II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 738 

To provide for grants for States that require fair and impartial police training 

for law enforcement officers of that State and to incentivize States 

to enact laws requiring the independent investigation and prosecution 

of the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 11, 2021 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. 

CANTWELL, Ms. SMITH, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, 

Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. KAINE, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. 

PADILLA, Ms. ROSEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for grants for States that require fair and impartial police training for law enforcement officers of that 

State and to incentivize States to enact laws requiring 

the independent investigation and prosecution of the use 

of deadly force by law enforcement officers, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Police Training and 

3 Independent Review Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR TRAINING AND INDEPENDENT INVES5 TIGATION AND PROSECUTION. 

6 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

7 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended 

8 by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘PART PP—GRANTS FOR TRAINING AND INDE10 PENDENT INVESTIGATION AND PROSECU11 TION 

12 ‘‘SEC. 3061. GRANT AUTHORITY. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may make 

14 a grant to a State for purposes of implementing the train15 ing requirements described in section 3062(a) and an 

16 independent prosecution of law enforcement statute as de17 scribed in section 3063. 

18 ‘‘(b) TERM.—The term of a grant under subsection 

19 (a) shall be 1 fiscal year. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 3062. TRAINING ON FAIR AND IMPARTIAL POLICING. 

21 ‘‘(a) TRAINING REQUIREMENT.—The requirements 

22 of this subsection are as follows: 

23 ‘‘(1) A State shall require that all individuals 

24 enrolled in an academy of a law enforcement agency 

25 of the State and all law enforcement officers of the 


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1 State complete a training session on fair and impar2 tial policing each year, which includes— 

3 ‘‘(A) anti-bias training on implicit and ex4 plicit bias on the basis of race, religion, eth5 nicity, national origin, gender, sexual orienta6 tion, gender identity, and disability; 

7 ‘‘(B) training regarding— 

8 ‘‘(i) cultural diversity; 

9 ‘‘(ii) police interaction with individuals 

10 with mental illness or behavioral, mental, 

11 or physical disabilities; 

12 ‘‘(iii) crisis intervention; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) de-escalation tactics; 

14 ‘‘(C) scenario-based training; and 

15 ‘‘(D) a requirement that officers dem16 onstrate proficiency in the subjects of the train17 ing through scenario-based tests. 

18 ‘‘(2) Each law enforcement officer and each in19 dividual enrolled in an academy of a law enforce20 ment agency of a State shall complete— 

21 ‘‘(A) initial training described in para22 graph (1) of not less than 8 hours; and 

23 ‘‘(B) not less than 4 hours of training de24 scribed in paragraph (1) every year thereafter. 


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1 ‘‘(3) A State shall certify to the Attorney Gen2 eral of the United States that such training sessions 

3 have been completed. 

4 ‘‘(b) COMPLIANCE AND INELIGIBILITY.— 

5 ‘‘(1) COMPLIANCE DATE.—To be eligible for a 

6 grant under this part, a State shall, subject to para7 graphs (2) and (3), be in compliance with the train8 ing requirements under subsection (a) not later than 

9 240 days after the date of enactment of this part, 

10 except that the Attorney General may grant an addi11 tional 120 days to a State that is making good faith 

12 efforts to comply with such subsection. 

13 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE BEFORE START OF FISCAL

14 YEAR.—A State that fails to achieve compliance with 

15 the training requirements under subsection (a) in 

16 accordance with paragraph (1) of this subsection 

17 shall be eligible for a grant under this part for a fis18 cal year (subject to section 3063) if, on the last day 

19 of the previous fiscal year, the State is in compliance 

20 with such requirements. 

21 ‘‘(3) INELIGIBILITY.—A State that was eligible 

22 for a grant under this part and that, as of the last 

23 day of a fiscal year, is not in compliance with the 

24 training requirements under subsection (a) shall not 


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1 be eligible for a grant under this part during the 

2 next fiscal year. 

3 ‘‘(c) VERIFICATION.—The attorney general of a State 

4 receiving a grant under this part shall verify that the 

5 training of individuals enrolled in an academy of a law 

6 enforcement agency of the State and all law enforcement 

7 officers of the State meets the requirements under sub8 section (a). 

9 ‘‘(d) AUDIT REQUIREMENTS.—For each fiscal year 

10 for which grants are made under this part, the Inspector 

11 General of the Department of Justice shall conduct audits 

12 of an appropriate number, as determined by the Inspector 

13 General, of States receiving such a grant to ensure compli14 ance with the training requirements under subsection (a). 

15 ‘‘SEC. 3063. INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF LAW ENFORCEMENT 

16 USE OF DEADLY FORCE. 

17 ‘‘To be eligible for a grant under this part for a fiscal 

18 year, a State shall, as of the last day of the prior fiscal 

19 year, have enacted and have in effect an independent pros20 ecution of law enforcement statute. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 3064. DEFINITIONS. 

22 ‘‘In this part: 

23 ‘‘(1) The term ‘deadly force’ means that force 

24 which a reasonable person would consider likely to 

25 cause death or serious bodily harm. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘independent prosecution’, with 

2 respect to a criminal investigation or prosecution of 

3 a law enforcement officer’s use of deadly force, in4 cludes using one or more of the following methods: 

5 ‘‘(A) Using an agency or civilian review 

6 board that investigates and independently re7 views all officer use of force allegations. 

8 ‘‘(B) Assigning the attorney general of the 

9 State in which the alleged crime was committed 

10 to conduct the criminal investigation and pros11 ecution. 

12 ‘‘(C) Adopting a procedure under which an 

13 automatic referral is made to a special pros14 ecutor appointed and overseen by the attorney 

15 general of the State in which the alleged crime 

16 was committed. 

17 ‘‘(D) Having law enforcement agencies 

18 agree to and implement memoranda of under19 standing with other law enforcement agencies 

20 under which the other law enforcement agen21 cies— 

22 ‘‘(i) shall conduct the criminal inves23 tigation; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) upon conclusion of the criminal 

25 investigation, shall file a report with the 


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1 attorney general of the State containing a 

2 determination regarding whether— 

3 ‘‘(I) the use of deadly force was 

4 appropriate; and 

5 ‘‘(II) any action should be taken 

6 by the attorney general of the State. 

7 ‘‘(E) Using an independent prosecutor. 

8 ‘‘(3) The term ‘independent prosecution of law 

9 enforcement statute’ means a statute requiring an 

10 independent prosecution in a criminal matter in 

11 which— 

12 ‘‘(A) one or more of the possible defend13 ants is a law enforcement officer; 

14 ‘‘(B) one or more of the alleged offenses 

15 involves the law enforcement officer’s use of 

16 deadly force in the course of carrying out that 

17 officer’s duty; and 

18 ‘‘(C) the law enforcement officer’s use of 

19 deadly force resulted in a death or injury. 

20 ‘‘(4) The term ‘independent prosecutor’ means, 

21 with respect to a criminal investigation or prosecu22 tion of a law enforcement officer’s use of deadly 

23 force, a prosecutor who— 


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1 ‘‘(A) does not live or work in the same 

2 county as the county in which the alleged crime 

3 was committed; and 

4 ‘‘(B) would not be involved in the prosecu5 tion in the ordinary course of that prosecutor’s 

6 duties.’’. 

Æ 


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