Improving Community Safety Task Force Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5251 To direct the Attorney General to establish a task force to study the causes of violence against and involving law enforcement and make recommenda- tions on improving community safety. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 22, 2019 Mr. CORREA (for himself, Mr. HARDER of California, and Mr. CARBAJAL) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infra- structure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Attorney General to establish a task force to study the causes of violence against and involving law enforcement and make recommendations on improv- ing community safety. 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 ‘‘Improving Community 4 Safety Task Force Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5251.IH H5251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5251 IH SEC. 2. IMPROVING COMMUNITY SAFETY TASK FORCE. 1 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Attorney General shall 2 establish a community safety task force (hereinafter in 3 this Act referred to as the ‘‘task force’’) within 180 days 4 after the date of enactment of this Act with the goal of 5 promoting community safety. 6 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 7 (1) COMPOSITION.—The task force shall include 8 a chairperson and twelve members selected by the 9 Attorney General in consultation with the Speaker of 10 the House of Representatives, the minority leader of 11 the House of Representatives, the majority leader of 12 the Senate, and the minority leader of the Senate in 13 accordance with the following: 14 (A) REPRESENTATION.—Membership shall 15 include at least one representative of: 16 (i) Community organizations. 17 (ii) Non-governmental civil rights or- 18 ganizations. 19 (iii) State law enforcement. 20 (iv) Federal law enforcement. 21 (v) Firefighters. 22 (vi) Emergency medical technicians. 23 (vii) Security officers from educational 24 institutions. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5251.IH H5251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5251 IH (viii) An institution of higher edu- 1 cation (as such term is defined in section 2 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965) 3 that is determined by the Attorney General 4 to have expertise in law enforcement re- 5 search. 6 (ix) Local governments, including one 7 municipal and one county law enforcement 8 representative. 9 (B) GEOGRAPHIC DIVERSITY.—In selecting 10 membership, the Attorney General shall make 11 sure the task force includes representatives 12 from all regions of the country, and from rural, 13 urban, and suburban communities. 14 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Attorney General shall 15 appoint the chairperson of the task force from 16 among the members. 17 (3) TERM OF MEMBERSHIP.—Members of the 18 task force shall serve until the task force is termi- 19 nated. The chairperson shall serve until the Attorney 20 General appoints a new chairperson. 21 (4) COMPENSATION.—Members of the task 22 force may be allowed travel expenses, including per 23 diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for 24 employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5251.IH H5251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5251 IH 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from 1 their homes or regular places of business in the per- 2 formance of services for the task force. 3 (c) DUTIES.—The duties of the task force are as fol- 4 lows: 5 (1) To study violence against and involving law 6 enforcement and first responders. 7 (2) To make recommendations on steps that 8 can be taken to limit such violence, including assess- 9 ing— 10 (A) the causes for, the frequency of, and 11 the types of attacks against law enforcement of- 12 ficers and other first responders; and 13 (B) the causes for, the frequency of, and 14 the types of law enforcement’s use of deadly 15 force. 16 (3) To make recommendations about— 17 (A) how to prevent attacks against law en- 18 forcement officers and other first responders; 19 and 20 (B) how to minimize use of deadly force by 21 law enforcement. 22 (d) POWERS OF THE TASK FORCE.— 23 (1) HEARINGS.—The task force may, for the 24 purpose of carrying out this section, hold hearings, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5251.IH H5251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 5251 IH sit and act at times and places, take testimony, and 1 receive evidence as the task force considers appro- 2 priate. 3 (2) POWERS OF MEMBERS AND AGENTS.—Any 4 member or agent of the task force may, if authorized 5 by the task force, take any action which the task 6 force is authorized to take by this section. 7 (3) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—Subject to ap- 8 plicable privacy laws and regulations, the task force 9 may secure directly from any department or agency 10 of the United States information necessary to enable 11 it to carry out this section. Upon request of the 12 chairperson of the task force, the head of that de- 13 partment or agency shall furnish that information to 14 the task force. 15 (4) MAILS.—The task force may use the United 16 States mails in the same manner and under the 17 same conditions as other departments and agencies 18 of the United States. 19 (5) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.— 20 Upon the request of the task force, the Adminis- 21 trator of General Services shall provide to the task 22 force, on a reimbursable basis, the administrative 23 support services necessary for the task force to carry 24 out its duties under this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5251.IH H5251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 5251 IH (6) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—To the extent or 1 in the amounts provided in advance in appropriation 2 Acts, the task force may contract with and com- 3 pensate government agencies and private entities or 4 persons for services necessary to carry out its duties 5 under this section. 6 (e) OPERATING RULES AND PROCEDURES.— 7 (1) INITIAL MEETING.—The task force shall 8 meet not later than 30 days after the date on which 9 a majority of the members of the task force have 10 been appointed. 11 (2) MEETINGS.—The task force shall alternate 12 its meeting locations between the geographic regions 13 reflected in the task force membership. 14 (3) VOTING.—Each member of the task force 15 shall have one vote. 16 (4) RULES AND PROCEDURES.—Any member of 17 the task force may propose to create or alter existing 18 operating rules and procedures consistent with the 19 functions of the task force. Any change to the oper- 20 ating rules and procedures shall be adopted only 21 upon a majority vote of the task force. 22 (5) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The task force shall 23 adopt recommendations under subsection (c)(2) and 24 subsection (c)(4) only upon a majority vote. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5251.IH H5251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 5251 IH (6) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 1 the task force shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser 2 number of members may hold meetings. 3 (f) DIRECTOR AND STAFF.— 4 (1) DIRECTOR.—The task force may appoint 5 and set the pay of a director. 6 (2) STAFF.—The director may appoint not 7 more than 10 staff personnel as the director con- 8 siders appropriate. 9 (3) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE 10 LAWS.—The staff of the task force shall be ap- 11 pointed subject to the provisions of title 5, United 12 States Code, governing appointments in the competi- 13 tive service, and shall be paid in accordance with the 14 provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chap- 15 ter 53 of that title relating to classification and Gen- 16 eral Schedule pay rates. 17 (4) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The task 18 force and the director, acting with the approval of 19 the task force, may procure temporary and intermit- 20 tent services under section 3109(b) of title 5, United 21 States Code. 22 (5) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon the 23 request of the director, the head of any Federal de- 24 partment or agency may detail, on a reimbursable 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5251.IH H5251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 5251 IH basis, any of the personnel of that department or 1 agency to the task force to assist it in carrying out 2 its duties under this section. 3 (g) DURATION.—The task force established under 4 subsection (a) shall terminate not later than two years 5 after the date of which the task force is established under 6 such subsection. 7 (h) REPORTS.— 8 (1) SUBMITTAL OF REPORT.—Not later than 9 one year after the date of the initial meeting of the 10 task force, the Attorney General shall submit to 11 Congress a report on the recommendations of the 12 task force. 13 (2) ASSESSMENT OF IMPLEMENTATION.—Not 14 later than 120 days after submission of the report 15 in subsection (h)(1), the Attorney General shall sub- 16 mit to Congress a report containing the assessment 17 of the Attorney General regarding the implementa- 18 tion of the recommendations of the task force. 19 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 20 authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 for the period 21 of fiscal years 2019 through 2020 to carry out this sec- 22 tion. 23 (j) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Dec 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5251.IH H5251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 5251 IH (1) CRIME OF VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘crime of 1 violence’’ means any Federal, State, or local offense 2 that has as an element the use, attempted use, or 3 threatened use of physical force against the person 4 of another. 5 (2) DEADLY FORCE.—The term ‘‘deadly force’’ 6 means force reasonably anticipated and intended to 7 create a substantial likelihood of causing death or 8 great bodily injury. 9 (3) FIRST RESPONDER.—The term ‘‘first re- 10 sponder’’ means an individual with specialized train- 11 ing, the duties of whose position are primarily to 12 provide on-site assistance including Federal, State, 13 and local governmental and nongovernmental fire- 14 fighter, emergency medical technician, and para- 15 medic personnel. 16 (4) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term 17 ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means an individual, the 18 duties of whose position are primarily the investiga- 19 tion, apprehension, or detention of individuals sus- 20 pected or convicted of offenses against criminal or 21 civil laws, including police, corrections, probation, 22 parole, and judicial officers. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:54 Dec 05, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5251.IH H5251 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS