presumption shall be adopted in favor of a criminal defendant who reasonably asserts that exculpatory evidence was destroyed or not captured; and
(C) a rebuttable evidentiary presumption shall be adopted on behalf of a civil plaintiff suing the Government, a Federal law enforcement agency, or a Federal law enforcement officer for damages based on misconduct who reasonably asserts that evidence supporting their claim was destroyed or not captured.
(t) Use of force investigations.—In the case that a Federal law enforcement officer equipped with a body camera is involved in, a witness to, or within viewable sight range of either the use of force by another law enforcement officer that results in a death, the use of force by another law enforcement officer, during which the discharge of a firearm results in an injury, or the conduct of another law enforcement officer that becomes the subject of a criminal investigation—
(1) the law enforcement agency that employs the law enforcement officer, or the agency or department conducting the related criminal investigation, as appropriate, shall promptly take possession of the body camera, and shall maintain such camera, and any data on such camera, in accordance with the applicable rules governing the preservation of evidence;
(u) Limitation on use of footage as evidence.—Any body camera video footage recorded by a Federal law enforcement officer that violates this part or any other applicable law may not be offered as evidence by any government entity, agency, department, prosecutorial office, or any other subdivision thereof in any criminal or civil action or proceeding against any member of the public.
(a) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) AUDIO RECORDING.—The term “audio recording” means the recorded conversation between a Federal law enforcement officer and a second party.
(2) EMERGENCY LIGHTS.—The term “emergency lights” means oscillating, rotating, or flashing lights on patrol vehicles.
(3) ENFORCEMENT OR INVESTIGATIVE STOP.—The term “enforcement or investigative stop” means an action by a Federal law enforcement officer in relation to enforcement and investigation duties, including traffic stops, pedestrian stops, abandoned vehicle contacts, motorist assists, commercial motor vehicle stops, roadside safety checks, requests for identification, or responses to requests for emergency assistance.
(4) IN-CAR VIDEO CAMERA.—The term “in-car video camera” means a video camera located in a patrol vehicle.
(5) IN-CAR VIDEO CAMERA RECORDING EQUIPMENT.—The term “in-car video camera recording equipment” means a video camera recording system located in a patrol vehicle consisting of a camera assembly, recording mechanism, and an in-car video recording medium.
(6) RECORDING.—The term “recording” means the process of capturing data or information stored on a recording medium as required under this section.
(b) Requirements.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal law enforcement agency shall install in-car video camera recording equipment in all patrol vehicles with a recording medium capable of recording for a period of 10 hours or more and capable of making audio recordings with the assistance of a wireless microphone.
(2) RECORDING EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS.—In-car video camera recording equipment with a recording medium capable of recording for a period of 10 hours or more shall record activities—
(B) outside a patrol vehicle whenever—
(i) a Federal law enforcement officer assigned that patrol vehicle is conducting an enforcement or investigative stop;
(3) REQUIREMENTS FOR RECORDING.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—A Federal law enforcement officer shall begin recording for an enforcement or investigative stop when the officer determines an enforcement stop is necessary and shall continue until the enforcement action has been completed and the subject of the enforcement or investigative stop or the officer has left the scene.
(B) ACTIVATION WITH LIGHTS.—A Federal law enforcement officer shall begin recording when patrol vehicle emergency lights are activated or when they would otherwise be activated if not for the need to conceal the presence of law enforcement, and shall continue until the reason for the activation ceases to exist, regardless of whether the emergency lights are no longer activated.
(c) Retention of recordings.—Recordings made on in-car video camera recording medium shall be retained for a storage period of at least 90 days. Under no circumstances shall any recording made on in-car video camera recording medium be altered or erased prior to the expiration of the designated storage period. Upon completion of the storage period, the recording medium may be erased and reissued for operational use unless otherwise ordered or if designated for evidentiary or training purposes.
(d) Accessibility of recordings.—Audio or video recordings made pursuant to this section shall be available under the applicable provisions of section 552a of title 5, United States Code. Only recorded portions of the audio recording or video recording medium applicable to the request will be available for inspection or copying.
(e) Maintenance required.—The agency shall ensure proper care and maintenance of in-car video camera recording equipment and recording medium. An officer operating a patrol vehicle must immediately document and notify the appropriate person of any technical difficulties, failures, or problems with the in-car video camera recording equipment or recording medium. Upon receiving notice, every reasonable effort shall be made to correct and repair any of the in-car video camera recording equipment or recording medium and determine if it is in the public interest to permit the use of the patrol vehicle.
No camera or recording device authorized or required to be used under this part may be equipped with or employ real time facial recognition technology, and footage from such a camera or recording device may not be subjected to facial recognition technology.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study on Federal law enforcement officer training, vehicle pursuits, use of force, and interaction with citizens, and submit a report on such study to—
Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall issue such final regulations as are necessary to carry out this part.
This part may be cited as the “Police Creating Accountability by Making Effective Recording Available Act of 2020” or the “Police CAMERA Act of 2020”.
(a) Use of funds requirement.—Section 502(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10153(a)), as amended by section 334, is amended by adding at the end the following:
(b) Requirements.—Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“SEC. 3051. Use of grant funds.
“(a) In general.—Grant amounts described in paragraph (10) of section 502(a) of this title—
“(1) shall be used—
“(A) to purchase or lease body-worn cameras for use by State, local, and tribal law enforcement officers (as defined in section 2503);
“(B) for expenses related to the implementation of a body-worn camera program in order to deter excessive force, improve accountability and transparency of use of force by law enforcement officers, assist in responding to complaints against law enforcement officers, and improve evidence collection; and
“(b) Requirements.—A recipient of a grant under subpart 1 of part E of this title shall—
“(1) establish policies and procedures in accordance with the requirements described in subsection (c) before law enforcement officers use of body-worn cameras;
“(2) adopt recorded data collection and retention protocols as described in subsection (d) before law enforcement officers use of body-worn cameras;
“(c) Required policies and procedures.—A recipient of a grant under subpart 1 of part E of this title shall—
“(d) Recorded data collection and retention protocol.—The recorded data collection and retention protocol described in this paragraph is a protocol that—
“(1) requires—
“(A) a law enforcement officer who is wearing a body-worn camera to provide an explanation if an activity that is required to be recorded by the body-worn camera is not recorded;
“(B) a law enforcement officer who is wearing a body-worn camera to obtain consent to be recorded from a crime victim or witness before interviewing the victim or witness;
“(C) the collection of recorded data unrelated to a legitimate law enforcement purpose be minimized to the greatest extent practicable;
“(D) the system used to store recorded data collected by body-worn cameras to log all viewing, modification, or deletion of stored recorded data and to prevent, to the greatest extent practicable, the unauthorized access or disclosure of stored recorded data;
“(E) any law enforcement officer be prohibited from accessing the stored data without an authorized purpose; and
“(e) Reporting.—Statistical data required to be collected under subsection (d)(1)(D) shall be reported to the Director, who shall—
“(f) Use or transfer of recorded data.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—Recorded data collected by an entity receiving a grant under a grant under subpart 1 of part E of this title from a body-worn camera shall be used only in internal and external investigations of misconduct by a law enforcement agency or officer, if there is reasonable suspicion that a recording contains evidence of a crime, or for limited training purposes. The Director shall establish rules to ensure that the recorded data is used only for the purposes described in this paragraph.
“(2) PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER.—Except as provided in paragraph (3), an entity receiving a grant under subpart 1 of part E of this title may not transfer any recorded data collected by the entity from a body-worn camera to another law enforcement or intelligence agency.
“(3) EXCEPTIONS.—
“(A) CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION.—An entity receiving a grant under subpart 1 of part E of this title may transfer recorded data collected by the entity from a body-worn camera to another law enforcement agency or intelligence agency for use in a criminal investigation if the requesting law enforcement or intelligence agency has reasonable suspicion that the requested data contains evidence relating to the crime being investigated.
“(B) CIVIL RIGHTS CLAIMS.—An entity receiving a grant under subpart 1 of part E of this title may transfer recorded data collected by the law enforcement agency from a body-worn camera to another law enforcement agency for use in an investigation of the violation of any right, privilege, or immunity secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.
“(g) Audit and assessment.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this part, the Director of the Office of Audit, Assessment, and Management shall perform an assessment of the use of funds under this section and the policies and protocols of the grantees.
“SEC. 3052. Body-worn camera training toolkit.
“(a) In general.—The Director shall establish and maintain a body-worn camera training toolkit for law enforcement agencies, academia, and other relevant entities to provide training and technical assistance, including best practices for implementation, model policies and procedures, and research materials.
“(a) In general.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Police CAMERA Act of 2020, the Director shall conduct a study on—
“(2) the impact of body-worn cameras on the accountability and transparency of the use of force by law enforcement officers;
“(3) the impact of body-worn cameras on responses to and adjudications of complaints of excessive force;
“(4) the effect of the use of body-worn cameras on the safety of law enforcement officers on patrol;
“(7) issues relating to the secure storage and handling of recorded data from the body-worn cameras;
“(9) issues relating to the constitutional rights of individuals on whom facial recognition technology is used;
“(13) best practices in the development of protocols for the safe and effective use of body-worn cameras;
Congress finds the following:
(1) The crime of lynching succeeded slavery as the ultimate expression of racism in the United States following Reconstruction.
(2) Lynching was a widely acknowledged practice in the United States until the middle of the 20th century.
(3) Lynching was a crime that occurred throughout the United States, with documented incidents in all but 4 States.
(4) At least 4,742 people, predominantly African Americans, were reported lynched in the United States between 1882 and 1968.
(5) Ninety-nine percent of all perpetrators of lynching escaped from punishment by State or local officials.
(6) Lynching prompted African Americans to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (referred to in this section as the “NAACP”) and prompted members of B'nai B'rith to found the Anti-Defamation League.
(7) Mr. Walter White, as a member of the NAACP and later as the executive secretary of the NAACP from 1931 to 1955, meticulously investigated lynchings in the United States and worked tirelessly to end segregation and racialized terror.
(8) Nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in Congress during the first half of the 20th century.
(11) Protection against lynching was the minimum and most basic of Federal responsibilities, and the Senate considered but failed to enact anti-lynching legislation despite repeated requests by civil rights groups, Presidents, and the House of Representatives to do so.
(12) The publication of “Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America” helped bring greater awareness and proper recognition of the victims of lynching.
(13) Only by coming to terms with history can the United States effectively champion human rights abroad.
(14) An apology offered in the spirit of true repentance moves the United States toward reconciliation and may become central to a new understanding, on which improved racial relations can be forged.
(15) Having concluded that a reckoning with our own history is the only way the country can effectively champion human rights abroad, 90 Members of the United States Senate agreed to Senate Resolution 39, 109th Congress, on June 13, 2005, to apologize to the victims of lynching and the descendants of those victims for the failure of the Senate to enact anti-lynching legislation.
(16) The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which opened to the public in Montgomery, Alabama, on April 26, 2018, is the Nation’s first memorial dedicated to the legacy of enslaved Black people, people terrorized by lynching, African Americans humiliated by racial segregation and Jim Crow, and people of color burdened with contemporary presumptions of guilt and police violence.
(17) Notwithstanding the Senate’s apology and the heightened awareness and education about the Nation’s legacy with lynching, it is wholly necessary and appropriate for the Congress to enact legislation, after 100 years of unsuccessful legislative efforts, finally to make lynching a Federal crime.
(18) Further, it is the sense of Congress that criminal action by a group increases the likelihood that the criminal object of that group will be successfully attained and decreases the probability that the individuals involved will depart from their path of criminality. Therefore, it is appropriate to specify criminal penalties for the crime of lynching, or any attempt or conspiracy to commit lynching.
(19) The United States Senate agreed to unanimously Senate Resolution 118, 115th Congress, on April 5, 2017, “[c]ondemning hate crime and any other form of racism, religious or ethnic bias, discrimination, incitement to violence, or animus targeting a minority in the United States” and taking notice specifically of Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics demonstrating that “among single-bias hate crime incidents in the United States, 59.2 percent of victims were targeted due to racial, ethnic, or ancestral bias, and among those victims, 52.2 percent were victims of crimes motivated by the offenders’ anti-Black or anti-African American bias”.
(20) On September 14, 2017, President Donald J. Trump signed into law Senate Joint Resolution 49 (Public Law 115–58; 131 Stat. 1149), wherein Congress “condemn[ed] the racist violence and domestic terrorist attack that took place between August 11 and August 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, Virginia” and “urg[ed] the President and his administration to speak out against hate groups that espouse racism, extremism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and White supremacy; and use all resources available to the President and the President’s Cabinet to address the growing prevalence of those hate groups in the United States”.
(21) Senate Joint Resolution 49 (Public Law 115–58; 131 Stat. 1149) specifically took notice of “hundreds of torch-bearing White nationalists, White supremacists, Klansmen, and neo-Nazis [who] chanted racist, anti-Semitic, and anti-immigrant slogans and violently engaged with counter-demonstrators on and around the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville” and that these groups “reportedly are organizing similar events in other cities in the United States and communities everywhere are concerned about the growing and open display of hate and violence being perpetrated by those groups”.
(22) Lynching was a pernicious and pervasive tool that was used to interfere with multiple aspects of life—including the exercise of federally protected rights, as enumerated in section 245 of title 18, United States Code, housing rights, as enumerated in section 901 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3631), and the free exercise of religion, as enumerated in section 247 of title 18, United States Code. Interference with these rights was often effectuated by multiple offenders and groups, rather than isolated individuals. Therefore, prohibiting conspiracies to violate each of these rights recognizes the history of lynching in the United States and serves to prohibit its use in the future.
(a) Offense.—Chapter 13 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“Whoever conspires with another person to violate section 245, 247, or 249 of this title or section 901 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3631) shall be punished in the same manner as a completed violation of such section, except that if the maximum term of imprisonment for such completed violation is less than 10 years, the person may be imprisoned for not more than 10 years.”.
(b) Table of sections amendment.—The table of sections for chapter 13 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 249 the following:
If any provision of this Act, or the application of such a provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and the application of the remaining provisions of this Act to any person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed—
(1) to limit legal or administrative remedies under section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1983), section 210401 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601), title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.), or title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.);
Union Calendar No. 348 | |||||
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[Report No. 116–434, Part I] | |||||
A BILL | |||||
To hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct in court, improve transparency through data collection, and reform police training and policies. | |||||
June 19, 2020 | |||||
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment | |||||
June 19, 2020 | |||||
Committees on Armed Services and Energy and Commerce discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed |