POLICE Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 155 To establish licensing standards for law enforcement, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 4, 2021 Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To establish licensing standards for law enforcement, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Providing Officer Li- 4 censing to Increase Confidence for Everyone Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘POLICE Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. LAW ENFORCEMENT LICENSING STANDARDS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 8 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in 9 consultation with appropriate nongovernmental associa- 10 tions (such as the International Association of Directors 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H155.IH H155 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 155 IH of Law Enforcement Standards and Training and the 1 Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agen- 2 cies), shall issue licensing standards for law enforcement 3 officers based on best practices for law enforcement. Such 4 licensing standards shall be reviewed and, if necessary, 5 modified every 5 years. 6 (b) FEDERAL LICENSING.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 8 the date of enactment of this Act, each Federal law 9 enforcement officer shall be licensed in accordance 10 with the licensing standards issued pursuant to sub- 11 section (a). 12 (2) CONTINUING EDUCATION.—Each Federal 13 law enforcement officer who has received a license 14 under paragraph (1) shall take annual continuing 15 education classes on such topics as the Attorney 16 General may require to maintain the license for a 17 year. 18 (3) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER DE- 19 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘Federal law 20 enforcement officer’’ has the meaning given the term 21 in section 115 of title 18, United States Code. 22 (c) STATE LICENSING.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 24 the date of enactment of this Act, a State shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H155.IH H155 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 155 IH (A) have in effect a licensing system under 1 which each State and local law enforcement of- 2 ficer shall be licensed in accordance with the li- 3 censing standards issued pursuant to subsection 4 (a); and 5 (B) have in effect a continuing education 6 program that is substantially similar to the pro- 7 gram for Federal law enforcement officers 8 under subsection (b)(2). 9 (2) BYRNE.—If a State fails to comply with the 10 requirement under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, 11 the State shall be subject to a 50 percent reduction 12 of the amount that would otherwise be awarded in 13 the following fiscal year to that State under subpart 14 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 15 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et 16 seq.). 17 (3) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated to 18 a State for failure to comply with this subsection 19 shall be reallocated to States that have complied in 20 accordance with subpart 1 of part E of title I of the 21 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 22 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.). 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:23 Jan 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H155.IH H155 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS