Corey Jones Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1787 To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to impose certain additional requirements on applicants for COPS grants, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 14, 2019 Mr. HASTINGS (for himself, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. THOMPSON of Mis- sissippi, Ms. FRANKEL, and Mr. DEUTCH) 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 impose certain additional requirements on applicants for COPS grants, 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 ‘‘Corey Jones Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 5 Congress finds the following: 6 (1) Corey Jones of Lake Worth, Florida, was 7 shot and killed by a plainclothes law enforcement of- 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1787.IH H1787 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1787 IH ficer operating an unmarked vehicle on October 18, 1 2015. 2 (2) Mr. Jones was legally and peacefully pulled 3 to the side of the road while he awaited roadside as- 4 sistance at approximately 3 a.m. in the morning be- 5 cause his car had broken down. 6 (3) While Mr. Jones awaited roadside assist- 7 ance, he was approached by a law enforcement offi- 8 cer driving an unmarked van and dressed in plain- 9 clothes. 10 (4) Mr. Jones would not have had any reason- 11 able reason to believe that the person in plainclothes 12 driving the unmarked vehicle was a law enforcement 13 officer. 14 (5) Any confusion as to the nature of the law 15 enforcement officer’s interaction with Mr. Jones 16 could likely have been avoided had a uniformed offi- 17 cer in a marked vehicle been called to the scene. 18 (6) Tragic incidents like the death of Mr. Jones 19 can easily be avoided by prohibiting law enforcement 20 officers in plainclothes or law enforcement officers in 21 plainclothes and unmarked vehicles from engaging in 22 routine traffic stops. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1787.IH H1787 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1787 IH SEC. 3. ENSURING THE SAFETY OF THE PUBLIC AND LAW 1 ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS DURING ROUTINE 2 TRAFFIC STOPS INVOLVING UNMARKED VE- 3 HICLES AND PLAINCLOTHES OFFICERS. 4 (a) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Section 1702 of the 5 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 6 U.S.C. 3796dd–1) is amended— 7 (1) in subsection (c)— 8 (A) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ 9 at the end; 10 (B) in paragraph (11), by striking the pe- 11 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’ at the end; and 12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(12) certify that no law enforcement agency 14 that will receive grant funds from the applicant al- 15 lows law enforcement officers to engage in routine 16 traffic stops while in plainclothes or while in plain- 17 clothes and in a police vehicle that is unmarked or 18 that otherwise is not clearly identified as a police ve- 19 hicle.’’; and 20 (2) in subsection (d)— 21 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting after ‘‘1 22 or more of the requirements of subsection (c)’’ 23 the following ‘‘(other than paragraph (12)’’; 24 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting after ‘‘1 25 or more of the requirements of subsection (c)’’ 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1787.IH H1787 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1787 IH the following ‘‘(other than paragraph (12)’’; 1 and 2 (C) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(3) NO WAIVER OF PLAINCLOTHES CERTIFI- 4 CATION.—The Attorney General may not waive the 5 requirement under subsection (c)(12).’’. 6 (b) CIVIL ACTION.—If the Attorney General deter- 7 mines, as a result of the reviews required by section 1705 8 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 9 1968, that a law enforcement officer has engaged in con- 10 duct that violates a certification under section 1702(c)(12) 11 of such Act applicable to that law enforcement officer, and 12 such conduct has resulted in serious injury or death to 13 any person, that person may bring a civil action against 14 that law enforcement officer and any grantee under part 15 Q of title I of such Act that is a grantee that is a State, 16 unit of local government, Indian tribal government, or 17 other entity with direct authority over that law enforce- 18 ment officer. 19 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 20 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General of 21 the United States shall submit to Congress a report that 22 includes data relating to the number and nature of 23 incidences where a law enforcement officer dressed in 24 plainclothes or dressed in plainclothes and operating an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1787.IH H1787 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1787 IH unmarked vehicle, engaged in a routine traffic stop that 1 resulted in injury or death. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1787.IH H1787 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS