Promoting Fair and Effective Policing Through Research Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7252 To provide for research to examine law enforcement policies and practices, including the causes, consequences, and mitigation of excessive use of force, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 18, 2020 Ms. JOHNSON of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Committees on Homeland Security, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con- cerned A BILL To provide for research to examine law enforcement policies and practices, including the causes, consequences, and mitigation of excessive use of force, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Promoting Fair and 4 Effective Policing Through Research Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7252.IH H7252 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7252 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Despite the pivotal role police officers play 3 in preventing and controlling crime, there are sig- 4 nificant gaps in research on the fairness and efficacy 5 of policing policies and practices, including those re- 6 lated to use of force. 7 (2) The lack of accurate and comprehensive 8 data on police use of force is often cited as one of 9 the most significant barriers to identifying and un- 10 derstanding patterns of police use of excessive force 11 against civilians. 12 (3) The best available evidence reveals in- 13 creased likelihood of police use of force against peo- 14 ple of color, people with disabilities, LGBT people, 15 people with mental health conditions, people with 16 low incomes, and those at the intersections of these 17 groups. 18 (4) Biases in advanced policing technologies, in- 19 cluding biometric identification systems, have the po- 20 tential to exacerbate such disparities. 21 (5) Along with better data, more social and be- 22 havioral research is needed to improve our under- 23 standing of the potential factors that influence ex- 24 cessive use of force as well as the related psycho- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7252.IH H7252 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7252 IH logical and social effects of such incidents on individ- 1 uals and communities. 2 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 3 In this Act: 4 (1) COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION.—The 5 term ‘‘community-based organization’’ means a 6 grassroots organization that monitors the issue of 7 police misconduct and that has a national presence 8 and membership, such as the National Association 9 for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 10 the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the 11 National Council of La Raza, the National Urban 12 League, the National Congress of American Indians, 13 and the National Asian Pacific Legal Consortium 14 (NAPALC). 15 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 16 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 17 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 18 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 19 (3) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 20 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means any Federal, 21 State, or local public agency engaged in the preven- 22 tion, detection, or investigation of violations of crimi- 23 nal, immigration, or customs law. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7252.IH H7252 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7252 IH (4) NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 1 ‘‘non-profit organization’’ means an organization de- 2 scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 3 Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 4 501(a) of such code. 5 (5) PROFESSIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSO- 6 CIATION.—The term ‘‘professional law enforcement 7 association’’ means a law enforcement membership 8 association that works for the needs of Federal, 9 State, local, or Indian tribal law enforcement agen- 10 cies and with the civilian community on matters of 11 common interest, such as the Hispanic Police Com- 12 mand Officers Association (HAPCOA), the National 13 Asian Pacific Officers Association (NAPOA), the 14 National Black Police Association (NBPA), the Na- 15 tional Organization of Black Law Enforcement Ex- 16 ecutives (NOBLE), Women in Law Enforcement, 17 the Native American Law Enforcement Association 18 (NALEA), the International Association of Chiefs of 19 Police (IACP), the National Sheriffs’ Association 20 (NFA), the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), and 21 the National Association of School Resource Offi- 22 cers. 23 SEC. 4. AGENCY ACTIVITIES. 24 (a) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7252.IH H7252 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7252 IH (1) RESEARCH.—The Director of the National 1 Science Foundation shall award grants, on a com- 2 petitive basis, to institutions of higher education or 3 nonprofit organizations (or consortia of such institu- 4 tions or organizations)— 5 (A) to support social and behavioral re- 6 search on— 7 (i) policies and practices of law en- 8 forcement agencies and related outcomes, 9 including the use of data and technology 10 by law enforcement agencies; 11 (ii) the causes and consequences of 12 police violence; 13 (iii) interventions designed to mitigate 14 police use of excessive force, including de- 15 escalation training and advanced policing 16 technologies; 17 (iv) organizational configurations and 18 personnel practices in law enforcement 19 agencies, such as recruitment, training, 20 oversight, performance standards, decision- 21 making, methods of supervising officers, 22 resource allocation, and the role of police 23 leadership; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7252.IH H7252 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7252 IH (v) the role of cooperation among law 1 enforcement agencies and the communities 2 served by such agencies in reducing crime 3 and ensuring community safety; and 4 (B) to educate and train the next genera- 5 tion of researchers in areas of social and behav- 6 ioral sciences research relevant to policing poli- 7 cies and practices in democratic societies. 8 (2) RESEARCHER-LAW ENFORCEMENT PART- 9 NERSHIPS.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the 11 National Science Foundation shall carry out a 12 program to award grants, on a competitive 13 basis, to institutions of higher education or 14 nonprofit organizations (or consortia of such in- 15 stitutions or organizations) to improve the fair- 16 ness and efficacy of policing policies and prac- 17 tices, including by reducing the incidence and 18 mitigating the negative consequences of exces- 19 sive and lethal use of force by law enforcement. 20 (B) PARTNERSHIPS.—In order to be eligi- 21 ble to receive a grant under this subsection, an 22 institution of higher education or nonprofit or- 23 ganization (or consortia of such institutions or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7252.IH H7252 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7252 IH organizations) shall enter into a partnership 1 with— 2 (i) one or more law enforcement agen- 3 cy; 4 (ii) one or more community-based or- 5 ganization; or 6 (iii) one or more professional law en- 7 forcement association. 8 (C) ANNUAL MEETING.—The Director of 9 the National Science Foundation, in consulta- 10 tion with the Attorney General of the United 11 States, shall convene an annual meeting of the 12 partnerships participating under this section to 13 foster greater national collaboration. 14 (3) NATIONAL ACADEMIES STUDY.—Not later 15 than 45 days after the date of enactment of this 16 Act, the Director shall enter into an agreement with 17 the Academies to conduct a study— 18 (A) to review the research literature and 19 identify research gaps related to policing poli- 20 cies and practices, including research into the 21 causes, consequences, and mitigation of police 22 violence; 23 (B) to present a compendium of promising 24 policing policies and practices, including those 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7252.IH H7252 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7252 IH shown to reduce the incidence and mitigate the 1 negative consequences of police violence; 2 (C) identify barriers to widespread and 3 sustained implementation of such policies and 4 practices; and 5 (D) to make recommendations to the 6 Foundation, the Department of Justice, law en- 7 forcement agencies, and other relevant stake- 8 holders on measures to address such barriers. 9 (b) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND 10 TECHNOLOGY.— 11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce, 12 acting through the Director of the National Institute 13 of Standards and Technology, shall establish a pro- 14 gram to support measurement research to inform 15 the development of best practices, benchmarks, 16 methodologies, procedures, and voluntary consensus 17 standards for biometric identification systems and 18 other advanced policing tools to assess and improve 19 fairness in such systems. In carrying out such pro- 20 gram, the Director shall— 21 (A) conduct research to support efforts to 22 improve biometric identification systems, includ- 23 ing in areas related to conformity assessment, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7252.IH H7252 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7252 IH image interoperability, and capture device cer- 1 tification; 2 (B) establish common definitions and char- 3 acterizations for biometric identification sys- 4 tems, including fairness, bias, validation, trans- 5 parency, safety, privacy, security, robustness, 6 and other properties; 7 (C) produce data sets that are curated, 8 standardized, representative, secure, and pri- 9 vacy protected for biometric identification tech- 10 nology research, development, and use; 11 (D) provide outreach, coordination, and 12 technical support to relevant industry and non- 13 industry stakeholders and standards develop- 14 ment organizations to assist such entities in the 15 development of best practices and voluntary 16 standards; and 17 (E) develop such standard reference mate- 18 rial as the Director of the National Institute of 19 Standards and Technology determines is appro- 20 priate to further the development of such stand- 21 ards. 22 (2) BIOMETRICS VENDOR TEST PROGRAM.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 24 through the Director of the National Institute 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7252.IH H7252 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7252 IH of Standards and Technology, shall carry out a 1 test program to provide biometrics vendors the 2 opportunity to test biometric identification tech- 3 nologies. 4 (B) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the pro- 5 gram under subparagraph (A), the Director 6 shall— 7 (i) conduct research and testing to im- 8 prove and benchmark the accuracy, effi- 9 cacy, and fairness of biometric identifica- 10 tion systems, including research and test- 11 ing on demographic variations, capture de- 12 vices, presentation attack detection, tem- 13 plate protection, de-identification, and 14 comparison of algorithm and human facial 15 recognition capability; 16 (ii) produce public-facing reports of 17 the findings from such testing for a gen- 18 eral audience; 19 (iii) in coordination with the Depart- 20 ment of Homeland Security, provide guid- 21 ance to law enforcement agencies to sup- 22 port decision-making with respect to acqui- 23 sition and implementation of biometric 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7252.IH H7252 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7252 IH identification systems and related tech- 1 nologies; and 2 (iv) conduct such other activities as 3 the Director of the National Institute of 4 Standards and Technology determines ap- 5 propriate. 6 (C) FUNDING.—To carry out this sub- 7 section, the Director of the National Institute 8 of Standards and Technology may enter into 9 contracts, including cooperative research and 10 development arrangements, grants, cooperative 11 agreements, and other transactions as the Di- 12 rector determines appropriate. 13 (D) PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER FED- 14 ERAL AGENCIES.—In addition to such sums as 15 may be authorized to be appropriated or other- 16 wise made available to carry out this section, 17 the Director my accept funds from other de- 18 partments and agencies of the Federal Govern- 19 ment, and from the State and local govern- 20 ments, to carry out the program under this sub- 21 section. 22 (c) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 24 Security, acting through the Under Secretary for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7252.IH H7252 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 7252 IH Science and Technology, in consultation with the 1 Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, shall 2 establish a program with the purpose of reducing ex- 3 cessive use of force and lethal use of force by law 4 enforcement. 5 (2) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out such pro- 6 gram, the Secretary shall— 7 (A) support research and data analysis to 8 improve training, policies, and practices to sup- 9 port development of guidelines and best prac- 10 tices for recruitment and training of law en- 11 forcement officials to reduce excessive use of 12 force and mitigate racial bias in policing; 13 (B) develop, test, and evaluate innovative 14 tools or technologies to assist in risk assessment 15 and provide law enforcement agencies with 16 tools, restraints, and maneuvers that are non- 17 lethal or less harmful than tools, restraints, and 18 maneuvers used by such agencies; 19 (C) provide the scientific basis for a na- 20 tional standard for police use of force contin- 21 uums; and 22 (D) conduct outreach to Federal, State, 23 local, and tribal law enforcement agencies, aca- 24 demia, researchers, practitioners, and trainers 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:33 Jul 11, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7252.IH H7252 kjohnson on D [Text truncated for display. 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