Deadly Force Independent Review Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4440 To establish protocols for the investigation of uses of deadly force by Federal law enforcement officers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 Mr. COHEN (for himself and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To establish protocols for the investigation of uses of deadly force by Federal 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Deadly Force Inde- 4 pendent Review Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROTOCOL FOR INVESTIGATION OF USE OF DEAD- 6 LY FORCE BY FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT 7 OFFICER. 8 Each Federal law enforcement agency shall establish 9 a protocol for investigating any use of deadly force and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4440.IH H4440 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4440 IH shall commence such an investigation on each occasion 1 that an officer of that agency uses deadly force. 2 SEC. 3. ROLE OF INSPECTORS GENERAL. 3 (a) REVIEW OF AGENCY INVESTIGATIONS.—If the in- 4 vestigation is not conducted by the inspector general for 5 that agency then the inspector general shall conduct an 6 independent review of the findings to verify that the inves- 7 tigation was sufficiently thorough, complied with the pro- 8 tocols, and that the findings were adequately supported 9 by the evidence. If the investigation uncovers any wrong- 10 doing, the findings will be reported to proper authorities 11 for appropriate disciplinary action, including prosecution 12 in the case of any criminal activity. 13 (b) COUNCIL TO ESTABLISH UNIFORM PROCE- 14 DURES.—The Council of Inspectors General on Integrity 15 and Efficiency shall establish a uniform, Governmentwide 16 methodology for the reporting of any incident regarding 17 the use of deadly force by an officer of a Federal law en- 18 forcement agency and develop uniform, Governmentwide 19 guidelines for the investigation of such uses of deadly 20 force. 21 SEC. 4. REPORT. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Council of Inspectors General 23 shall submit a report each calendar quarter including a 24 description of all instances of the use of deadly force by 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4440.IH H4440 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4440 IH an officer of a Federal law enforcement agency, including 1 any referrals for criminal prosecution, to— 2 (1) the Committee on Oversight and Reform of 3 the House of Representatives; 4 (2) the Committee on Homeland Security and 5 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 6 (3) the Committees on the Judiciary of the Sen- 7 ate and of the House of Representatives; and 8 (4) the Comptroller General of the United 9 States. 10 (b) DATA COLLECTION.—The data collected and re- 11 ported on under subsection (a) shall— 12 (1) include identifying characteristics of the 13 person who was the target of the use of deadly force 14 and the officer who used deadly force, including— 15 (A) race or ethnicity; 16 (B) gender; 17 (C) approximate age; and 18 (D) the actual or perceived religious affili- 19 ation; 20 (2) include the date, time, and location of such 21 use of deadly force; 22 (3) include the alleged criminal activity of the 23 person who was the target of the use of deadly force; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4440.IH H4440 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4440 IH (4) include the nature of the deadly force used, 1 including the use of a firearm; 2 (5) include an explanation, if any, from the rel- 3 evant law enforcement agency on why deadly force 4 was used; 5 (6) include a copy of any use of deadly force 6 guidelines in effect at the relevant law enforcement 7 agency at the time deadly force was used; 8 (7) include a description of any non-lethal ef- 9 forts employed to apprehend or subdue the person 10 who was the target of the use of deadly force before 11 deadly force was used; and 12 (8) not include personally identifiable informa- 13 tion described in section 5. 14 SEC. 5. LIMITATIONS ON PUBLICATION OF DATA. 15 The name or identifying information of a law enforce- 16 ment officer, person who was the target of the use of dead- 17 ly force, or any other individual involved in any activity 18 for which data is collected and compiled under this Act 19 shall not be— 20 (1) released to the public; 21 (2) disclosed to any person, except for— 22 (A) such disclosures as are necessary to 23 comply with this Act; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4440.IH H4440 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4440 IH (B) disclosures of information regarding a 1 particular person to that person; or 2 (C) disclosures pursuant to litigation; or 3 (3) subject to disclosure under section 552 of 4 title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 5 Freedom of Information Act), except for disclosures 6 of information regarding a particular person to that 7 person. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:12 Sep 27, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4440.IH H4440 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS