Safer Communities Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7384 To reform policing, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 26, 2020 Mr. CHABOT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To reform 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 ‘‘Safer Communities 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. LAW ENFORCEMENT RECORDS RETENTION. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part E of title I of the Omnibus 7 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 8 10151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 9 lowing: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7384.IH H7384 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7384 IH ‘‘Subpart 4—Law Enforcement Records Retention 1 ‘‘SEC. 531. LAW ENFORCEMENT RECORDS RETENTION. 2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 3 ‘‘(1) the term ‘applicable covered system’, with 4 respect to a law enforcement agency, means the cov- 5 ered system of the covered government of which the 6 law enforcement agency is part; 7 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered government’ means a 8 State or unit of local government; 9 ‘‘(3) the term ‘covered system’ means a system 10 maintained by a covered government under sub- 11 section (b); and 12 ‘‘(4) the term ‘disciplinary record’— 13 ‘‘(A) means any written document regard- 14 ing an allegation of misconduct by a law en- 15 forcement officer that— 16 ‘‘(i) is substantiated and is adju- 17 dicated by a government agency or court; 18 and 19 ‘‘(ii) results in— 20 ‘‘(I) adverse action by the em- 21 ploying law enforcement agency; or 22 ‘‘(II) criminal charges; and 23 ‘‘(B) does not include a written document 24 regarding an allegation described in subpara- 25 graph (A) if the adjudication described in 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7384.IH H7384 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7384 IH clause (i) of that subparagraph has been over- 1 turned on appeal. 2 ‘‘(b) RECORDS RETENTION REQUIREMENTS.— 3 ‘‘(1) RECORDS RETENTION SYSTEM.—A covered 4 government that receives funds under this part shall 5 maintain a system for sharing disciplinary records of 6 law enforcement officers that meets the require- 7 ments under paragraph (2). 8 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In administering a cov- 9 ered system, a covered government shall— 10 ‘‘(A) retain each disciplinary record or in- 11 ternal investigation record regarding a law en- 12 forcement officer that is prepared by a law en- 13 forcement agency of the covered government; 14 ‘‘(B) retain a record of each award or com- 15 mendation regarding a law enforcement officer 16 that is prepared by a law enforcement agency 17 of the covered government; 18 ‘‘(C) establish a policy that ensures that 19 each record included in the covered system is 20 retained and accessible for not less than 30 21 years; 22 ‘‘(D) allow a law enforcement officer, coun- 23 sel for a law enforcement officer, or the rep- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7384.IH H7384 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7384 IH resentative organization of a law enforcement 1 officer to— 2 ‘‘(i) submit information to the covered 3 system relating to a disciplinary record or 4 internal investigation record regarding the 5 law enforcement officer that is retained 6 under subparagraph (A); or 7 ‘‘(ii) obtain access to the covered sys- 8 tem in order to review a disciplinary record 9 or internal investigation record described 10 in clause (i); 11 ‘‘(E) allow any Federal, State, or local law 12 enforcement agency to access any record in- 13 cluded in the covered system for the purpose of 14 making a decision to hire a law enforcement of- 15 ficer; 16 ‘‘(F) require that, before hiring a law en- 17 forcement officer, a representative of a law en- 18 forcement agency of the covered government 19 with hiring authority— 20 ‘‘(i) search the applicable covered sys- 21 tem of each law enforcement agency that 22 has employed the applicant as a law en- 23 forcement officer in order to determine 24 whether the applicant has a disciplinary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7384.IH H7384 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7384 IH record, internal investigation record, or 1 record of an award or commendation on 2 file; and 3 ‘‘(ii) if a record described in clause (i) 4 exists, review the record in full before hir- 5 ing the law enforcement officer; and 6 ‘‘(G) prohibit access to the covered system 7 by any individual other than an individual who 8 is authorized to access the covered system for 9 purposes of— 10 ‘‘(i) submitting records or other infor- 11 mation to the covered system as described 12 in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (D); or 13 ‘‘(ii) reviewing records or other infor- 14 mation in the covered system as described 15 in subparagraphs (E) and (F). 16 ‘‘(c) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered government may 18 not receive funds under section 505, 506, 515, or 19 516 unless the covered government is in compliance 20 with subsection (b) of this section. 21 ‘‘(2) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated 22 under a section referred to in paragraph (1) to a 23 covered government for failure to comply with sub- 24 section (b) shall be reallocated under that section to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7384.IH H7384 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7384 IH covered governments that have complied with sub- 1 section (b). 2 ‘‘(d) ONE-TIME GRANT.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 4 award a grant to each State, using an apportion- 5 ment formula that reflects the differences between 6 each State, to be used by the State and units of 7 local government within the State to establish cov- 8 ered systems. 9 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant award- 10 ed to a State under paragraph (1) shall be not less 11 than $1,000,000. 12 ‘‘(3) DIRECT APPROPRIATIONS.—For the pur- 13 pose of making grants under this subsection, there 14 is authorized to be appropriated, and there is appro- 15 priated, out of any money in the Treasury not other- 16 wise appropriated, $100,000,000, to remain avail- 17 able until expended. 18 ‘‘(e) INDEMNIFICATION.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The United States shall in- 20 demnify and hold harmless a covered government, 21 and any law enforcement agency thereof, against 22 any claim (including reasonable expenses of litiga- 23 tion or settlement) by any person or entity related 24 to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7384.IH H7384 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7384 IH ‘‘(A) the retention of records in a covered 1 system as required under subsection (b); or 2 ‘‘(B) the review of records included in a 3 covered system as required under subsection 4 (b). 5 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 6 apply to the release of a record— 7 ‘‘(A) to a non-law enforcement entity or in- 8 dividual; or 9 ‘‘(B) for a purpose other than making a 10 decision to hire a law enforcement officer.’’. 11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 531(c) of title I of 12 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Acts of 13 1968, as added by subsection (a), shall take effect on Oc- 14 tober 1 of the first fiscal year beginning after the date 15 of enactment of this Act. 16 SEC. 3. DAVID DORN FORMER PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS’ 17 BENEFITS. 18 Section 1205 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 19 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10285) is amend- 20 ed by adding at the end the following new subsection: 21 ‘‘(o)(1) For the purposes of a benefit under sub- 22 section (a), an eligible retired public safety officer is 23 deemed to be a public safety officer who has died as the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7384.IH H7384 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7384 IH direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained 1 in the line of duty. 2 ‘‘(2) In this section— 3 ‘‘(A) the term ‘eligible retired public safety offi- 4 cer’ is an individual who— 5 ‘‘(i) has separated from law enforcement 6 service with a public agency in good standing 7 and without record of any complaint resulting 8 in disciplinary action; 9 ‘‘(ii) was engaged in a public or private se- 10 curity employment obligation at the time such 11 individual was killed; and 12 ‘‘(iii) whose death was not caused by an 13 immediate relative of such individual; and 14 ‘‘(B) the term ‘immediate relative’ means a 15 spouse, father, mother, guardian, brother, sister, 16 son, daughter, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother- 17 in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, or 18 any other individual who could make a claim under 19 this section.’’. 20 SEC. 4. GAO STUDY ON SETTLEMENT OR COLLABORATIVE 21 AGREEMENTS. 22 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 23 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 24 shall conduct a study and submit a report to Committees 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7384.IH H7384 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7384 IH on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and of 1 the Senate, the Committee on Oversight and Reform of 2 the House of Representatives, and the Committee on 3 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen- 4 ate, on settlement or collaborative agreements entered into 5 pursuant to litigation arising out of allegations of police 6 misconduct, including the Cincinnati Collaborative Agree- 7 ment, which— 8 (1) assesses the effectiveness of such agree- 9 ments on improving community-police relations; 10 (2) assesses the impact of such agreements on 11 crime and disorder; 12 (3) determines whether similar agreements 13 could improve community-police relations in other 14 major metropolitan cities in the United States; and 15 (4) offers recommendations for further improve- 16 ments to such agreements. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7384.IH H7384 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS