Better Community Policing Recognition Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3968 To create an award for law enforcement officers who exemplify best practices to reduce the excessive use of force or improve community policing, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 16, 2020 Mr. COTTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To create an award for law enforcement officers who exem- plify best practices to reduce the excessive use of force or improve community policing, 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 ‘‘Better Community Po- 4 licing Recognition Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. AWARDS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS. 6 Part Q of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 7 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381 et seq.) is 8 amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3968.IS S3968 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3968 IS (1) by redesignating sections 1708 and 1709 1 (34 U.S.C. 10388, 10389) as sections 1709 and 2 1710, respectively; and 3 (2) by inserting after section 1707 (34 U.S.C. 4 10387) the following: 5 ‘‘SEC. 1708. BETTER COMMUNITY POLICING AWARD. 6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 ‘‘(1) BETTER COMMUNITY POLICING AWARD.— 8 The term ‘Better Community Policing Award’ means 9 an award authorized under subsection (b). 10 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.— 11 The term ‘eligible law enforcement officer’ means a 12 career law enforcement officer who is— 13 ‘‘(A) employed by a law enforcement agen- 14 cy receiving funding from a grant under section 15 1701; and 16 ‘‘(B) nominated for a Better Community 17 Policing Award by— 18 ‘‘(i) the law enforcement agency that 19 employs the law enforcement officer; or 20 ‘‘(ii) the attorney general of the State 21 in which the law enforcement agency that 22 employs the law enforcement officer is lo- 23 cated. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3968.IS S3968 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3968 IS ‘‘(b) AWARDS AUTHORIZED.—The Attorney General 1 may distribute cash awards to eligible law enforcement of- 2 ficers who exemplify best practices or significant innova- 3 tion to— 4 ‘‘(1) reduce the excessive use of force; or 5 ‘‘(2) improve community policing. 6 ‘‘(c) CRITERIA.—Not later than 90 days after the 7 date of enactment of this section, the Attorney General 8 shall establish— 9 ‘‘(1) the process by which a law enforcement 10 agency or the attorney general of a State may nomi- 11 nate an eligible law enforcement officer for a Better 12 Community Policing Award; 13 ‘‘(2) the criteria for the selection of recipients 14 of a Better Community Policing Award; and 15 ‘‘(3) the maximum amount of a Better Commu- 16 nity Policing Award. 17 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 18 of enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the 19 Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report that 20 includes, for the previous calendar year— 21 ‘‘(1) the number of nominations received by the 22 Attorney General for a Better Community Policing 23 Award; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3968.IS S3968 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3968 IS ‘‘(2) the number of Better Community Policing 1 Awards distributed by the Attorney General; 2 ‘‘(3) a geographical breakdown of the location 3 of the recipients of a Better Community Policing 4 Award; and 5 ‘‘(4) information relating to the size of each law 6 enforcement agency that— 7 ‘‘(A) nominated a law enforcement officer 8 for a Better Community Policing Award; or 9 ‘‘(B) employed a recipient of a Better 10 Community Policing Award. 11 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 12 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 13 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 though 2025.’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:19 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3968.IS S3968 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS