Police CAMERA Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1338 To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize a grant program to assist State and local law enforcement agencies in purchasing body-worn cameras and securely storing and maintaining recorded data for law enforcement officers. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 25, 2021 Mr. COHEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize a grant program to assist State and local law enforcement agencies in purchasing body-worn cameras and securely storing and maintaining recorded data for law enforcement officers. 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 ‘‘Police Creating Ac- 4 countability by Making Effective Recording Available Act 5 of 2021’’ or the ‘‘Police CAMERA Act of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1338 IH SEC. 2. MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR LAW ENFORCE- 1 MENT BODY-WORN CAMERAS. 2 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 3 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended 4 by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘PART MM—MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR 6 LAW ENFORCEMENT BODY-WORN CAMERAS 7 AND RECORDED DATA 8 ‘‘SEC. 3031. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau of 10 Justice Assistance (in this section referred to as the ‘Di- 11 rector’) may make grants to States, units of local govern- 12 ment, and Indian tribes to purchase or lease body-worn 13 cameras for use by State, local, and tribal law enforcement 14 officers (as defined in section 2503) and expenses related 15 to the implementation of a body-worn camera program in 16 order to deter excessive force, improve accountability and 17 transparency of use of force by law enforcement officers, 18 assist in responding to complaints against law enforce- 19 ment officers, and improve evidence collection. 20 ‘‘(b) DURATION OF GRANTS.— 21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded under this 22 part shall be 2 years in duration. 23 ‘‘(2) DISBURSEMENT OF GRANT AMOUNT.—In 24 disbursing a grant awarded to an entity under this 25 section— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1338 IH ‘‘(A) upon awarding the grant to the enti- 1 ty, the Director shall disburse 50 percent of the 2 total grant amount to the entity; and 3 ‘‘(B) upon demonstration by the entity of 4 completion of the requirements in subsection 5 (d)(1), the Director shall disburse the remain- 6 ing 50 percent of the total grant amount to the 7 entity. 8 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this 9 section shall be— 10 ‘‘(1) distributed directly to the State, unit of 11 local government, or Indian tribe; and 12 ‘‘(2) used for— 13 ‘‘(A) the purchase or lease of body-worn 14 cameras for law enforcement officers on patrol 15 in the jurisdiction of the grantee; 16 ‘‘(B) any costs relating to the implementa- 17 tion of a body-worn camera program, including 18 law enforcement officer training or the storage, 19 maintenance, or security of recorded data col- 20 lected under a body-worn camera program; or 21 ‘‘(C) implementing policies or procedures 22 to comply with the requirements described in 23 subsection (d). 24 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1338 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall award a 1 grant under this section to a State, unit of local gov- 2 ernment, or Indian tribe requesting the grant that 3 commits to— 4 ‘‘(A) establishing policies and procedures 5 in accordance with the requirements described 6 in paragraph (2) before law enforcement offi- 7 cers use of body-worn cameras; 8 ‘‘(B) adopting recorded data collection and 9 retention protocols as described in paragraph 10 (3) before law enforcement officers use of body- 11 worn cameras; 12 ‘‘(C) making the policies and protocols de- 13 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) available 14 to the public; and 15 ‘‘(D) complying with the requirements for 16 use of recorded data under paragraph (5). 17 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.— 18 An entity receiving a grant under this section 19 shall— 20 ‘‘(A) develop with community input and 21 publish for public view policies and protocols 22 for— 23 ‘‘(i) the safe and effective use of body- 24 worn cameras; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1338 IH ‘‘(ii) the secure storage, handling, and 1 destruction of recorded data collected by 2 body-worn cameras; 3 ‘‘(iii) protecting the privacy rights of 4 any individual who may be recorded by a 5 body-worn camera; 6 ‘‘(iv) protecting the constitutional 7 rights of any individual on whom facial 8 recognition technology is used; 9 ‘‘(v) limitations on the use of body- 10 worn cameras in conjunction with facial 11 recognition technology for instances, in- 12 cluding— 13 ‘‘(I) the use of facial recognition 14 technology only with judicial author- 15 ization; 16 ‘‘(II) the use of facial recognition 17 technology only for imminent threats 18 or serious crimes; and 19 ‘‘(III) the use of facial recogni- 20 tion technology with double 21 verification of identified faces; 22 ‘‘(vi) the release of any recorded data 23 collected by a body-worn camera in accord- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1338 IH ance with the open records laws, if any, of 1 the State; and 2 ‘‘(vii) making recorded data available 3 to prosecutors, defense attorneys, and 4 other officers of the court in accordance 5 with paragraph (5); and 6 ‘‘(B) conduct periodic evaluations of the 7 security of the storage and handling of the 8 body-worn camera data. 9 ‘‘(3) RECORDED DATA COLLECTION AND RE- 10 TENTION PROTOCOL.—The recorded data collection 11 and retention protocol described in this paragraph is 12 a protocol that— 13 ‘‘(A) requires— 14 ‘‘(i) a law enforcement officer who is 15 wearing a body-mounted camera to provide 16 an explanation if an activity that is re- 17 quired to be recorded by the body-mounted 18 camera is not recorded; 19 ‘‘(ii) a law enforcement officer who is 20 wearing a body-mounted camera to obtain 21 consent to be recorded from a crime victim 22 or witness before interviewing the victim or 23 witness; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1338 IH ‘‘(iii) the collection of recorded data 1 unrelated to a legitimate law enforcement 2 purpose be minimized to the greatest ex- 3 tent practicable; 4 ‘‘(iv) the system used to store re- 5 corded data collected by body-worn cam- 6 eras shall log all viewing, modification, or 7 deletion of stored recorded data and shall 8 prevent, to the greatest extent practicable, 9 the unauthorized access or disclosure of 10 stored recorded data; 11 ‘‘(v) any law enforcement officer be 12 prohibited from accessing the stored data 13 without an authorized purpose; and 14 ‘‘(vi) the law enforcement agency to 15 collect and report statistical data on— 16 ‘‘(I) incidences of use of force, 17 disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gen- 18 der, and age of the victim; 19 ‘‘(II) the number of complaints 20 filed against law enforcement officers; 21 ‘‘(III) the disposition of com- 22 plaints filed against law enforcement 23 officers; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1338 IH ‘‘(IV) the number of times cam- 1 era footage is used for evidence collec- 2 tion in investigations of crimes; and 3 ‘‘(V) any other additional statis- 4 tical data that the Director deter- 5 mines should be collected and re- 6 ported; 7 ‘‘(B) allows an individual to file a com- 8 plaint with a law enforcement agency relating 9 to the improper use of body-worn cameras; and 10 ‘‘(C) complies with any other requirements 11 established by the Director. 12 ‘‘(4) REPORTING.—Statistical data required to 13 be collected under paragraph (3)(A)(vi) shall be re- 14 ported to the Director, who shall— 15 ‘‘(A) establish a standardized reporting 16 system for statistical data collected under this 17 program; and 18 ‘‘(B) establish a national database of sta- 19 tistical data recorded under this program. 20 ‘‘(5) USE OR TRANSFER OF RECORDED DATA.— 21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Recorded data col- 22 lected by an entity receiving a grant under this 23 section from a body-mounted camera shall be 24 used only in internal and external investigations 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1338 IH of misconduct by a law enforcement agency or 1 officer, if there is reasonable suspicion that a 2 recording contains evidence of a crime, or for 3 limited training purposes. The Director shall es- 4 tablish rules to ensure that the recorded data is 5 used only for the purposes described in this 6 subparagraph. 7 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER.—Ex- 8 cept as provided in subparagraph (C), an entity 9 receiving a grant under this section may not 10 transfer any recorded data collected by the enti- 11 ty from a body-mounted camera to another law 12 enforcement or intelligence agency. 13 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTIONS.— 14 ‘‘(i) CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION.—An 15 entity receiving a grant under this section 16 may transfer recorded data collected by the 17 entity from a body-mounted camera to an- 18 other law enforcement agency or intel- 19 ligence agency for use in a criminal inves- 20 tigation if the requesting law enforcement 21 or intelligence agency has reasonable sus- 22 picion that the requested data contains evi- 23 dence relating to the crime being inves- 24 tigated. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1338 IH ‘‘(ii) CIVIL RIGHTS CLAIMS.—An enti- 1 ty receiving a grant under this section may 2 transfer recorded data collected by the law 3 enforcement agency from a body-mounted 4 camera to another law enforcement agency 5 for use in an investigation of any right, 6 privilege, or immunity secured or protected 7 by the Constitution or laws of the United 8 States. 9 ‘‘(e) MATCHING FUNDS.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 11 graph (3), the Federal share of the cost of a pro- 12 gram carried out using a grant under this part may 13 not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the pro- 14 gram. 15 ‘‘(2) INDIAN ASSISTANCE.—Any funds appro- 16 priated by Congress for the activities of any agency 17 of an Indian tribal government or the Bureau of In- 18 dian Affairs performing law enforcement functions 19 on any Indian lands may be used to provide the non- 20 Federal share of the matching requirement described 21 in paragraph (1). 22 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—The Director may waive, in 23 whole or in part, the matching requirement de- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1338 IH scribed in paragraph (1) in the case of fiscal hard- 1 ship, as determined by the Director. 2 ‘‘(f) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—For fiscal years 2021 3 and 2023, of the amounts appropriated to the Bureau of 4 Justice Assistance, $30,000,000 shall be used to carry out 5 this part. 6 ‘‘(g) AUDIT AND ASSESSMENT.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 8 after the date of enactment of this part, the Director 9 of the Office of Audit, Assessment, and Management 10 shall perform an assessment of the grant program 11 and the policies and protocols of the grantees. 12 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—Not later than September 1 of 13 each year, beginning 2 years after the date of enact- 14 ment of this part, each recipient of a grant under 15 this part shall submit to the Director of the Office 16 of Audit, Assessment, and Management a report 17 that— 18 ‘‘(A) describes the progress of the body- 19 worn camera program; and 20 ‘‘(B) contains recommendations on ways in 21 which the Federal Government, States, and 22 units of local government can further support 23 the implementation of the program. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1338 IH ‘‘(3) REVIEW.—The Director of the Office of 1 Audit, Assessment, and Management shall evaluate 2 the policies and protocols of the grantees and take 3 such steps as the Director of the Office of Audit, As- 4 sessment, and Management determines necessary to 5 ensure compliance with the program. 6 ‘‘SEC. 3032. BODY-WORN CAMERA TRAINING TOOLKIT. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish and 8 maintain a toolkit for law enforcement agencies, academia, 9 and other relevant entities to provide training and tech- 10 nical assistance, including best practices for implementa- 11 tion, model policies and procedures, and research mate- 12 rials. 13 ‘‘(b) MECHANISM.—In establishing the toolkit re- 14 quired to under subsection (a), the Director may consoli- 15 date research, practices, templates, and tools that been de- 16 veloped by expert and law enforcement agencies across the 17 country. 18 ‘‘SEC. 3033. APPLICATIONS. 19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To request a grant under this 20 part, the chief executive of a State, unit of local govern- 21 ment, or Indian tribe shall submit an application to the 22 Director in a form and containing information as the Di- 23 rector may reasonably require. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 Mar 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1338.IH H1338 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1338 IH ‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after 1 the date of the enactment of this part, the Director shall 2 promulgate regulations to implement this part, including 3 the information that shall be included and the require- 4 ments that the States, units of local government, and In- 5 dian tribes must meet in submitting the applications re- 6 quired under this section. 7 ‘‘SEC. 3034. STUDY [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]