Walter Scott Notification Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3873 To require law enforcement agencies to report the use of lethal force, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 3, 2020 Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Ms. ERNST, Mr. LANKFORD, and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require law enforcement agencies to report the use of lethal force, 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 ‘‘Walter Scott Notifica- 4 tion Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act— 7 (1) the term ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ has the 8 meaning given the term in section 3673 of title 18, 9 United States Code; and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:41 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3873.IS S3873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3873 IS (2) the term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given the 1 term in section 901(a) of title I of the Omnibus 2 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 3 U.S.C. 10251(a)). 4 SEC. 3. STATE INFORMATION REGARDING USE OF LETHAL 5 FORCE BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year in which a 7 State receives funds for a program described in subsection 8 (c), the State shall report to the Attorney General, on an 9 annual basis and pursuant to guidelines established by the 10 Attorney General, information regarding any discharge of 11 a firearm by a law enforcement officer which results in 12 the death of a civilian. 13 (b) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The report required 14 under subsection (a) shall contain information that, at a 15 minimum, includes— 16 (1) the number of decedents and the number of 17 law enforcement officers who discharged a firearm; 18 (2) the age, sex, race, and ethnicity of each de- 19 cedent; 20 (3) any mental health issue of a decedent that 21 was observed or reported; 22 (4) the age, sex, race, and ethnicity of each law 23 enforcement officer; 24 (5) a brief description of the event; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:41 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3873.IS S3873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3873 IS (6) the alleged criminal activity of each dece- 1 dent prior to the use of force; 2 (7) whether each decedent was armed and the 3 type of weapon the decedent had; 4 (8) a description of the weapon used by each 5 law enforcement officer; 6 (9) a brief description of any injury sustained 7 by a law enforcement officer; 8 (10) a brief description of the finding of the law 9 enforcement agency as to whether the use of deadly 10 force was justified or unjustified; and 11 (11) the case disposition, including whether— 12 (A) the case was cleared by departmental 13 review or referred to a prosecuting authority; 14 (B) criminal charges were filed; 15 (C) prosecution was declined; 16 (D) a grand jury returned a No True Bill; 17 or 18 (E) a court entered an acquittal or a con- 19 viction. 20 (c) COMPLIANCE.— 21 (1) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.—For any fiscal 22 year beginning after the date of enactment of this 23 Act, a State that fails to comply with subsection (a), 24 shall be subject to a 10-percent reduction of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:41 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3873.IS S3873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3873 IS funds that would otherwise be allocated for that fis- 1 cal year to the State under subpart 1 of part E of 2 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 3 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.), 4 whether characterized as the Edward Byrne Memo- 5 rial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance 6 Programs, the Local Government Law Enforcement 7 Block Grants Program, the Edward Byrne Memorial 8 Justice Assistance Grant Program, or otherwise. 9 (2) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated 10 under a program referred to in paragraph (1) to a 11 State for failure to comply with subsection (a) shall 12 be reallocated under the program to States that have 13 complied with subsection (a). 14 (d) PREFERENTIAL CONSIDERATION.—Section 1701 15 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 16 Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amended by adding at 17 the end the following: 18 ‘‘(n) USE OF FORCE REPORTING.— 19 ‘‘(1) PREFERENTIAL CONSIDERATION.—For the 20 first fiscal year beginning after the date of enact- 21 ment of this subsection and the 3 fiscal years there- 22 after, the Attorney General may give preferential 23 consideration, where feasible, to an application from 24 an applicant in a State that is in full compliance 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:41 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3873.IS S3873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3873 IS with section 3(a) of the Walter Scott Notification 1 Act of 2020. 2 ‘‘(2) REDUCTION OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Begin- 3 ning in the fifth fiscal year beginning after the date 4 of enactment of this subsection, a State that fails to 5 comply with section 3(a) of the Walter Scott Notifi- 6 cation Act of 2020 shall be subject to a 20-percent 7 reduction of the funds that would otherwise be allo- 8 cated for the fiscal year to the State under this part. 9 ‘‘(3) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated 10 under this part to a State for failure to comply with 11 section 3(a) of the Walter Scott Notification Act of 12 2020 shall be reallocated to States that have com- 13 plied with such section.’’. 14 (e) INDEPENDENT AUDIT AND REVIEW.—Not later 15 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and 16 each year thereafter, the Attorney General shall conduct 17 an audit and review of the information provided under 18 subsection (a) to determine whether each State receiving 19 funds under section 505(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 20 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 21 10156(a)) or under part Q of title I of the Omnibus Crime 22 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381 23 et seq.) unless the State has ensured, to the satisfaction 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:41 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3873.IS S3873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3873 IS of the Attorney General, that the State is in substantial 1 compliance with the requirements of this section. 2 (f) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 4 the date of enactment of this Act, and each year 5 thereafter, the Attorney General shall publish, and 6 make available to the public, a report containing the 7 data reported to the Attorney General under sub- 8 section (a). 9 (2) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—Nothing in this 10 subsection shall be construed to supersede the re- 11 quirements or limitations under section 552a of title 12 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 13 ‘‘Privacy Act of 1974’’). 14 (g) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 days after the 15 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in 16 coordination with the Director of the Federal Bureau of 17 Investigation, shall issue guidance on best practices relat- 18 ing to establishing standard data collection systems that 19 capture the information required to be reported under sub- 20 section (a), which shall include standard and consistent 21 definitions for terms. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:41 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3873.IS S3873 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS