[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5768 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5768
To direct the Attorney General to establish a grant program to
establish, create, and administer the violent incident clearance and
technology investigative method, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 28, 2021
Mrs. Demings (for herself, Mrs. Axne, Mr. Evans, Ms. Kelly of Illinois,
Mrs. McBath, and Mr. O'Halleran) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Attorney General to establish a grant program to
establish, create, and administer the violent incident clearance and
technology investigative method, 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 ``Violent Incident Clearance and
Technological Investigative Methods Act of 2021'' or the ``VICTIM Act
of 2021''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Research indicates that law enforcement agencies can
impact clearance rates by improving investigative processes,
detective effort, and organizational oversight and supervision
of investigations.
(2) Law enforcement agencies that demonstrate higher rates
of clearance for homicides and non-fatal shootings--
(A) have more structured oversight and formal
interactions between investigative units and agency
leadership;
(B) are more likely to have investigative units
that have good relationships with other units and that
share information well with other units;
(C) have investigative units that have specific
goals and performance metrics for both the unit and for
investigators within that unit; tend to assign most, if
not all, serious crimes to an investigator, at least
for preliminary review;
(D) have investigators who more frequently respond
to the initial crime scene shortly after crimes have
been reported;
(E) have investigators who either have (or are
required to have) specialized experience before joining
investigative units or are expected to be trained on
specific skills once they join those units;
(F) often have standard operating procedures for
investigations, where cases are managed carefully and
have requirements for completion;
(G) tend to support their investigative units, both
in terms of resources, as well as symbolically; and
(H) have better relationships with their community,
even if no specific community-oriented campaign or
initiative exists between investigative units and
community groups.
(3) Criminal justice agencies should collaborate among each
other and share best practices for solving homicides and non-
fatal shootings.
(4) A comprehensive community engagement strategy
concerning gun violence is essential to improve clearance rates
for homicides and non-fatal shootings.
SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM WITH RESPECT TO VIOLENT INCIDENT CLEARANCE AND
TECHNOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIVE METHODS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish a grant
program (in this Act referred to as the ``Program'') within the Office
of Justice Programs to establish, implement, and administer violent
incident clearance and technological investigative methods.
(b) Grant Authority.--In carrying out the Program, the Attorney
General may award a grant to an eligible recipient that submits an
application for the Program.
(c) Eligible Recipient.--Grants awarded under the Program shall be
awarded to a State, Tribal, or local law enforcement agency or
prosecuting office, or a group of agencies or offices, and may be used
for an eligible project under subsection (e).
(d) Applications.--A law enforcement agency applying to receive a
grant under the Program shall submit to the Attorney General an
application at such time, in such manner, and containing or accompanied
by such information as the Attorney General may reasonably require.
(e) Eligible Projects.--Grant funds awarded under the Program shall
be used to improve clearance rates for homicides and non-fatal
shootings by--
(1) ensuring the retention of detectives currently assigned
to investigate homicides and non-fatal shootings;
(2) hiring additional detectives to investigate homicides
and non-fatal shootings;
(3) training detectives in policies and procedures
determined to improve detectives' ability to effectively
investigate and solve homicides and non-fatal shootings;
(4) training police personnel to address the needs of
victims and family members from homicides and non-fatal
shootings;
(5) hiring additional patrol officers to replace officers
who have been transferred to detective;
(6) acquiring, upgrading, or replacing investigative or
evidence processing technology or equipment;
(7) hiring additional evidence processing personnel;
(8) ensuring personnel responsible for evidence processing
have sufficient resources and training;
(9) hiring and training of personnel to analyze violent
crime, specifically with regards to the use of intelligence
information of criminal networks and the potential for
retaliation among gangs or groups, and the geographic trends
among homicides and shootings;
(10) ensuring victim services and personnel are
sufficiently funded, staffed, and trained;
(11) ensuring victims and family members of homicides and
non-fatal shootings have access to resources, including--
(A) convenient mental health treatment and grief
counseling;
(B) funeral and burial expenses;
(C) relocation expenses;
(D) emergency shelter;
(E) emergency transportation; and
(F) lost wage assistance;
(12) developing competitive and evidence-based programs to
improve homicide and non-fatal shooting clearance rates; or
(13) developing best practices for improving access to and
acceptance of victim services, including those that promote
medical and psychological wellness, ongoing counseling, legal
advice, and financial compensation.
(f) Federal Share.--The Federal share of the cost of a project
assisted with a grant under the Program shall not exceed 100 percent if
the grant is awarded on or before the date of December 31, 2032. The
Federal share of the cost of a project assisted with a grant under the
Program shall not exceed 50 percent if such grant is awarded after
December 31, 2032.
(g) Report by Eligible Recipient.--Not later than 365 days after
receiving a grant under the Program, an eligible recipient shall submit
to the Attorney General a report on the Program, including--
(1) the number of homicide and non-fatal shooting
detectives hired by the grantee;
(2) the number of evidence processing personnel hired by
the grantee;
(3) any training provided to existing or newly hired
homicide and non-fatal shooting detectives designed to assist
in the solving of crimes and improve clearance rates;
(4) any new evidence processing technology or equipment or
any upgrades to existing evidence technology or equipment;
(5) any training provided to evidence processing personnel
to improve outcomes and capacity; and
(6) data regarding clearance rates for homicides and non-
fatal shootings and crime trends from within each jurisdiction
in which grant funds were provided.
(h) National Institute of Justice Evaluation and Report to
Congress.--
(1) Evaluation.--Not later than two years after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and every two years thereafter, the
National Institute of Justice shall conduct an evaluation of
the practices deployed by grant recipients to identify policies
and procedures that have successfully improved clearance rates
for homicides and non-fatal shootings.
(2) Report to congress.--Not later than 30 days after
completion of the evaluation under paragraph (1), the Attorney
General shall submit to Congress a report including--
(A) the results of the evaluation conducted by the
National Institute of Justice; and
(B) information reported by each eligible entity
under subsection (i).
(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to
carry out this Program $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2023 through 2032.
(2) Percent for certain eligible recipients.--10 percent of
each appropriation made under paragraph (1) shall be awarded to
a Tribal law enforcement agency or prosecuting office, or a
group of such agencies or offices.
(j) Law Enforcement Agency Defined.--In this section, the term
``law enforcement agency'' means a public agency charged with policing
functions, including any of its component bureaus (such as governmental
victim services programs or Village Public Safety Officers), including
those referred to in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of section 2(10) of the
Indian Law Enforcement Reform Act (25 U.S.C. 2801(10)(B)(C)), as
amended by section 203(b) of the Indian Arts and Crafts Amendments
(Public Law 111-211).
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