VA Police Improvement and Accountability Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7784 To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the staffing, transparency, and accountability of the law enforcement operations of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 24, 2020 Miss RICE of New York (for herself and Mr. PAPPAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the staffing, transparency, and accountability of the law en- forcement operations of the Department of Veterans Af- fairs, 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 ‘‘VA Police Improve- 4 ment and Accountability Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7784.IH H7784 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7784 IH SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO TRANSPARENCY OF LAW EN- 1 FORCEMENT OPERATIONS OF DEPARTMENT 2 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 3 (a) CONTACT AND INFORMATION.—Section 902 of 4 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 5 end the following new subsection: 6 ‘‘(e)(1) The Secretary shall ensure that each police 7 force of a facility of the Department designates an em- 8 ployee of the Department to serve as a point of contact 9 for other employees and for the public with respect to, at 10 a minimum— 11 ‘‘(A) statistical information regarding— 12 ‘‘(i) arrests made by and tickets issued by 13 Department police officers at such facility; 14 ‘‘(ii) prosecutions, ticketing, and other ac- 15 tions relating to such arrests; and 16 ‘‘(iii) the use of force and weapons dis- 17 charge; 18 ‘‘(B) complaints and investigations regarding 19 Department police officers at such facility; and 20 ‘‘(C) providing information to an individual (or 21 the representative, attorney, or authorized agent of 22 the individual) regarding the arrest, ticketing, de- 23 tainment, use of force, or other police matters per- 24 taining to that individual, including any relevant 25 court proceedings or other legal actions. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7784.IH H7784 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7784 IH ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall make available on the public 1 internet website of each facility covered by paragraph (1) 2 the following information: 3 ‘‘(A) The statistical information under subpara- 4 graph (A) of such paragraph. 5 ‘‘(B) How to contact the point of contact. 6 ‘‘(C) General information regarding how an in- 7 dividual (or the representative, attorney, or author- 8 ized agent of the individual) may receive information 9 regarding the arrest, ticketing, detainment, use of 10 force, or other police matters pertaining to that indi- 11 vidual by Department police officers at such facility 12 (or by other Federal, State, or local law enforcement 13 officers at the request of Department police offi- 14 cers), including with respect to any subsequent court 15 proceedings.’’. 16 (b) IMPROVED TRAINING.— 17 (1) TRAINING.—The Secretary of Veterans Af- 18 fairs shall provide to Department police officers an- 19 nual training on— 20 (A) recognizing, defining, understanding, 21 and avoiding racial profiling and implicit bias 22 and best practices regarding the duty to inter- 23 vene; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7784.IH H7784 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7784 IH (B) preventing suicide among the popu- 1 lation served by the police officers. 2 (2) CURRICULUM.—In carrying out paragraph 3 (1), the Secretary shall improve any similar training 4 provided before the date of the enactment of this 5 Act, including by ensuring that the curriculum for 6 the training addresses, at a minimum, the following: 7 (A) Effective behavioral science procedures 8 for suicide prevention and risk mitigation. 9 (B) Crisis intervention and de-escalation 10 skills, including through the use of interactive 11 training. 12 (C) Information about mental health and 13 substance abuse disorders. 14 (D) Information about local law enforce- 15 ment crisis intervention teams and other re- 16 sources for veterans experiencing mental health 17 crises available by the Department of Veterans 18 Affairs, other elements of the Federal Govern- 19 ment, and the community in which the police 20 officers serve. 21 (3) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall en- 22 sure that the annual training provided under para- 23 graph (1) to Department police officers at a medical 24 facility of the Department is provided in consulta- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7784.IH H7784 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7784 IH tion with law enforcement accreditation organiza- 1 tions and the mental health experts at such facility. 2 (4) PLAN ON COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS.— 3 The Secretary shall ensure that each police force of 4 a facility of the Department develops a plan to enter 5 into partnerships with— 6 (A) local community mental health organi- 7 zations and experts, local community veterans 8 organizations, and local community criminal 9 justice organizations and experts; and 10 (B) local police departments, including by 11 facilitating the sharing of training resources 12 with crisis intervention teams of the local police 13 departments. 14 (5) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 16 shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 17 of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 18 report on the improved training under paragraph 19 (1), including— 20 (A) a description of the curriculum of such 21 training; 22 (B) with respect to the year preceding the 23 date of the report— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7784.IH H7784 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7784 IH (i) the number of facilities of the De- 1 partment that conducted such training; 2 (ii) the number of Department police 3 officers who received such training; and 4 (iii) any barriers to ensuring that 5 each Department police officer receives 6 such training; 7 (C) any recommendations to address the 8 barriers identified under subparagraph (B)(iii); 9 and 10 (D) the number of facilities of the Depart- 11 ment that have established partnerships under 12 paragraph (3). 13 (c) USE OF BODY CAMERAS BY DEPARTMENT PO- 14 LICE OFFICERS.— 15 (1) REQUIREMENT.— 16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Department police offi- 17 cers shall wear a body camera that— 18 (i) has a field of view at least as 19 broad as the officer’s vision; and 20 (ii) is worn in a manner that maxi- 21 mizes the camera’s ability to capture video 22 footage of the officer’s activities. 23 (B) ACTIVATION.—Both the video and 24 audio recording functions of the body camera 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7784.IH H7784 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7784 IH shall be activated whenever a Department police 1 officer is responding to a call for service or at 2 the initiation of any other law enforcement or 3 investigative stop between a Department police 4 officer and a member of the public, except that 5 when an immediate threat to the officer’s life or 6 safety makes activating the camera impossible 7 or dangerous, or in instances relating to health 8 care privacy pursuant to paragraph (2)(C)(iv), 9 the officer shall activate the camera at the first 10 reasonable opportunity to do so. 11 (C) EXCEPTION.—The body camera shall 12 not be deactivated until the stop has fully con- 13 cluded and the Department police officer leaves 14 the scene. 15 (D) LAW ENFORCEMENT OR INVESTIGA- 16 TIVE STOP DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the 17 term ‘‘law enforcement or investigative stop’’ 18 means an action by a Department police officer 19 in relation to enforcement and investigation du- 20 ties, including traffic stops, pedestrian stops, 21 abandoned vehicle contacts, requests for identi- 22 fication, or responses to requests for emergency 23 assistance. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7784.IH H7784 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7784 IH (2) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall issue, and 1 make publicly available, guidance on the use of body 2 cameras by Department police officers. The Sec- 3 retary shall ensure that such guidance— 4 (A) requires that Department police offi- 5 cers wear and use body cameras pursuant to 6 paragraph (1); 7 (B) is consistent with upholding the civil 8 rights and the privacy of patients of medical fa- 9 cilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 10 the public, and employees of the Department; 11 and 12 (C) describes the policies and procedures of 13 the Department with respect to such use of 14 body cameras, including with respect to— 15 (i) the safe and effective use of body 16 cameras and the resulting imagery, includ- 17 ing operational issues such as when a body 18 camera is activated and deactivated; 19 (ii) the secure storage, handling, and 20 destruction of recorded data collected by a 21 body camera; 22 (iii) the retention of recorded data col- 23 lected by a body camera; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7784.IH H7784 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7784 IH (iv) protecting the privacy rights of an 1 individual who may be recorded by a body 2 camera, including with respect to instances 3 of an individual being treated in a medical 4 facility of the Department or in other in- 5 stances requiring health care privacy; 6 (v) release of, and access to, any re- 7 corded data collected by a body camera, in 8 accordance with relevant open-records laws 9 of the State in which the body camera is 10 used; and 11 (vi) making recorded data collected by 12 a body camera available to prosecutors, de- 13 fense attorneys, and other officers of a 14 court. 15 (3) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall issue 16 the guidance under paragraph (2) in consultation 17 with veterans service organizations, civil rights orga- 18 nizations, law enforcement organizations, law en- 19 forcement accreditation organizations, privacy rights 20 organizations, and other relevant organizations or 21 experts. 22 (4) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 23 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 24 shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7784.IH H7784 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7784 IH of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 1 report containing the following: 2 (A) A review of past and current use of 3 body cameras by Department police officers. 4 (B) A description of the implementation of 5 this subsection. 6 (C) The guidance issued under paragraph 7 (2). 8 (D) A review of the use of security cam- 9 eras at facilities of the Department, including 10 an analysis of— 11 (i) the number of such cameras that 12 are operational and the number that are 13 not operational; 14 (ii) the number of employees and con- 15 tractors of the Department who operate 16 and maintain the security of such cameras; 17 and 18 (iii) the number of such employees 19 and contractors that is necessary to ensure 20 that such cameras are properly operated 21 and maintained to ensure that such facili- 22 ties are observed. 23 (d) REPORT ON STAFFING, TRAINING, AND DATA 24 SYSTEMS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7784.IH H7784 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7784 IH enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 1 shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of 2 the House of Representatives and the Senate a report that 3 includes the following: 4 (1) An assessment of the hiring needs of the 5 police force of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 6 including— 7 (A) identification of— 8 (i) the number of Department police 9 officers as of the date of the report; 10 (ii) the number of Department police 11 officers that the Secretary determines nec- 12 essary to meet the needs of the Depart- 13 ment; and 14 (iii) the amount of turnover among 15 Department police officers; 16 (B) an analysis of the staffing require- 17 ments to appropriately provide the improved 18 training under subsection (b); 19 (C) a discussion of how the compensation 20 for Department police officers affects such 21 needs and turnover; and 22 (D) a comparison of such compensation 23 with the compensation provided to specialty po- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7784.IH H7784 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 7784 IH lice units, such as police units at medical facili- 1 ties and other police units in the region. 2 (2) A discussion with respect to developing a 3 plan for improving police data systems and Depart- 4 ment-wide systems for tracking and analyzing inci- 5 dents, arrests, ticketing, prosecutions, and occur- 6 rences of the use of force. 7 (e) DEPARTMENT POLICE OFFICER DEFINED.—In 8 this section, the term ‘‘Department police officer’’ means 9 an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs de- 10 scribed in section 902(a) of title 38, United States Code. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:53 Aug 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7784.IH H7784 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS