I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7308 

To direct the Attorney General to establish a grant program to establish, 

implement, and administer violent incident clearance and technology investigative methods, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2024 

Mr. BACON (for himself and Mr. EVANS) 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, implement, and administer violent incident 

clearance and technology investigative methods, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Violent Incident Clear5 ance and Technological Investigative Methods Act of 

6 2024’’ or the ‘‘VICTIM Act of 2024’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 7308 IH

1 (1) Research indicates that law enforcement 

2 agencies can increase clearance rates by improving— 

3 (A) investigative processes; 

4 (B) detective capacities; and 

5 (C) organizational oversight and super6 vision of investigations. 

7 (2) When a law enforcement agency expends 

8 additional investigative effort, the law enforcement 

9 agency improves its success in gaining cooperation of 

10 key witnesses and increases the amount of forensic 

11 evidence collected. 

12 (3) Effective investigation of homicides, shoot13 ings, and other firearm-related violent crimes can 

14 prevent subsequent related violence by— 

15 (A) deterring retaliation; and 

16 (B) providing interventions to individuals 

17 who may continue to commit crimes or become 

18 victims of retaliatory violence. 

19 (4) Law enforcement agencies that demonstrate 

20 higher rates of clearance for homicides and firearm21 related violent crimes— 

22 (A) have more structured oversight and 

23 formal interactions between investigative units 

24 and agency leadership; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 7308 IH

1 (B) are more likely to have investigative 

2 units that have collaborative relationships and 

3 robust information sharing with other units of 

4 the law enforcement agency; 

5 (C) have investigative units that have spe6 cific goals and performance metrics for both the 

7 unit and for investigators within the unit; 

8 (D) have investigators who more frequently 

9 respond to the initial crime scene shortly after 

10 crimes have been reported to collect evidence 

11 and interview witnesses; 

12 (E) have investigators who either have spe13 cialized experience before joining investigative 

14 units or are trained in investigations once they 

15 join those units; 

16 (F) often have standard operating proce17 dures for investigations that establish policies 

18 and evidence-based best practices for con19 ducting and completing homicide investigations; 

20 and 

21 (G) have better relationships with the com22 munities they serve, even if no specific commu23 nity-oriented campaign or initiative exists be24 tween investigative units and community 

25 groups. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 7308 IH

1 (5) Criminal justice agencies should collaborate 

2 with each other and share best practices for solving 

3 homicides and firearm-related violent crimes. 

4 (6) A comprehensive community engagement 

5 strategy concerning gun violence is essential to im6 proving clearance rates for homicides and firearm7 related violent crimes. 

8 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM WITH RESPECT TO VIOLENT INCI9 DENT CLEARANCE AND TECHNOLOGICAL IN10 VESTIGATIVE METHODS. 

11 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) CLEARANCE BY ARREST.—The term ‘‘clear13 ance by arrest’’, with respect to an offense reported 

14 to a law enforcement agency, means the law enforce15 ment agency— 

16 (A) has— 

17 (i) arrested not less than 1 person for 

18 the offense; 

19 (ii) charged the person described in 

20 clause (i) with the commission of the of21 fense; and 

22 (iii) referred the person described in 

23 clause (i) for prosecution for the offense; 

24 or 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 7308 IH

1 (B) has cited an individual under the age 

2 of 18 to appear in juvenile court or before an3 other juvenile authority with respect to the of4 fense, regardless of whether a physical arrest 

5 occurred. 

6 (2) CLEARANCE BY EXCEPTION.—The term 

7 ‘‘clearance by exception’’, with respect to an offense 

8 reported to a law enforcement agency, means the 

9 law enforcement agency— 

10 (A) has identified not less than 1 person 

11 suspected of the offense; and 

12 (B) with respect to the suspect described 

13 in subparagraph (A), has— 

14 (i) gathered enough evidence to— 

15 (I) support an arrest of the sus16 pect; 

17 (II) make a charge against the 

18 suspect; and 

19 (III) refer the suspect for pros20 ecution; 

21 (ii) identified the location of the sus22 pect so that the suspect could be taken 

23 into custody immediately; and 

24 (iii) encountered a circumstance out25 side the control of the law enforcement 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 7308 IH

1 agency that prohibits the agency from ar2 resting the suspect, charging the suspect, 

3 or referring the suspect for prosecution, in4 cluding— 

5 (I) the death of the suspect; 

6 (II) the refusal of the victim to 

7 cooperate with the prosecution after 

8 the suspect has been identified; or 

9 (III) the denial of extradition be10 cause the suspect committed an of11 fense in another jurisdiction and is 

12 being prosecuted for that offense. 

13 (3) CLEARANCE RATE.—The term ‘‘clearance 

14 rate’’, with respect to a law enforcement agency, 

15 means the quotient obtained by dividing— 

16 (A) the number of offenses cleared by the 

17 law enforcement agency, including through 

18 clearance by arrest and clearance by exception; 

19 by 

20 (B) the total number of offenses reported 

21 to the law enforcement agency. 

22 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti23 ty’’ means a State, Tribal, or local law enforcement 

24 agency or prosecuting office, or a group of such law 

25 enforcement agencies or prosecuting offices. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 7308 IH

1 (5) GRANT RECIPIENT.—The term ‘‘grant re2 cipient’’ means a recipient of a grant under the Pro3 gram. 

4 (6) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.—The term 

5 ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means a public agency 

6 charged with policing functions, including any com7 ponent bureau of the agency (such as a govern8 mental victim services program or village public 

9 safety officer program), including an agency com10 posed of officers or persons referred to in subpara11 graph (B) or (C) of section 2(10) of the Indian Law 

12 Enforcement Reform Act (25 U.S.C. 2801(10)). 

13 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

14 the grant program established under subsection 

15 (b)(1). 

16 (b) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

19 General shall establish a grant program within the 

20 Office of Community Oriented Policing Services 

21 under which the Attorney General awards grants to 

22 eligible entities to establish, implement, and admin23 ister violent incident clearance and technological in24 vestigative methods. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 7308 IH

1 (2) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity seeking 

2 a grant under the Program shall submit to the At3 torney General an application at such time, in such 

4 manner, and containing or accompanied by— 

5 (A) such information as the Attorney Gen6 eral may reasonably require; and 

7 (B) a description of each eligible project 

8 under paragraph (4) that the grant will fund. 

9 (3) SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.—The 

10 Attorney General, in selecting a recipient of a grant 

11 under the Program, shall— 

12 (A) consider the specific plan and activities 

13 proposed by the applicant to improve clearance 

14 rates for homicides and firearm-related violent 

15 crimes; and 

16 (B) prioritize the award of grants to eligi17 ble entities that— 

18 (i) contribute use of force data to the 

19 National Use-of-Force Data Collection of 

20 the Federal Bureau of Investigation; or 

21 (ii) contribute use of force data to or 

22 publish use of force data on a publicly ac23 cessible website, including a database 

24 maintained by a State, county, municipal, 

25 or Tribal agency. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 7308 IH

1 (4) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—A grant recipient 

2 shall use the grant for activities with the specific ob3 jective of improving clearance rates for homicides 

4 and firearm-related violent crimes, including— 

5 (A) ensuring the retention of personnel 

6 who are assigned to investigate homicides and 

7 firearm-related violent crimes as of the date of 

8 receipt of the grant; 

9 (B) hiring and training additional per10 sonnel who will be assigned to investigate homi11 cides and firearm-related violent crimes; 

12 (C) developing policies, procedures, and 

13 training to improve clearance rates for homi14 cides and firearm-related violent crimes, includ15 ing implementing best practices relating to— 

16 (i) improving internal agency coopera17 tion, organizational oversight and account18 ability, and supervision of investigations; 

19 (ii) developing specific goals and per20 formance metrics for both investigators 

21 and investigative units; 

22 (iii) establishing or improving rela23 tionships with the communities the agency 

24 serves; and 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 7308 IH

1 (iv) collaboration with and among 

2 other law enforcement agencies and crimi3 nal justice organizations; 

4 (D) training to address the needs of vic5 tims and family members of victims of homi6 cides and firearm-related violent crimes or col7 laborating with trained victim advocates and 

8 specialists to better meet the needs of victims 

9 and family members of victims; 

10 (E) acquiring, upgrading, or replacing in11 vestigative, evidence-processing, or forensic test12 ing technology or equipment; 

13 (F) development and implementation of 

14 policies that safeguard civil rights and civil lib15 erties during the collection, processing, and fo16 rensic testing of evidence; 

17 (G) hiring or training personnel for collec18 tion, processing, and forensic testing of evi19 dence; 

20 (H) hiring and training of personnel to 

21 analyze violent crime and the temporal and geo22 graphic trends among homicides and firearm-re23 lated violent crimes; 

24 (I) retaining experts to conduct a detailed 

25 analysis of homicides and firearm-related vioVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Feb 20, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7308.IH H7308

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 7308 IH

1 lent crimes using Gun Violence Problem Anal2 ysis (commonly known as ‘‘GVPA’’) or a similar 

3 research methodology; 

4 (J) ensuring victims have appropriate ac5 cess to emergency food, housing, clothing, trav6 el, and transportation; 

7 (K) developing competitive and evidence8 based programs to improve clearance rates for 

9 homicides and firearm-related violent crimes; 

10 (L) developing best practices for improving 

11 access to and acceptance of victim services, in12 cluding victim services that promote medical 

13 and psychological wellness, ongoing counseling, 

14 legal advice, and financial compensation; 

15 (M) training investigators and personnel in 

16 trauma-informed interview techniques; 

17 (N) establishing programs to support offi18 cers who experience stress or trauma as a result 

19 of responding to or investigating homicides or 

20 other violent crime incidents; or 

21 (O) ensuring language and disability access 

22 supports are provided to victims and their fami23 lies so that victims can exercise their rights and 

24 participate in the criminal justice process. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 7308 IH

1 (c) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Grant funds 

2 made available under this section shall be used to supple3 ment, not supplant, Federal and non-Federal funds avail4 able for carrying out the activities described in this sec5 tion. 

6 (d) HIRING.—A grant recipient using funds for hir7 ing personnel under subsection (b)(4)(B) shall make a 

8 good faith effort to determine whether an applicant with 

9 prior law enforcement experience has a disciplinary record 

10 or internal investigation record by— 

11 (1) conducting a search of the National Decer12 tification Index and, if available, the National Law 

13 Enforcement Accountability Database; or 

14 (2) requesting the personnel record of the appli15 cant from each law enforcement agency that em16 ployed the applicant. 

17 (e) REPORT BY GRANT RECIPIENT.—Not later than 

18 1 year after receiving a grant under the Program, and 

19 each year thereafter until a final report is submitted re20 garding fiscal year 2029, a grant recipient shall submit 

21 to the Attorney General a report on the activities carried 

22 out using the grant during the preceding fiscal year, in23 cluding, if applicable— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 7308 IH

1 (1) the number of personnel assigned to inves2 tigate homicides and firearm-related violent crimes 

3 hired by the grant recipient; 

4 (2) the number of personnel hired for collecting, 

5 processing, and forensic testing of evidence by the 

6 grant recipient; 

7 (3) a description of any training that is— 

8 (A) provided to existing (as of the date on 

9 which the grant was awarded) or newly hired 

10 personnel assigned to investigate homicides and 

11 firearm-related violent crimes; and 

12 (B) designed to assist in the solving of 

13 crimes and improve clearance rates; 

14 (4) any new investigative, evidence-processing, 

15 or forensic technology or equipment purchased or 

16 any upgrades made to existing (as of the date on 

17 which the grant was awarded) investigative, evi18 dence-processing, or forensic technology or equip19 ment, and the associated cost; 

20 (5) an assessment of investigative, evidence21 processing, or forensic technology or equipment pur22 chased with the grant to determine whether the 

23 technology or equipment satisfies the objectives of 

24 the use of the technology or equipment in increasing 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
14 

•HR 7308 IH

1 clearance rates, and any policies in place to govern 

2 the use of the technology or equipment; 

3 (6) the internal policies and oversight used to 

4 ensure that any technology purchased through the 

5 grant for the purposes of improving clearance rates 

6 does not violate the civil rights and civil liberties of 

7 individuals; 

8 (7) a description of the good faith efforts em9 ployed to comply with subsection (d); 

10 (8) data regarding clearance rates for homicides 

11 and firearm-related violent crimes, including the rate 

12 of clearances by arrest and clearances by exception, 

13 and crime trends from within each jurisdiction in 

14 which the grant recipient carried out activities sup15 ported by the grant; 

16 (9) whether the grant recipient has provided 

17 grant funds to any victim services organizations, and 

18 if so, which organizations; 

19 (10) the demographic information for victims of 

20 homicides and firearm-related violent crimes, and 

21 the length and outcomes of each investigation, in22 cluding whether the investigation was cleared by ar23 rest or exception; 

24 (11) the demographic information for each vic25 tim or family member of a victim who received vicVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Feb 20, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7308.IH H7308

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
15 

•HR 7308 IH

1 tim-related services provided by the grant recipient; 

2 and 

3 (12) to the extent reasonably available, identi4 fication of the services most used by victims and 

5 their families and identification of additional services 

6 needed. 

7 (f) CLEARANCE RATE REPORTING.—If 2 or more law 

8 enforcement agencies collaborate on a criminal investiga9 tion that results in a clearance, only the agency that initi10 ated the investigation shall include that clearance in the 

11 report submitted under subsection (e). 

12 (g) GRANT OVERSIGHT.—All grants awarded by the 

13 Attorney General under this section shall be subject to the 

14 following accountability provisions: 

15 (1) AUDIT REQUIREMENT.— 

16 (A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

17 term ‘‘unresolved audit finding’’ means a find18 ing in the final audit report of the Inspector 

19 General of the Department of Justice that the 

20 audited grant recipient has used grant funds 

21 for an unauthorized expenditure or otherwise 

22 unallowable cost that is not closed or resolved 

23 within 12 months from the date when the final 

24 audit report is issued. 

25 (B) AUDITS.— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
16 

•HR 7308 IH

1 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the 

2 first fiscal year after the date of establish3 ment of the Program, and in each fiscal 

4 year thereafter, the Inspector General of 

5 the Department of Justice shall conduct 

6 audits of grant recipients under this sec7 tion to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse of 

8 funds by grant recipients. 

9 (ii) SELECTION OF GRANT RECIPI10 ENTS FOR AUDIT.—The Inspector General 

11 of the Department of Justice shall deter12 mine the appropriate number of grant re13 cipients to be audited each year. 

14 (C) MANDATORY EXCLUSION.—A grant re15 cipient that is found to have an unresolved 

16 audit finding shall not be eligible to receive 

17 grant funds under this section during the fiscal 

18 year following the 12-month period after the 

19 final audit report has been issued. 

20 (2) ANNUAL CERTIFICATION.—Not later than 

21 the end of the fiscal year during which audits com22 mence under paragraph (1)(B)(i), and each fiscal 

23 year thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to 

24 the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee 

25 on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
17 

•HR 7308 IH

1 on the Judiciary and the Committee on Appropria2 tions of the House of Representatives a certification, 

3 including— 

4 (A) whether— 

5 (i) all audits conducted by the Office 

6 of the Inspector General of the Depart7 ment of Justice under paragraph (1) have 

8 been completed and reviewed by the appro9 priate Assistant Attorney General; and 

10 (ii) all mandatory exclusions required 

11 under paragraph (1)(C) have been issued; 

12 and 

13 (B) a list of any grant recipients excluded 

14 from receiving grant funds under paragraph 

15 (1)(C) from the previous fiscal year. 

16 (h) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE EVALUATION

17 AND REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

18 (1) EVALUATION.—Not later than 2 years after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years 

20 thereafter, the Director of the National Institute of 

21 Justice shall conduct an evaluation of— 

22 (A) the practices deployed by grant recipi23 ents to identify policies and procedures that 

24 have successfully improved clearance rates for 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
18 

•HR 7308 IH

1 homicides and firearm-related violent crimes; 

2 and 

3 (B) the efficacy of any services provided to 

4 victims and family members of victims of homi5 cides and firearm-related violent crimes. 

6 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 

7 days after completion of an evaluation by the Na8 tional Institute of Justice under paragraph (1), the 

9 Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report 

10 including— 

11 (A) the results of the evaluation; and 

12 (B) information reported by each grant re13 cipient under subsection (e). 

14 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

16 appropriated to carry out this section $60,000,000 

17 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2029. 

18 (2) PERCENT FOR CERTAIN ELIGIBLE ENTI19 TIES.—The Attorney General shall use 5 percent of 

20 the amount made available under paragraph (1) for 

21 a fiscal year to award grants under the Program to 

22 Tribal law enforcement agencies or Tribal pros23 ecuting offices, or groups of such agencies or offices. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS