[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 540 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 540
To require Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies to report
information related to allegations of misconduct of law enforcement
officers to the Attorney General, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 2 (legislative day, March 1), 2021
Mr. Kaine introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies to report
information related to allegations of misconduct of law enforcement
officers to the Attorney General, 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 ``Cost of Police Misconduct Act of
2021''.
SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.
(a) Identification Requirement.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall
identify--
(A) the total number of Federal law enforcement
agencies in the Federal Government; and
(B) the name of each Federal law enforcement agency
in the Federal Government.
(2) Publication.--The Attorney General shall make publicly
available on the internet website of the Department of Justice
the information under paragraph (1), and update such
identification information on an annual basis.
(b) Federal Law Enforcement Requirements.--
(1) Data collection.--On and after the date that is 120
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, a Federal law
enforcement agency identified under subsection (a)(1) shall
collect the information described in paragraph (3) of this
subsection relating to allegations of misconduct by any Federal
law enforcement officer employed by the agency and any
judgments or settlements with respect to such allegations of
misconduct.
(2) Data reporting.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the
last day of each year that begins after the date of the
enactment of this Act, a Federal law enforcement agency
identified under subsection (a)(1) shall report to the
Attorney General, pursuant to guidelines established by
the Attorney General, for the preceding year and with
respect to the Federal law enforcement agency, the
information described in paragraph (3).
(B) Extension.--The Attorney General may extend the
deadline under subparagraph (A) by 60 days for a
Federal law enforcement agency that is making good
faith efforts to comply with the requirement under that
subparagraph.
(C) Scope of initial report.--The first report
submitted by a Federal law enforcement agency under
subparagraph (A) shall include data collected prior to
the year covered by the report, if the data collection
requirement under paragraph (1) applies to any period
prior to that year.
(3) Information required.--The information described in
this paragraph, for a particular year and with respect to a
Federal law enforcement agency, is the following:
(A) The total number of allegations of misconduct
by a Federal law enforcement officer made during the
year.
(B) The total number of judgments entered or
settlements entered into during the year with respect
to allegations of misconduct by a Federal law
enforcement officer.
(C) For each allegation of misconduct identified in
subparagraph (A) or judgment or settlement with respect
to allegations of misconduct identified in subparagraph
(B):
(i) The race, ethnicity, sex, and age of
each officer and civilian involved.
(ii) The year in which the alleged
misconduct took place.
(iii) The year in which the allegation was
reported.
(iv) The type of allegation, which may
include a body camera violation (whether a
failure to wear or record), use of force
(including the type of force), a collision,
racial profiling, negligence, property damage,
sexual harassment or assault, false testimony,
wrongful death, failure of a duty to intervene,
or wrongful imprisonment.
(v) Any personnel action taken by the
officer involved, which may include resignation
or retirement.
(vi) Any personnel action taken by the
Federal law enforcement agency involved, which
may include termination, demotion, or
relocation of the officer involved.
(vii) In the case of a judgment or
settlement, the total amount paid to satisfy
the judgment or settlement (and related court
fees), regardless of the source of the payment.
(viii) In the case of a judgment or
settlement, the source of money used to pay the
judgment or settlement (and related court
fees), including whether the money came from
amounts appropriated under section 1304 of
title 31, United States Code (commonly known as
the ``Judgment Fund''), amounts appropriated to
the Federal law enforcement agency, or another
source.
(D) The total amount paid pursuant to such
judgments and settlements (and related court fees) by
the Federal law enforcement agency.
(c) State and Local Law Enforcement Requirements.--
(1) Definition.--In this subsection, the term ``Byrne JAG
program'' means any grant program 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.).
(2) Requirements.--
(A) Data collection.--On and after the date that is
120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, a
State or unit of local government that receives funds
under the Byrne JAG program shall collect information
relating to allegations of misconduct by any law
enforcement officer employed by a law enforcement
agency of the State or unit of local government,
respectively, and any judgments or settlements with
respect to such allegations of misconduct that is
substantially similar to the information described in
subsection (b)(3).
(B) Data reporting.--
(i) In general.--Not later than 60 days
after the last day of each year that begins
after the date of the enactment of this Act, a
State or unit of local government that receives
funds under the Byrne JAG program shall submit
to the Attorney General, pursuant to guidelines
established by the Attorney General, for the
preceding year and with respect to each law
enforcement agency of the State or unit of
local government, respectively, the information
collected under subparagraph (A).
(ii) Extension.--The Attorney General may
extend the deadline under clause (i) by 60 days
for a State or local government that is making
good faith efforts to comply with the
requirement under that clause.
(iii) Source of money for judgments and
settlements.--For purposes of clause (i), in
reporting the source of money used to pay a
judgment or settlement (and related court
fees), as described in subsection
(b)(3)(C)(viii), a State or unit of local
government shall disclose whether the money
came from a general operating budget, State or
local law enforcement agency budget, bonds,
liability insurance, a central risk management
fund or pool, or other source.
(iv) Scope of initial report.--The first
report submitted by a State or local government
under clause (i) shall include data collected
prior to the year covered by the report, if the
data collection requirement under subparagraph
(A) applies to any period prior to that year.
(3) Ineligibility for funds.--
(A) In general.--A State or unit of local
government that fails to comply with the requirements
under paragraph (2) shall be subject to not more than a
10-percent reduction of the funds that would otherwise
be allocated to the State or unit of local government
under the Byrne JAG program for--
(i) the fiscal year in which the failure to
comply occurs; or
(ii) the subsequent fiscal year.
(B) Reallocation.--Amounts not allocated under the
Byrne JAG program to a State or unit of local
government for failure to fully comply with paragraph
(2) shall be reallocated under that program to States
or units of local government that have complied with
such paragraph.
(4) Open-source data.--Not later than 30 days after each
date on which the Attorney General receives information
reported under paragraph (2) from a State or unit of local
government, the Attorney General shall verify such information
reported using open-source data, as practicable, including
using data from newspaper and court records.
(d) Study and Reports Required.--
(1) GAO study and report.--
(A) Study.--After data has been collected under
subsections (b) and (c) for 2 full years, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall carry
out a study on such data, including--
(i) the number of Federal, State, and local
law enforcement agencies reporting such data to
the Attorney General;
(ii) a determination of the leading cause
of judgments and settlements against Federal,
State, and local law enforcement agencies;
(iii) an analysis of any relationship
between the number of judgments and settlements
and the actions taken by Federal, State, or
local law enforcement agencies, including the
agency's process of enforcing the law, such
agency's culture, and any new programs
established by the agency to enforce the law;
(iv) recommendations with respect to how a
Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency
may reduce misconduct leading to judgments or
settlements;
(v) identification of Federal, State, local
law enforcement agencies that have spent the
most money with respect to judgments and
settlements (and related court fees);
(vi) the total amount of money spent by
Federal, State, and local law enforcement
agencies on judgments or settlements (and
related court fees), disaggregated by State;
and
(vii) the average amount of money spent on
judgments or settlements (and related court
fees) by--
(I) Federal law enforcement
agencies;
(II) State law enforcement
agencies; and
(III) local law enforcement
agencies.
(B) Report and press release.--Not later than 120
days after the last day of the third year that begins
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Comptroller General, in consultation with the Attorney
General, shall--
(i) prepare and submit to Congress a report
that contains the findings of the study under
subparagraph (A);
(ii) make the report described in clause
(i) publicly available through the internet
website of the Government Accountability
Office; and
(iii) release a press release with respect
to the study under paragraph (A).
(2) DOJ press release.--Not later than 180 days after the
last day of the first year that begins after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney
General shall issue a press release summarizing the data
collected under subsections (b) and (c) for the year prior to
the release of such press release.
(3) Database.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General
shall create and maintain online a public, searchable
database containing all data reported under subsections
(b) and (c), subject to any otherwise applicable
confidentiality requirements. Such publication shall
not include any personally identifiable information of
any law enforcement officer.
(B) Database updates.--The Attorney General shall
update the database created under subparagraph (A) on
an annual basis with data reported under subsections
(b) and (c).
(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section 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'').
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Allegation of misconduct.--The term ``allegation of
misconduct'' means an allegation by a member of the community
or other individual that a law enforcement officer took
illegal, tortious, or otherwise inappropriate action in
connection with the official duties of the officer.
(2) Judgment.--The term ``judgment'' means the final court
order in a civil action that resolves all issues in dispute and
settles the parties' rights with respect to those issues.
(3) Law enforcement agency.--The term ``law enforcement
agency'' means a Federal, State, or local agency engaged in the
prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution, or
adjudication of violations of the law in the United States.
(4) Settlement.--The term ``settlement'' means an agreement
that resolves--
(A) a civil action prior to the entry of judgment;
or
(B) a legal dispute prior to the filing of a
complaint or petition.
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