Preventing Authoritarian Policing Tactics on America’s Streets Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4220 To limit the use of Federal law enforcement officers for crowd control, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 20, 2020 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOK- ER, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BROWN, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. KING, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. WARREN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, and Mr. BENNET) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To limit the use of Federal law enforcement officers for crowd control, 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 ‘‘Preventing Authori- 4 tarian Policing Tactics on America’s Streets Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON USE OF FEDERAL LAW ENFORCE- 6 MENT OFFICERS FOR CROWD CONTROL. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4220.IS S4220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4220 IS (1) the term ‘‘Federal law enforcement officer’’ 1 means— 2 (A) an employee or officer in a position in 3 the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of 4 the Federal Government who is authorized by 5 law to engage in or supervise a law enforcement 6 function; or 7 (B) an employee or officer of a contractor 8 or subcontractor (at any tier) of an agency in 9 the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of 10 the Federal Government who is authorized by 11 law or under the contract with the agency to 12 engage in or supervise a law enforcement func- 13 tion; 14 (2) the term ‘‘law enforcement function’’ means 15 the prevention, detection, or investigation of, or the 16 prosecution or incarceration of any person for, any 17 violation of law; and 18 (3) the term ‘‘member of an armed force’’ 19 means a member of any of the armed forces, as de- 20 fined in section 101(a)(4) of title 10, United States 21 Code, or a member of the National Guard, as de- 22 fined in section 101(3) of title 32, United States 23 Code. 24 (b) REQUIRED IDENTIFICATION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4220.IS S4220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4220 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal law enforce- 1 ment officer or member of an armed force who is en- 2 gaged in any form of crowd control, riot control, or 3 arrest or detainment of individuals engaged in an 4 act of civil disobedience, demonstration, protest, or 5 riot in the United States shall at all times display 6 identifying information in a clearly visible fashion, 7 which shall include the Federal agency and the last 8 name or unique identifier of the Federal law enforce- 9 ment officer or for a member of an armed force, the 10 last name or unique identifier and rank of the mem- 11 ber. 12 (2) SPECIFIC PROHIBITIONS.— 13 (A) COVERING OF IDENTIFYING INFORMA- 14 TION.—A Federal law enforcement officer or 15 member of an armed force may not tape over 16 or otherwise obscure or conceal the identifying 17 information required under paragraph (1) while 18 the officer or member is engaged in any form 19 of law enforcement activity described in para- 20 graph (1). 21 (B) USE OF UNMARKED VEHICLES.—A 22 Federal law enforcement officer or member of 23 an armed force may not use an unmarked vehi- 24 cle for the apprehension, detention, or arrest of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4220.IS S4220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4220 IS civilians while the officer or member is engaged 1 in any form of law enforcement activity de- 2 scribed in paragraph (1). 3 (c) LIMITATION ON CROWD CONTROL AUTHORITY.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 5 graph (2), a Federal law enforcement officer or 6 member of an armed force may only be authorized 7 to perform any form of crowd control, riot control, 8 or arrest or detainment of individuals engaged in an 9 act of civil disobedience, demonstration, protest, or 10 riot on Federal property or in the immediate vicinity 11 thereof, which shall include the sidewalk and the 12 public street immediately adjacent to any Federal 13 building or property. 14 (2) EXCEPTIONS.— 15 (A) STATE AND LOCAL REQUEST FOR AS- 16 SISTANCE.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a 17 Federal law enforcement officer or member of 18 an armed force if the Governor of a State and 19 the head of a unit of local government jointly 20 request, in writing, Federal law enforcement 21 support. 22 (B) INSURRECTION ACT.—If chapter 13 of 23 title 10, United States Code (commonly known 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4220.IS S4220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4220 IS as the ‘‘Insurrection Act of 1807’’) is invoked, 1 paragraph (1) shall not apply. 2 (d) LIMITATION ON ARREST AUTHORITY.—It shall be 3 unlawful for a Federal law enforcement officer or member 4 of an armed force to arrest an individual in the United 5 States if the Federal law enforcement officer or member 6 of an armed force is conducting a law enforcement func- 7 tion in violation of subsection (b) or (c). 8 (e) NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC.—Not later than 24 9 hours after deployment of a Federal law enforcement offi- 10 cer or member of an armed force in response to any crowd 11 control incident, riot, or public disturbance, the Federal 12 agency or armed force responsible for such deployment 13 shall publish prominent public notice on that public facing 14 website of the agency or armed force that includes the fol- 15 lowing information: 16 (1) The date of deployment of personnel for 17 crowd control purposes. 18 (2) The number of Federal law enforcement of- 19 ficers of the agency or members of the armed force 20 in each city, town, or locality functioning in a law 21 enforcement capacity. 22 (3) A description of the specific nature of the 23 mission. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4220.IS S4220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4220 IS (4) The location of any civilians being detained 1 by the Federal law enforcement officers or members 2 of the armed force deployed, and under whose cus- 3 tody the civilians are being held. 4 (5) A copy of a written request for assistance 5 described in subsection (c)(2)(A), if such request 6 was made. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:06 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4220.IS S4220 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS