National Statistics on Deadly Force Transparency Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 119 To require the Attorney General to issue rules pertaining to the collection and compilation of data on the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 3, 2019 Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. RUSH, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SERRANO, and Mr. VARGAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require the Attorney General to issue rules pertaining to the collection and compilation of data on the use of deadly force by 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 ‘‘National Statistics on 4 Deadly Force Transparency Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H119.IH H119 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 119 IH SEC. 2. ATTORNEY GENERAL TO ISSUE REGULATIONS. 1 (a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 6 months after 2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, 3 in consultation with stakeholders, including Federal, 4 State, and local law enforcement agencies and community, 5 professional, research, and civil rights organizations, shall 6 issue regulations for the collection and compilation of data 7 pertaining to the use of deadly force by Federal, State, 8 or local law enforcement officers. 9 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations issued under 10 subsection (a) shall— 11 (1) require the collection of data on all in- 12 stances wherein deadly force was used by a Federal, 13 State, or local law enforcement officer; 14 (2) require that the data collected shall— 15 (A) include identifying characteristics of 16 the person who was the target of the use of 17 deadly force and the officer who used deadly 18 force, including— 19 (i) race or ethnicity; 20 (ii) gender; 21 (iii) approximate age; and 22 (iv) the actual or perceived religious 23 affiliation; 24 (B) include the date, time, and location of 25 such use of deadly force; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H119.IH H119 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 119 IH (C) include the alleged criminal activity of 1 the person who was the target of the use of 2 deadly force; 3 (D) include the nature of the deadly force 4 used, including the use of a firearm; 5 (E) include an explanation, if any, from 6 the relevant law enforcement agency on why 7 deadly force was used; 8 (F) include a copy of any use of deadly 9 force guidelines in effect at the relevant law en- 10 forcement agency at the time deadly force was 11 used; 12 (G) include a description of any non-lethal 13 efforts employed to apprehend or subdue the 14 person who was the target of the use of deadly 15 force before deadly force was used; and 16 (H) not include personally identifiable in- 17 formation described in section 4; 18 (3) provide that a standardized form shall be 19 made available to law enforcement agencies for the 20 submission of data collected pursuant to this Act to 21 the Department of Justice; 22 (4) require that law enforcement agencies com- 23 pile data using the standardized form made available 24 under paragraph (3), and submit the form to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H119.IH H119 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 119 IH Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics 1 and any other component of the Department of Jus- 2 tice that the Attorney General determines appro- 3 priate; and 4 (5) require that law enforcement agencies shall 5 maintain all data collected under this Act for not 6 less than 4 years. 7 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF THE BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS. 8 The Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statis- 9 tics shall provide to Congress and make available to the 10 public the data collected pursuant to this Act, excluding 11 any personally identifiable information described in section 12 4. 13 SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS ON PUBLICATION OF DATA. 14 The name or identifying information of a law enforce- 15 ment officer, person who was the target of the use of dead- 16 ly force, or any other individual involved in any activity 17 for which data is collected and compiled under this Act 18 shall not be— 19 (1) released to the public; 20 (2) disclosed to any person, except for— 21 (A) such disclosures as are necessary to 22 comply with this Act; 23 (B) disclosures of information regarding a 24 particular person to that person; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H119.IH H119 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 119 IH (C) disclosures pursuant to litigation; or 1 (3) subject to disclosure under section 552 of 2 title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 3 Freedom of Information Act), except for disclosures 4 of information regarding a particular person to that 5 person. 6 SEC. 5. BYRNE JAG GRANT REDUCED FOR FAILURE TO RE- 7 PORT. 8 In the case of a State or unit of local government 9 that received a grant award under subpart 1 of part E 10 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 11 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.), if that State or 12 unit of local government fails substantially to comply with 13 the requirement under section 2 for a fiscal year, the At- 14 torney General shall reduce the amount that would other- 15 wise be awarded to that State or unit of local government 16 under such grant program in the following fiscal year by 17 10 percent. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:02 Jan 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H119.IH H119 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS