Supporting Innovation in Public Safety Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4466 To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to improve public safety, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 6, 2020 Ms. SMITH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to improve public safety, 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 ‘‘Supporting Innovation 4 in Public Safety Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. INNOVATION IN SAFETY DEMONSTRATION PROJ- 6 ECTS. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 9 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4466.IS S4466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4466 IS mittees’’ means the Committee on the Judiciary of 1 the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of 2 the House of Representatives. 3 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 4 ty’’ means a State government, a local government, 5 or a Tribal government. 6 (3) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 7 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means any government 8 agency that has the principal functions of— 9 (A) the prevention, detection, and inves- 10 tigation of crime; and 11 (B) the apprehension of alleged criminal 12 offenders. 13 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 14 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 15 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United 16 States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the 17 Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 18 and any possession of the United States. 19 (5) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘Tribal 20 government’’ means the government of an Indian 21 tribe (as defined in section 4 of the Indian Self-De- 22 termination and Education Assistance Act (25 23 U.S.C. 5304)). 24 (b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Aug 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4466.IS S4466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4466 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 1 award grants, on a competitive basis, to not less 2 than 100 eligible entities to perform a demonstration 3 project described in paragraph (2). 4 (2) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—An eligible 5 entity receiving a grant under paragraph (1) shall 6 perform a demonstration project that supports the 7 development and implementation of programs and 8 policies that improve public safety with innovative 9 strategies, including— 10 (A) improving mental health crisis re- 11 sponse; 12 (B) reassigning some functions of law en- 13 forcement officers to unarmed public employees; 14 (C) creating programs designed to reduce 15 the incidence of violence, harassment, and civil 16 rights violations by law enforcement officers; 17 (D) reducing the financial and operational 18 reliance of law enforcement agencies on the col- 19 lection of fines, fees, and other charges; and 20 (E) identifying, and making publicly avail- 21 able a report relating to, potential— 22 (i) reforms to State criminal statutes 23 in order to— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4466.IS S4466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4466 IS (I) eliminate unnecessary fines, 1 fees, and other charges; and 2 (II) eliminate or reduce manda- 3 tory minimum sentences; and 4 (ii) reforms to State criminal statutes 5 and local ordinances that— 6 (I) contribute to the criminaliza- 7 tion of poverty; or 8 (II) are enforced in a racially dis- 9 parate manner. 10 (3) DURATION.—A demonstration project per- 11 formed under paragraph (2) shall be performed for 12 a period of not less than 5 years. 13 (4) LIMITATION ON RECEIPT AND USE OF 14 FUNDS.—A law enforcement agency may not receive 15 or use any funds from a grant awarded under this 16 subsection. 17 (c) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT ALLOCATIONS.—In award- 18 ing grants under subsection (b), the Attorney General 19 shall allocate to eligible entities that are Tribal govern- 20 ments not less than 10 percent of the funds that are made 21 available to carry out that subsection. 22 (d) DATA COLLECTION.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 24 collect the following data for the jurisdiction of an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4466.IS S4466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4466 IS eligible entity performing a demonstration project 1 with a grant under subsection (b) for each year dur- 2 ing which the eligible entity performs the demonstra- 3 tion project: 4 (A) Population characteristics, including 5 statistics on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, 6 average and median income levels, and poverty. 7 (B) Average educational attainment. 8 (C) Employment rates. 9 (D) Housing market characteristics. 10 (E) Demographic characteristics of individ- 11 uals who are arrested, charged, and convicted of 12 crimes during the period of performance of the 13 demonstration project by the eligible entity. 14 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 15 date of enactment of this Act, and annually there- 16 after until the date on which each demonstration 17 project performed under subsection (b) is complete, 18 the Attorney General shall submit to the appropriate 19 congressional committees a report that includes— 20 (A) the total number of eligible entities 21 performing demonstration projects with a grant 22 under subsection (b); 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4466.IS S4466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4466 IS (B) a description and status assessment of 1 each demonstration project described in sub- 2 paragraph (A); and 3 (C) the data collected under paragraph (1). 4 (e) EVALUATION.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 6 the date on which the Secretary awards the first 7 grant under subsection (b)(1), and annually there- 8 after until the date on which each demonstration 9 project performed under subsection (b) is complete, 10 the Attorney General, in consultation with the heads 11 of other appropriate agencies, shall submit to the 12 appropriate congressional committees an evaluation 13 relating to the demonstration project performed by 14 each eligible entity receiving a grant under sub- 15 section (b). 16 (2) CONTENTS.—The evaluation required under 17 paragraph (1) shall include, for each eligible entity 18 performing a demonstration project with a grant 19 under subsection (b)— 20 (A) whether the demonstration project— 21 (i) has saved costs for the eligible en- 22 tity; 23 (ii) has contributed to a reduced inci- 24 dence of use of force by law enforcement 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4466.IS S4466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4466 IS officers in the jurisdiction of the eligible 1 entity; and 2 (iii) has contributed to improved rela- 3 tions between community members and law 4 enforcement agencies and officers in the 5 jurisdiction of the eligible entity; and 6 (B) other appropriate analysis of the out- 7 come of the demonstration project. 8 (3) USE OF DATA.—In preparing the evaluation 9 required under paragraph (1), the Attorney General 10 shall use the data collected under subsection (d). 11 (4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The evaluation re- 12 quired under paragraph (1) shall be publicly avail- 13 able. 14 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 15 are authorized to be appropriated— 16 (1) to carry out subsection (b) $500,000,000; 17 and 18 (2) to carry out subsections (d) and (e) 19 $100,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 20 2025. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:18 Aug 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4466.IS S4466 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS