[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7188 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7188
To require law enforcement agencies to report the use of lethal force,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 11, 2020
Mr. Timmons (for himself, Mr. Cline, Ms. Herrera Beutler, Mr. Hurd of
Texas, and Mr. Bishop of North Carolina) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require law enforcement agencies to report the use of lethal force,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Walter Scott Notification Act of
2020''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the term ``law enforcement officer'' has the meaning
given the term in section 3673 of title 18, United States Code;
and
(2) the term ``State'' has the meaning given the term in
section 901(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10251(a)).
SEC. 3. STATE INFORMATION REGARDING USE OF LETHAL FORCE BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.
(a) In General.--For each fiscal year in which a State receives
funds for a program described in subsection (c), the State shall report
to the Attorney General, on an annual basis and pursuant to guidelines
established by the Attorney General, information regarding any
discharge of a firearm by a law enforcement officer which results in
the death of a civilian.
(b) Information Required.--The report required under subsection (a)
shall contain information that, at a minimum, includes--
(1) the number of decedents and the number of law
enforcement officers who discharged a firearm;
(2) the age, sex, race, and ethnicity of each decedent;
(3) any mental health issue of a decedent that was observed
or reported;
(4) the age, sex, race, and ethnicity of each law
enforcement officer;
(5) a brief description of the event;
(6) the alleged criminal activity of each decedent prior to
the use of force;
(7) whether each decedent was armed and the type of weapon
the decedent had;
(8) a description of the weapon used by each law
enforcement officer;
(9) a brief description of any injury sustained by a law
enforcement officer;
(10) a brief description of the finding of the law
enforcement agency as to whether the use of deadly force was
justified or unjustified; and
(11) the case disposition, including whether--
(A) the case was cleared by departmental review or
referred to a prosecuting authority;
(B) criminal charges were filed;
(C) prosecution was declined;
(D) a grand jury returned a No True Bill; or
(E) a court entered an acquittal or a conviction.
(c) Compliance.--
(1) Ineligibility for funds.--For any fiscal year beginning
after the date of enactment of this Act, a State that fails to
comply with subsection (a), shall be subject to a 10-percent
reduction of the funds that would otherwise be allocated for
that fiscal year to the State under subpart 1 of part E of
title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of
1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.), whether characterized as the
Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement
Assistance Programs, the Local Government Law Enforcement Block
Grants Program, the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance
Grant Program, or otherwise.
(2) Reallocation.--Amounts not allocated under a program
referred to in paragraph (1) to a State for failure to comply
with subsection (a) shall be reallocated under the program to
States that have complied with subsection (a).
(d) Preferential Consideration.--Section 1701 of title I of the
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(n) Use of Force Reporting.--
``(1) Preferential consideration.--For the first fiscal
year beginning after the date of enactment of this subsection
and the 3 fiscal years thereafter, the Attorney General may
give preferential consideration, where feasible, to an
application from an applicant in a State that is in full
compliance with section 3(a) of the Walter Scott Notification
Act of 2020.
``(2) Reduction of grant amounts.--Beginning in the fifth
fiscal year beginning after the date of enactment of this
subsection, a State that fails to comply with section 3(a) of
the Walter Scott Notification Act of 2020 shall be subject to a
20-percent reduction of the funds that would otherwise be
allocated for the fiscal year to the State under this part.
``(3) Reallocation.--Amounts not allocated under this part
to a State for failure to comply with section 3(a) of the
Walter Scott Notification Act of 2020 shall be reallocated to
States that have complied with such section.''.
(e) Independent Audit and Review.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter, the Attorney
General shall conduct an audit and review of the information provided
under subsection (a) to determine whether each State receiving funds
under section 505(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10156(a)) or under part Q of title I of
the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381
et seq.) unless the State has ensured, to the satisfaction of the
Attorney General, that the State is in substantial compliance with the
requirements of this section.
(f) Public Availability of Data.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter, the Attorney
General shall publish, and make available to the public, a
report containing the data reported to the Attorney General
under subsection (a).
(2) Privacy protections.--Nothing in this subsection shall
be construed to supersede the requirements or limitations under
section 552a of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as
the ``Privacy Act of 1974'').
(g) Guidance.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Attorney General, in coordination with the Director of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, shall issue guidance on best
practices relating to establishing standard data collection systems
that capture the information required to be reported under subsection
(a), which shall include standard and consistent definitions for terms.
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