Police Accountability and Community Engagement Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7284 To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to improve the relationship between the police and the communities they serve, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 18, 2020 Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (for herself and Mr. HASTINGS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to improve the relationship between the police and the communities they serve, 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 ‘‘Police Accountability 4 and Community Engagement Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘PAC 5 Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS GRANT PROGRAM. 7 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General, acting 8 through the Director of the Office of Community Oriented 9 Policing Services, is authorized to make grants to non- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7284.IH H7284 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7284 IH profit organizations, institutions of higher education, com- 1 munity groups, and faith-based organizations to facilitate 2 organized dialogues that bring together community mem- 3 bers and law enforcement officers in order to build trust, 4 increase accountability, and reduce tension in relation- 5 ships between the community and the police. 6 (b) USES OF FUNDS.—A recipient of a grant under 7 this section shall use such funds for the following: 8 (1) Community dialogues, led by a third-party 9 facilitator, that bring together a diverse group of 10 community members, local elected officials, law en- 11 forcement leaders and officers, business leaders, and 12 community members to assess the state of police and 13 community relations in the area, which focus on tak- 14 ing a proactive approach and developing concrete ac- 15 tion items that will help improve the relationship be- 16 tween the police and the community and further the 17 goal of collective safety. 18 (2) Community dialogues that are specifically 19 designed to bring together teenagers with law en- 20 forcement officers, which aim to help police and 21 young people honestly discuss their interaction and 22 find common ground, which— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7284.IH H7284 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7284 IH (A) are led by a third-party facilitator and 1 held in a neutral space outside of a police sta- 2 tion; 3 (B) provide equal participation for local 4 law enforcement officers and youth; 5 (C) include law enforcement officers with a 6 variety of levels of experience; 7 (D) meet at minimum on a monthly basis 8 to engage in these group dialogues; 9 (E) include participants who reflect the de- 10 mographics of the young people in the commu- 11 nity; 12 (F) use facilitators with the appropriate 13 language skills, if the local population includes 14 young people for whom English is not their pri- 15 mary language; and 16 (G) include the development of actionable 17 next steps in order to ensure accountability and 18 a formal action plan. 19 (3) Documenting results of the dialogues de- 20 scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2), including any 21 practice that changes as a result of the dialogue. 22 (c) APPLICATION.—An entity seeking a grant under 23 this section shall submit to the Attorney General an appli- 24 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing such 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7284.IH H7284 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7284 IH information as the Attorney General may reasonably re- 1 quire, except that no application shall be considered unless 2 plans for community dialogue include, but not be limited 3 to, a discussion concerning racism and its effects on po- 4 lice-community relations. 5 (d) REPORT.—A recipient of a grant under this sec- 6 tion shall submit to the Attorney General on a biannual 7 basis the results of the dialogues conducted pursuant to 8 a grant under this section, including any changes that 9 were made to policing practices, the reason for the 10 changes, and the results of the changes. 11 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 12 authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 to carry out 13 this section. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:30 Jul 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7284.IH H7284 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS