To provide funding to law enforcement agencies, and for other purposes.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8088 To provide funding to law enforcement agencies, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 22, 2020 Mr. STAUBER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To provide funding to law enforcement agencies, 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. BODY-WORN CAMERA PARTNERSHIP GRANT 3 PROGRAM. 4 Subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime 5 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 6 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8088.IH H8088 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8088 IH ‘‘SEC. 509. BODY-WORN CAMERA PARTNERSHIP GRANT 1 PROGRAM. 2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 3 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered government’ means a 4 State, unit of local government, or Indian Tribe; 5 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Director’ means the Director of 6 the Bureau of Justice Assistance; and 7 ‘‘(3) the term ‘unit of local government’, not- 8 withstanding section 901, does not include an Indian 9 Tribe. 10 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS.—The Director 11 may make grants to eligible covered governments for use 12 by the covered government for— 13 ‘‘(1) the purchase of body-worn cameras; 14 ‘‘(2) necessary initial supportive technological 15 infrastructure for body-worn cameras for law en- 16 forcement officers in the jurisdiction of the grantee; 17 ‘‘(3) the development of policies and procedures 18 relating to the use of body-worn cameras; 19 ‘‘(4) training on the use of body-worn cameras; 20 ‘‘(5) the storage, retention, viewing, auditing, 21 and release of footage from body-worn cameras; and 22 ‘‘(6) personnel, including law enforcement, 23 prosecution, and criminal defense personnel, to sup- 24 port the administration of the body-worn camera 25 program of the covered government. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8088.IH H8088 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8088 IH ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.— 1 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—For a covered government 2 to be eligible to receive a grant under this section, 3 the chief executive officer of the covered government 4 shall submit to the Director an application in such 5 form and containing such information as the Direc- 6 tor may require. 7 ‘‘(2) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ASSUR- 8 ANCES.—The application under paragraph (1) shall, 9 as required by the Director, provide assurances that 10 the covered government will establish policies and 11 procedures in accordance with subsection (d). 12 ‘‘(d) REQUIRED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered government re- 14 ceiving a grant under this section shall develop poli- 15 cies and procedures related to the use of body-worn 16 cameras that— 17 ‘‘(A) are developed with community input, 18 including from prosecutors and organizations 19 representing crime victims, in accordance with 20 recognized best practices; 21 ‘‘(B) require that a body-worn camera be 22 activated when a law enforcement officer ar- 23 rests or detains any person in the course of the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8088.IH H8088 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8088 IH official duties of the officer, with consideration 1 to sensitive cases; 2 ‘‘(C) apply discipline to any law enforce- 3 ment officer who intentionally fails to ensure 4 that a body-worn camera is engaged, functional, 5 and properly secured at all times during which 6 the camera is required to be worn; 7 ‘‘(D) require training for— 8 ‘‘(i) the proper use of body-worn cam- 9 eras; and 10 ‘‘(ii) the handling and use of the ob- 11 tained video and audio recordings; 12 ‘‘(E) provide clear standards for privacy, 13 data retention, and use for evidentiary purposes 14 in a criminal proceeding, including in the case 15 of an assault on a law enforcement officer; and 16 ‘‘(F) make footage available to the public 17 in response to a valid request under an applica- 18 ble freedom of information law if the footage 19 can be made available— 20 ‘‘(i) without compromising an ongoing 21 investigation or revealing the identity of 22 third parties, including victims, inform- 23 ants, or witnesses; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8088.IH H8088 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8088 IH ‘‘(ii) with consideration given to the 1 rights of victims and surviving family 2 members. 3 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—A covered government re- 4 ceiving a grant under this section shall make all 5 policies and procedures regarding body-worn cam- 6 eras available on a public website. 7 ‘‘(3) GUIDANCE.—The Director shall issue 8 guidance to covered governments related to the re- 9 quirements under paragraph (1). 10 ‘‘(e) GRANT AMOUNTS.— 11 ‘‘(1) MINIMUM AMOUNT.— 12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each fiscal year, un- 13 less the Director has awarded a fully funded 14 grant for each eligible application submitted by 15 a State and any units of local government with- 16 in the State under this section for the fiscal 17 year, the Director shall allocate to the State 18 and units of local government within the State 19 for grants under this section an aggregate 20 amount that is not less than 0.5 percent of the 21 total amount appropriated for the fiscal year 22 for grants under this section. 23 ‘‘(B) CERTAIN TERRITORIES.—For pur- 24 poses of the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8088.IH H8088 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8088 IH Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, sub- 1 paragraph (A) shall be applied by substituting 2 ‘0.25 percent’ for ‘0.5 percent’. 3 ‘‘(2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.— 4 ‘‘(A) AMOUNT PER COVERED GOVERN- 5 MENT.—A covered government may not receive 6 a grant under this section for a fiscal year in 7 an amount that is greater than 5 percent of the 8 total amount appropriated for grants under this 9 section for the fiscal year. 10 ‘‘(B) AGGREGATE AMOUNT PER STATE.—A 11 State and each covered government within the 12 State may not receive grants under this section 13 for a fiscal year in an aggregate amount that 14 is more than 20 percent of the total amount ap- 15 propriated for grants under this section for the 16 fiscal year. 17 ‘‘(f) MATCHING FUNDS.—The portion of the costs of 18 a body-worn camera program provided by a grant under 19 this section— 20 ‘‘(1) may not exceed 50 percent; and 21 ‘‘(2) subject to subsection (e)(2), shall equal 50 22 percent if the grant is to a unit of local government 23 with fewer than 100,000 residents. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8088.IH H8088 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8088 IH ‘‘(g) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 1 available under this section shall not be used to supplant 2 covered government funds, but shall be used to increase 3 the amount of funds that would, in the absence of Federal 4 funds, be made available from covered government sources 5 for the purposes of this section. 6 ‘‘(h) REPORTS TO THE DIRECTOR.—A covered gov- 7 ernment that receives a grant under this section shall sub- 8 mit to the Director, for each year in which funds from 9 a grant received under this section are expended, a report 10 at such time and in such manner as the Director may rea- 11 sonably require, that contains— 12 ‘‘(1) a summary of the activities carried out 13 under the grant and an assessment of whether the 14 activities are meeting the needs identified in the 15 grant application; and 16 ‘‘(2) such other information as the Director 17 may require. 18 ‘‘(i) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 19 days after the end of a fiscal year for which grants are 20 made under this section, the Director shall submit to Con- 21 gress a report that includes— 22 ‘‘(1) the aggregate amount of grants made 23 under this section to each covered government for 24 the fiscal year; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8088.IH H8088 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8088 IH ‘‘(2) a summary of the information provided by 1 covered governments receiving grants under this sec- 2 tion; and 3 ‘‘(3) a description of the priorities and plan for 4 awarding grants among eligible covered govern- 5 ments, and how the plan will ensure the effective use 6 of body-worn cameras to protect public safety. 7 ‘‘(j) DIRECT APPROPRIATIONS.—For the purpose of 8 making grants under this section there is authorized to 9 be appropriated, and there is appropriated, out of amounts 10 in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the fiscal 11 year ending September 30, 2020, $500,000,000, to remain 12 available until expended.’’. 13 SEC. 2. PENALTIES FOR FAILURE TO USE BODY-WORN CAM- 14 ERAS. 15 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘covered 16 provision’’ means— 17 (1) section 509 of title I of the Omnibus Crime 18 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as added by 19 section 201; and 20 (2) any other provision of law that makes funds 21 available for the purchase of body-worn cameras. 22 (b) REQUIREMENT.— 23 (1) STATES.—A State that receives funds under 24 a covered provision shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8088.IH H8088 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8088 IH (A) have a policy in place to apply dis- 1 cipline to any law enforcement officer who in- 2 tentionally fails to ensure that a body-worn 3 camera purchased using those funds is engaged, 4 functional, and properly secured at all times 5 during which the camera is required to be worn; 6 and 7 (B) ensure that any entity to which the 8 State awards a subgrant under the covered pro- 9 vision has a policy in place to apply discipline 10 to any law enforcement officer who intentionally 11 fails to ensure that a body-worn camera pur- 12 chased using those funds is engaged, functional, 13 and properly secured at all times during which 14 the camera is required to be worn. 15 (2) OTHER ENTITIES.—An entity other than a 16 State that receives funds under a covered provision 17 shall have a policy in place to apply discipline to any 18 law enforcement officer who intentionally fails to en- 19 sure that a body-worn camera purchased using those 20 funds is engaged, functional, and properly secured at 21 all times during which the camera is required to be 22 worn. 23 (c) COMPLIANCE.— 24 (1) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8088.IH H8088 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 8088 IH (A) FIRST FISCAL YEAR.— 1 (i) STATES.—For the first fiscal year 2 beginning after the date of enactment of 3 this Act in which a State fails to comply 4 with subsection (b)(1), the State shall be 5 subject to a 20-percent reduction of the 6 funds that would otherwise be provided to 7 the State under the applicable covered pro- 8 vision for that fiscal year. 9 (ii) OTHER ENTITIES.—For the first 10 fiscal year beginning after the date of en- 11 actment of this Act in which an entity 12 other than a State fails to comply with 13 subsection (b)(2), the entity shall be sub- 14 ject to a 20-percent reduction of the funds 15 that would otherwise be allocated to the 16 entity under the applicable covered provi- 17 sion for that fiscal year. 18 (B) SUBSEQUENT FISCAL YEARS.— 19 (i) STATES.—Beginning in the first 20 fiscal year beginning after the first fiscal 21 year described in subparagraph (A)(i) in 22 which a State fails to comply with sub- 23 section (b), the percentage by which the 24 funds described in subparagraph (A)(i) are 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8088.IH H8088 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 8088 IH reduced shall be increased by 5 percent 1 each fiscal year the State fails to comply 2 with subsection (b), except that such re- 3 duction shall not exceed 25 percent in any 4 fiscal year. 5 (ii) OTHER ENTITIES.—Beginning in 6 the first fiscal year beginning after the 7 first fiscal year described in subparagraph 8 (A)(i) in which a an entity other than a 9 State fails to comply with subsection (b), 10 the percentage by which the funds de- 11 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii) are re- 12 duced shall be increased by 5 percent each 13 fiscal year the entity fails to comply with 14 subsection (b), except that such reduction 15 shall not exceed 25 percent in any fiscal 16 year. 17 (2) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated 18 under covered provision to a State or other entity 19 for failure to comply with subsection (b) shall be re- 20 allocated under the covered provision to States or 21 other entities that have complied with subsection (b). 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8088.IH H8088 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 8088 IH SEC. 3. TRAINING ON ALTERNATIVES TO USE OF FORCE, 1 DE-ESCALATION, AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH 2 CRISES. 3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 901(a) of title I of the 4 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 5 U.S.C. 10251(a)) is amended— 6 (1) in paragraph (27), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 7 end; 8 (2) in paragraph (28), by striking the period at 9 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 10 (3) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(29) the term ‘de-escalation’ means taking ac- 12 tion or communicating verbally or non-verbally dur- 13 ing a potential force encounter in an attempt to sta- 14 bilize the situation and reduce the immediacy of the 15 threat so that more time, options, and resources can 16 be called upon to resolve the situation without the 17 use of force or with a reduction in the force nec- 18 essary; and 19 ‘‘(30) the term ‘behavioral health crisis’ means 20 a situation in which the behavior of a person puts 21 the person at risk of hurting himself or herself or 22 others or prevents the person from being able to 23 care for himself or herself or function effectively in 24 the community, including a situation in which a per- 25 son is under the influence of a drug or alcohol, is [Text truncated for display. 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