Prevent Federal Law Enforcement Abuse in the Protection of Federal Property Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7906 To amend title 40, United States Code, to include certain requirements for officers protecting Federal property, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 31, 2020 Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend title 40, United States Code, to include certain requirements for officers protecting Federal property, 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 ‘‘Prevent Federal Law 4 Enforcement Abuse in the Protection of Federal Property 5 Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7906.IH H7906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7906 IH SEC. 2. LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY OF 1 HOMELAND SECURITY FOR PROTECTION OF 2 PUBLIC PROPERTY. 3 Section 1315 of title 40, United States Code, is 4 amended— 5 (1) in subsection (b)(1)— 6 (A) by striking ‘‘of the Department of 7 Homeland Security, including employees trans- 8 ferred to the Department’’ and insert ‘‘trans- 9 ferred to the Department of Homeland Secu- 10 rity’’; and 11 (B) by striking ‘‘2002,’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘2002’’; 13 (2) in subsection (b)(2)— 14 (A) by striking ‘‘While engaged in the per- 15 formance of official duties,’’ and inserting ‘‘To 16 the extent necessary to protect the property de- 17 scribed in subsection (a) and persons on such 18 property,’’; 19 (B) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘fire- 20 arms’’ and inserting ‘‘a firearm’’; 21 (C) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘if the 22 officer or agent has reasonable grounds to be- 23 lieve that the person to be arrested has com- 24 mitted or is committing a felony;’’ and inserting 25 the following: ‘‘if— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7906.IH H7906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7906 IH ‘‘(i) the officer or agent has probable 1 cause to believe that the person to be ar- 2 rested has committed, is committing, or is 3 about to commit a felony on or related to 4 property owned or occupied by the Federal 5 Government; 6 ‘‘(ii) the arrest— 7 ‘‘(I) occurs on the Federal prop- 8 erty or an area in the immediate vi- 9 cinity of the property and does not ex- 10 tend beyond any adjacent sidewalk, 11 public street, or other adjacent areas; 12 ‘‘(II) in the case of an agreement 13 under subsection (e), occurs in an 14 area in which arrests are permitted 15 under the parameters established in 16 such agreement; or 17 ‘‘(III) is carried out in an area 18 not covered under subclause (I) or 19 (II) only if— 20 ‘‘(aa) the officer or agent is 21 in active pursuit of a person who 22 is otherwise subject to arrest 23 under this subparagraph; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7906.IH H7906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7906 IH ‘‘(bb) such person exits the 1 area covered by subclause (I) or 2 (II), as applicable, during such 3 pursuit; and 4 ‘‘(iii) there are specific and articulable 5 facts to support a reasonable belief that 6 the person may— 7 ‘‘(I) escape before a warrant can 8 be obtained for his or her arrest; 9 ‘‘(II) destroy evidence; or 10 ‘‘(III) continue the commission of 11 a felony on or related to property 12 owned or occupied by the Federal 13 Government;’’; 14 (D) in subparagraph (E) by striking ‘‘; 15 and’’ and inserting ‘‘, except that such inves- 16 tigations and any associated surveillance are re- 17 stricted solely to offenses that may have been 18 committed against property owned or occupied 19 by the Federal Government; and’’; and 20 (E) by striking subparagraph (F) and in- 21 serting the following: 22 ‘‘(F) carry out such other activities nec- 23 essary to protect the property described in sub- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7906.IH H7906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7906 IH section (a) and persons on such property as the 1 Secretary may prescribe.’’; 2 (3) in subsection (e)— 3 (A) by striking ‘‘the Secretary may enter 4 into agreements’’ and inserting ‘‘the Secretary 5 shall enter into agreements, including memo- 6 randa of understanding,’’; and 7 (B) by adding at the end the following: 8 ‘‘Any agreement, including memoranda of un- 9 derstanding, entered into under this subsection 10 shall include a requirement that all officers and 11 agents designated under this subsection and 12 subject to such agreement wear body cameras 13 while on duty.’’; 14 (4) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as 15 subsections (h) and (i), respectively; and 16 (5) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol- 17 lowing: 18 ‘‘(f) IDENTIFICATION AS FEDERAL OFFICER.—An of- 19 ficer or agent designated under this subsection shall, while 20 engaged in the performance of official duties, display— 21 ‘‘(1) appropriate insignia identifying the depart- 22 ment or agency of the Department of Homeland Se- 23 curity from which such officer or agent has been 24 designated; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7906.IH H7906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7906 IH ‘‘(2) the full name of the officer or agent. 1 ‘‘(g) LIMITATION ON ARRESTS.—With respect to any 2 arrest carried out under subsection (b)(2)(C), the officer 3 or agent shall— 4 ‘‘(1) identify himself or herself and the depart- 5 ment or agency in which such officer or agent is em- 6 ployed; 7 ‘‘(2) inform the individual being arrested of the 8 cause for such arrest; 9 ‘‘(3) in the case of an arrest carried out pursu- 10 ant to an agreement under subsection (e), notify any 11 State or local government that is party to such 12 agreement of the arrest; and 13 ‘‘(4) document the details of the arrest and the 14 cause for such arrest.’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:16 Aug 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7906.IH H7906 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS