Police Training and Independent Review Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 738 To provide for grants for States that require fair and impartial police training for law enforcement officers of that State and to incentivize States to enact laws requiring the independent investigation and prosecution of the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 11, 2021 Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. SMITH, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. KAINE, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. PADILLA, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide for grants for States that require fair and impar- tial police training for law enforcement officers of that State and to incentivize States to enact laws requiring the independent investigation and prosecution of the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S738.IS S738 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 738 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Police Training and 2 Independent Review Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR TRAINING AND INDEPENDENT INVES- 4 TIGATION AND PROSECUTION. 5 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 6 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended 7 by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘PART PP—GRANTS FOR TRAINING AND INDE- 9 PENDENT INVESTIGATION AND PROSECU- 10 TION 11 ‘‘SEC. 3061. GRANT AUTHORITY. 12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may make 13 a grant to a State for purposes of implementing the train- 14 ing requirements described in section 3062(a) and an 15 independent prosecution of law enforcement statute as de- 16 scribed in section 3063. 17 ‘‘(b) TERM.—The term of a grant under subsection 18 (a) shall be 1 fiscal year. 19 ‘‘SEC. 3062. TRAINING ON FAIR AND IMPARTIAL POLICING. 20 ‘‘(a) TRAINING REQUIREMENT.—The requirements 21 of this subsection are as follows: 22 ‘‘(1) A State shall require that all individuals 23 enrolled in an academy of a law enforcement agency 24 of the State and all law enforcement officers of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S738.IS S738 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 738 IS State complete a training session on fair and impar- 1 tial policing each year, which includes— 2 ‘‘(A) anti-bias training on implicit and ex- 3 plicit bias on the basis of race, religion, eth- 4 nicity, national origin, gender, sexual orienta- 5 tion, gender identity, and disability; 6 ‘‘(B) training regarding— 7 ‘‘(i) cultural diversity; 8 ‘‘(ii) police interaction with individuals 9 with mental illness or behavioral, mental, 10 or physical disabilities; 11 ‘‘(iii) crisis intervention; and 12 ‘‘(iv) de-escalation tactics; 13 ‘‘(C) scenario-based training; and 14 ‘‘(D) a requirement that officers dem- 15 onstrate proficiency in the subjects of the train- 16 ing through scenario-based tests. 17 ‘‘(2) Each law enforcement officer and each in- 18 dividual enrolled in an academy of a law enforce- 19 ment agency of a State shall complete— 20 ‘‘(A) initial training described in para- 21 graph (1) of not less than 8 hours; and 22 ‘‘(B) not less than 4 hours of training de- 23 scribed in paragraph (1) every year thereafter. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S738.IS S738 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 738 IS ‘‘(3) A State shall certify to the Attorney Gen- 1 eral of the United States that such training sessions 2 have been completed. 3 ‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE AND INELIGIBILITY.— 4 ‘‘(1) COMPLIANCE DATE.—To be eligible for a 5 grant under this part, a State shall, subject to para- 6 graphs (2) and (3), be in compliance with the train- 7 ing requirements under subsection (a) not later than 8 240 days after the date of enactment of this part, 9 except that the Attorney General may grant an addi- 10 tional 120 days to a State that is making good faith 11 efforts to comply with such subsection. 12 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE BEFORE START OF FISCAL 13 YEAR.—A State that fails to achieve compliance with 14 the training requirements under subsection (a) in 15 accordance with paragraph (1) of this subsection 16 shall be eligible for a grant under this part for a fis- 17 cal year (subject to section 3063) if, on the last day 18 of the previous fiscal year, the State is in compliance 19 with such requirements. 20 ‘‘(3) INELIGIBILITY.—A State that was eligible 21 for a grant under this part and that, as of the last 22 day of a fiscal year, is not in compliance with the 23 training requirements under subsection (a) shall not 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S738.IS S738 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 738 IS be eligible for a grant under this part during the 1 next fiscal year. 2 ‘‘(c) VERIFICATION.—The attorney general of a State 3 receiving a grant under this part shall verify that the 4 training of individuals enrolled in an academy of a law 5 enforcement agency of the State and all law enforcement 6 officers of the State meets the requirements under sub- 7 section (a). 8 ‘‘(d) AUDIT REQUIREMENTS.—For each fiscal year 9 for which grants are made under this part, the Inspector 10 General of the Department of Justice shall conduct audits 11 of an appropriate number, as determined by the Inspector 12 General, of States receiving such a grant to ensure compli- 13 ance with the training requirements under subsection (a). 14 ‘‘SEC. 3063. INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF LAW ENFORCEMENT 15 USE OF DEADLY FORCE. 16 ‘‘To be eligible for a grant under this part for a fiscal 17 year, a State shall, as of the last day of the prior fiscal 18 year, have enacted and have in effect an independent pros- 19 ecution of law enforcement statute. 20 ‘‘SEC. 3064. DEFINITIONS. 21 ‘‘In this part: 22 ‘‘(1) The term ‘deadly force’ means that force 23 which a reasonable person would consider likely to 24 cause death or serious bodily harm. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S738.IS S738 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 738 IS ‘‘(2) The term ‘independent prosecution’, with 1 respect to a criminal investigation or prosecution of 2 a law enforcement officer’s use of deadly force, in- 3 cludes using one or more of the following methods: 4 ‘‘(A) Using an agency or civilian review 5 board that investigates and independently re- 6 views all officer use of force allegations. 7 ‘‘(B) Assigning the attorney general of the 8 State in which the alleged crime was committed 9 to conduct the criminal investigation and pros- 10 ecution. 11 ‘‘(C) Adopting a procedure under which an 12 automatic referral is made to a special pros- 13 ecutor appointed and overseen by the attorney 14 general of the State in which the alleged crime 15 was committed. 16 ‘‘(D) Having law enforcement agencies 17 agree to and implement memoranda of under- 18 standing with other law enforcement agencies 19 under which the other law enforcement agen- 20 cies— 21 ‘‘(i) shall conduct the criminal inves- 22 tigation; and 23 ‘‘(ii) upon conclusion of the criminal 24 investigation, shall file a report with the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S738.IS S738 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 738 IS attorney general of the State containing a 1 determination regarding whether— 2 ‘‘(I) the use of deadly force was 3 appropriate; and 4 ‘‘(II) any action should be taken 5 by the attorney general of the State. 6 ‘‘(E) Using an independent prosecutor. 7 ‘‘(3) The term ‘independent prosecution of law 8 enforcement statute’ means a statute requiring an 9 independent prosecution in a criminal matter in 10 which— 11 ‘‘(A) one or more of the possible defend- 12 ants is a law enforcement officer; 13 ‘‘(B) one or more of the alleged offenses 14 involves the law enforcement officer’s use of 15 deadly force in the course of carrying out that 16 officer’s duty; and 17 ‘‘(C) the law enforcement officer’s use of 18 deadly force resulted in a death or injury. 19 ‘‘(4) The term ‘independent prosecutor’ means, 20 with respect to a criminal investigation or prosecu- 21 tion of a law enforcement officer’s use of deadly 22 force, a prosecutor who— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S738.IS S738 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 738 IS ‘‘(A) does not live or work in the same 1 county as the county in which the alleged crime 2 was committed; and 3 ‘‘(B) would not be involved in the prosecu- 4 tion in the ordinary course of that prosecutor’s 5 duties.’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:11 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S738.IS S738 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS