II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3873 

To require law enforcement agencies to report the use of lethal force, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 3, 2020 

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. GRASSLEY, Ms. ERNST, Mr. 

LANKFORD, and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and 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. 

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 ‘‘Walter Scott Notifica5 tion Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ has the 

9 meaning given the term in section 3673 of title 18, 

10 United States Code; and 


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1 (2) the term ‘‘State’’ has the meaning given the 

2 term in section 901(a) of title I of the Omnibus 

3 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

4 U.S.C. 10251(a)). 

5 SEC. 3. STATE INFORMATION REGARDING USE OF LETHAL 

6 FORCE BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year in which a 

8 State receives funds for a program described in subsection 

9 (c), the State shall report to the Attorney General, on an 

10 annual basis and pursuant to guidelines established by the 

11 Attorney General, information regarding any discharge of 

12 a firearm by a law enforcement officer which results in 

13 the death of a civilian. 

14 (b) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The report required 

15 under subsection (a) shall contain information that, at a 

16 minimum, includes— 

17 (1) the number of decedents and the number of 

18 law enforcement officers who discharged a firearm; 

19 (2) the age, sex, race, and ethnicity of each de20 cedent; 

21 (3) any mental health issue of a decedent that 

22 was observed or reported; 

23 (4) the age, sex, race, and ethnicity of each law 

24 enforcement officer; 

25 (5) a brief description of the event; 


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1 (6) the alleged criminal activity of each dece2 dent prior to the use of force; 

3 (7) whether each decedent was armed and the 

4 type of weapon the decedent had; 

5 (8) a description of the weapon used by each 

6 law enforcement officer; 

7 (9) a brief description of any injury sustained 

8 by a law enforcement officer; 

9 (10) a brief description of the finding of the law 

10 enforcement agency as to whether the use of deadly 

11 force was justified or unjustified; and 

12 (11) the case disposition, including whether— 

13 (A) the case was cleared by departmental 

14 review or referred to a prosecuting authority; 

15 (B) criminal charges were filed; 

16 (C) prosecution was declined; 

17 (D) a grand jury returned a No True Bill; 

18 or 

19 (E) a court entered an acquittal or a con20 viction. 

21 (c) COMPLIANCE.— 

22 (1) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.—For any fiscal 

23 year beginning after the date of enactment of this 

24 Act, a State that fails to comply with subsection (a), 

25 shall be subject to a 10-percent reduction of the 


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1 funds that would otherwise be allocated for that fis2 cal year to the State under subpart 1 of part E of 

3 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

4 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.), 

5 whether characterized as the Edward Byrne Memo6 rial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance 

7 Programs, the Local Government Law Enforcement 

8 Block Grants Program, the Edward Byrne Memorial 

9 Justice Assistance Grant Program, or otherwise. 

10 (2) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated 

11 under a program referred to in paragraph (1) to a 

12 State for failure to comply with subsection (a) shall 

13 be reallocated under the program to States that have 

14 complied with subsection (a). 

15 (d) PREFERENTIAL CONSIDERATION.—Section 1701 

16 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

17 Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amended by adding at 

18 the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(n) USE OF FORCE REPORTING.— 

20 ‘‘(1) PREFERENTIAL CONSIDERATION.—For the 

21 first fiscal year beginning after the date of enact22 ment of this subsection and the 3 fiscal years there23 after, the Attorney General may give preferential 

24 consideration, where feasible, to an application from 

25 an applicant in a State that is in full compliance 


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1 with section 3(a) of the Walter Scott Notification 

2 Act of 2020. 

3 ‘‘(2) REDUCTION OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Begin4 ning in the fifth fiscal year beginning after the date 

5 of enactment of this subsection, a State that fails to 

6 comply with section 3(a) of the Walter Scott Notifi7 cation Act of 2020 shall be subject to a 20-percent 

8 reduction of the funds that would otherwise be allo9 cated for the fiscal year to the State under this part. 

10 ‘‘(3) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated 

11 under this part to a State for failure to comply with 

12 section 3(a) of the Walter Scott Notification Act of 

13 2020 shall be reallocated to States that have com14 plied with such section.’’. 

15 (e) INDEPENDENT AUDIT AND REVIEW.—Not later 

16 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and 

17 each year thereafter, the Attorney General shall conduct 

18 an audit and review of the information provided under 

19 subsection (a) to determine whether each State receiving 

20 funds under section 505(a) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 

21 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

22 10156(a)) or under part Q of title I of the Omnibus Crime 

23 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381 

24 et seq.) unless the State has ensured, to the satisfaction 


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1 of the Attorney General, that the State is in substantial 

2 compliance with the requirements of this section. 

3 (f) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the date of enactment of this Act, and each year 

6 thereafter, the Attorney General shall publish, and 

7 make available to the public, a report containing the 

8 data reported to the Attorney General under sub9 section (a). 

10 (2) PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.—Nothing in this 

11 subsection shall be construed to supersede the re12 quirements or limitations under section 552a of title 

13 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 

14 ‘‘Privacy Act of 1974’’). 

15 (g) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 180 days after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in 

17 coordination with the Director of the Federal Bureau of 

18 Investigation, shall issue guidance on best practices relat19 ing to establishing standard data collection systems that 

20 capture the information required to be reported under sub21 section (a), which shall include standard and consistent 

22 definitions for terms. 

Æ 


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