Law Enforcement De-Escalation Training Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4064 To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide for training on alternatives to use of force, de-escalation, and behavioral health crises. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 24, 2020 Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide for training on alternatives to use of force, de-escalation, and behavioral health crises. 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 ‘‘Law Enforcement De- 4 Escalation Training Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4064.IS S4064 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4064 IS SEC. 2. TRAINING ON ALTERNATIVES TO USE OF FORCE, 1 DE-ESCALATION, AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH 2 CRISES. 3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 901(a) of title I of the 4 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 5 U.S.C. 10251(a)) is amended— 6 (1) in paragraph (27), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 7 end; 8 (2) in paragraph (28), by striking the period at 9 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(29) the term ‘de-escalation’ means taking ac- 12 tion or communicating verbally or non-verbally dur- 13 ing a potential force encounter in an attempt to sta- 14 bilize the situation and reduce the immediacy of the 15 threat so that more time, options, and resources can 16 be called upon to resolve the situation without the 17 use of force or with a reduction in the force nec- 18 essary; and 19 ‘‘(30) the term ‘behavioral health crisis’ means 20 a situation in which the behavior of a person puts 21 the person at risk of hurting himself or herself or 22 others or prevents the person from being able to 23 care for himself or herself or function effectively in 24 the community, including a situation in which a per- 25 son is under the influence of a drug or alcohol, is 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4064.IS S4064 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4064 IS suicidal, or experiences symptoms of a mental ill- 1 ness.’’. 2 (b) COPS PROGRAM.—Section 1701 of title I of the 3 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 4 U.S.C. 10381) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘(n) TRAINING IN ALTERNATIVES TO USE OF 7 FORCE, DE-ESCALATION TECHNIQUES, AND BEHAVIORAL 8 HEALTH CRISES.— 9 ‘‘(1) TRAINING CURRICULA.—The Attorney 10 General, in consultation with relevant law enforce- 11 ment agencies of States and units of local govern- 12 ment, labor organizations, professional law enforce- 13 ment organizations, and mental health organiza- 14 tions, shall develop training curricula in— 15 ‘‘(A) alternatives to use of force and de-es- 16 calation tactics; and 17 ‘‘(B) safely responding to a person experi- 18 encing a behavioral health crisis, including tech- 19 niques and strategies that are designed to pro- 20 tect the safety of the person experiencing the 21 behavioral health crisis, law enforcement offi- 22 cers, and the public. 23 ‘‘(2) CERTIFIED PROGRAMS.—The Attorney 24 General shall establish a process to certify public 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4064.IS S4064 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4064 IS and private entities that offer courses in alternatives 1 to use of force, de-escalation tactics, and techniques 2 and strategies for responding to a behavioral health 3 crisis using the training curricula established under 4 paragraph (1) or equivalents to the training cur- 5 ricula established under paragraph (1). 6 ‘‘(3) TRANSITIONAL REGIONAL TRAINING PRO- 7 GRAMS FOR STATE AND LOCAL AGENCY PER- 8 SONNEL.—Until the end of fiscal year 2023, the At- 9 torney General shall, and thereafter may, provide re- 10 gional training to equip and certify personnel from 11 law enforcement agencies of States and units of local 12 government in a State to conduct training using the 13 training curricula established under paragraph (1). 14 ‘‘(4) LIST.—The Attorney General shall publish 15 a list of law enforcement agencies of States and 16 units of local government that employ officers who 17 have successfully completed a course described under 18 paragraph (2) or (3), which shall include— 19 ‘‘(A) the total number of law enforcement 20 officers employed by the agency; 21 ‘‘(B) the number of officers who have com- 22 pleted the course; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4064.IS S4064 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4064 IS ‘‘(C) whether personnel from the law en- 1 forcement agency are certified to conduct train- 2 ing. 3 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 4 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 5 this subsection $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 6 2021 through 2025.’’. 7 (c) BYRNE JAG PROGRAM.—Subpart 1 of part E of 8 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 9 of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) is amended— 10 (1) by redesignating section 508 as section 509; 11 and 12 (2) by inserting after section 507 the following: 13 ‘‘SEC. 508. LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING PROGRAMS. 14 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 15 ‘‘(1) the term ‘approved course in alternatives 16 to use of force, de-escalation tactics, or techniques 17 and strategies for responding to a behavioral health 18 crisis’ means a course using the training curricula 19 established under section 1701(n)(1) or equivalents 20 to such training curricula— 21 ‘‘(A) provided by the Attorney General 22 under section 1701(n)(3); or 23 ‘‘(B) provided by a certified entity; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4064.IS S4064 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4064 IS ‘‘(2) the term ‘certified entity’ means a public 1 or private entity that has been certified by the At- 2 torney General under section 1701(n)(2). 3 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.—The Attorney General shall, from 4 amounts made available to fund law enforcement training 5 programs pursuant to subsection (e), make grants to 6 States for use by the State or a unit of government located 7 in the State to— 8 ‘‘(1) pay for costs associated with conducting 9 the training and for attendance by law enforcement 10 personnel at an approved course in alternatives to 11 use of force, de-escalation tactics, or techniques and 12 strategies for responding to a behavioral health cri- 13 sis; and 14 ‘‘(2) procure training in alternatives to use of 15 force, de-escalation tactics, or techniques and strate- 16 gies for responding to a behavioral health crisis from 17 a certified entity. 18 ‘‘(c) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the total amount appro- 20 priated to carry out this section for a fiscal year, the 21 Attorney General shall allocate funds to each State 22 in proportion to the total number of law enforcement 23 officers in the State as compared to the total num- 24 ber of law enforcement officers in the United States. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4064.IS S4064 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4064 IS ‘‘(2) TRAINING FOR STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT 1 OFFICERS.—Each State may retain from the total 2 amount of funds provided to the State for the pur- 3 poses described in this section an amount that is not 4 more than the amount that bears the same ratio to 5 the total amount of funds as the ratio of— 6 ‘‘(A) the total number of law enforcement 7 officers employed by the State; to 8 ‘‘(B) the total number of law enforcement 9 officers employed by the State and units of 10 local government within the State. 11 ‘‘(3) TRAINING FOR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT 12 OFFICERS.—A State shall make available to units of 13 local government in the State for the purposes de- 14 scribed in this section the amounts remaining after 15 a State retains funds under paragraph (2). At the 16 request of a unit of local government, the State may 17 use an amount of the funds allocated to the unit of 18 local government under this paragraph to facilitate 19 training in alternatives to use of force, de-escalation 20 tactics, or techniques and strategies for responding 21 to a behavioral health crisis to law enforcement offi- 22 cers employed by the unit of local government. 23 ‘‘(d) REPORTING.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4064.IS S4064 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4064 IS ‘‘(1) UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—Any 1 unit of local government that receives funds from a 2 State under subsection (c)(3) shall submit to the 3 State a report indicating— 4 ‘‘(A) the number of law enforcement offi- 5 cers that have completed training described in 6 this section; 7 ‘‘(B) the total number of law enforcement 8 officers employed by the unit of local govern- 9 ment; and 10 ‘‘(C) any barriers to providing the training. 11 ‘‘(2) STATES.—Any State that receives funds 12 under subsection (c)(2) shall, after receiving the re- 13 ports described in paragraph (1), submit to the At- 14 torney General— 15 ‘‘(A) such reports; and 16 ‘‘(B) a report by the State indicating— 17 ‘‘(i) the number of law enforcement 18 officers employed by the State that have 19 completed training described in this sec- 20 tion; 21 ‘‘(ii) the total number of law enforce- 22 ment officers employed by the State; and 23 ‘‘(iii) any barriers to providing the 24 training. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4064.IS S4064 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4064 IS ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 2 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.’’. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:01 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4064.IS S4064 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS