Badge Transparency Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7711 To require the display of certain identification for certain law enforcement officers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 21, 2020 Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. HUFFMAN, and Ms. OMAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require the display of certain identification for certain law enforcement officers, 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 ‘‘Badge Transparency 4 Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. REQUIRING FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFI- 6 CERS TO DISPLAY CERTAIN IDENTIFICATION. 7 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF FEDERAL LAW ENFORCE- 8 MENT OFFICERS.— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:09 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7711.IH H7711 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7711 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 1 the date of the enactment of this section the head 2 of each Federal law enforcement agency shall imple- 3 ment a policy requiring that a Federal law enforce- 4 ment officer (in uniform or plain clothes), employed 5 by a Federal law enforcement agency, make visible 6 the following identification while on-duty or serving 7 the public as a Federal law enforcement officer: 8 (A) The first and last name of such Fed- 9 eral law enforcement officer. 10 (B) The name of the Federal law enforce- 11 ment agency the Federal law enforcement offi- 12 cer is employed. 13 (C) A badge number or other identification 14 number from the Federal law enforcement 15 agency employing such Federal law enforcement 16 officer pursuant to subparagraph (B). 17 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—Not later than 90 days 18 after the date of the enactment of this section the 19 head of each Federal law enforcement agency shall 20 implement a policy with respect to the enforcement 21 of the policy under subsection (a). 22 (3) DATA COLLECTION ON COMPLIANCE.—Be- 23 ginning not later than 90 days after the date of the 24 enactment of this section, the head of each Federal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:09 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7711.IH H7711 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7711 IH law enforcement agency shall collect and submit to 1 the Attorney General, on an annual basis, a report 2 on the— 3 (A) number of instances in which a Fed- 4 eral law enforcement officer did not comply 5 with the requirement under subsection (a); and 6 (B) Federal law enforcement agency that 7 has employed such officer. 8 (b) POLICY REQUIREMENT FOR STATE AND LOCAL 9 LAW ENFORCEMENT.—Beginning in the first fiscal year 10 that begins after the date of the enactment of this section, 11 to be eligible to receive funds under subpart 1 of part E 12 of title 1 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 13 Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) and part Q of title 14 I of such Act (34 U.S.C. 10381 et seq.), a State or unit 15 of local government shall have in place a law or policy sub- 16 stantially similar to the policy under subsection (a) and 17 shall be in substantial compliance with such law or policy. 18 (c) INSPECTOR GENERAL OVERSIGHT.—The Inspec- 19 tor General of the Department of Justice shall conduct 20 audits to ensure compliance with the policy and data col- 21 lection requirements pursuant to subsection (a), and shall, 22 on an annual basis, report the findings of such audits to 23 the Committees on the Judiciary of the House of Rep- 24 resentatives and of the Senate. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:09 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7711.IH H7711 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7711 IH SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 1 (a) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The 2 term ‘‘Federal law enforcement officer’’— 3 (1) means a Federal employee— 4 (A) who has statutory authority to make 5 arrests or apprehensions; 6 (B) who is authorized by the Federal law 7 enforcement agency of the employee to carry 8 firearms; and 9 (C) whose duties are primarily— 10 (i) engagement in or supervision of 11 the prevention, detection, investigation, or 12 prosecution of, or the incarceration of any 13 person for, any violation of law; or 14 (ii) the protection of Federal, State, 15 local, or foreign government officials 16 against threats to personal safety; and 17 (2) includes a law enforcement officer employed 18 by the Amtrak Police Department or Federal Re- 19 serve. 20 (b) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The 21 term ‘‘Federal law enforcement agency’’ means any agen- 22 cy of the United States authorized to engage in or super- 23 vise the prevention, detection, investigation, or prosecution 24 of any violation of Federal criminal law. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:09 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7711.IH H7711 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7711 IH (c) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning 1 given such term in section 901 of the Omnibus Crime Con- 2 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251). 3 (d) UNIT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘unit 4 of local government’’ has the meaning given such term in 5 section 901 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 6 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251). 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:09 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7711.IH H7711 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS