II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4064 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 

provide for training on alternatives to use of force, de-escalation, and 

behavioral health crises. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2020 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

Act of 1968 to provide for training on alternatives to 

use of force, de-escalation, and behavioral health crises. 

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 ‘‘Law Enforcement De5 Escalation Training Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TRAINING ON ALTERNATIVES TO USE OF FORCE, 

2 DE-ESCALATION, AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH 

3 CRISES. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 901(a) of title I of the 

5 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

6 U.S.C. 10251(a)) is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (27), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

8 end; 

9 (2) in paragraph (28), by striking the period at 

10 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(29) the term ‘de-escalation’ means taking ac13 tion or communicating verbally or non-verbally dur14 ing a potential force encounter in an attempt to sta15 bilize the situation and reduce the immediacy of the 

16 threat so that more time, options, and resources can 

17 be called upon to resolve the situation without the 

18 use of force or with a reduction in the force nec19 essary; and 

20 ‘‘(30) the term ‘behavioral health crisis’ means 

21 a situation in which the behavior of a person puts 

22 the person at risk of hurting himself or herself or 

23 others or prevents the person from being able to 

24 care for himself or herself or function effectively in 

25 the community, including a situation in which a per26 son is under the influence of a drug or alcohol, is 


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1 suicidal, or experiences symptoms of a mental ill2 ness.’’. 

3 (b) COPS PROGRAM.—Section 1701 of title I of the 

4 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 

5 U.S.C. 10381) is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(n) TRAINING IN ALTERNATIVES TO USE OF

8 FORCE, DE-ESCALATION TECHNIQUES, AND BEHAVIORAL

9 HEALTH CRISES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) TRAINING CURRICULA.—The Attorney 

11 General, in consultation with relevant law enforce12 ment agencies of States and units of local govern13 ment, labor organizations, professional law enforce14 ment organizations, and mental health organiza15 tions, shall develop training curricula in— 

16 ‘‘(A) alternatives to use of force and de-es17 calation tactics; and 

18 ‘‘(B) safely responding to a person experi19 encing a behavioral health crisis, including tech20 niques and strategies that are designed to pro21 tect the safety of the person experiencing the 

22 behavioral health crisis, law enforcement offi23 cers, and the public. 

24 ‘‘(2) CERTIFIED PROGRAMS.—The Attorney 

25 General shall establish a process to certify public 


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1 and private entities that offer courses in alternatives 

2 to use of force, de-escalation tactics, and techniques 

3 and strategies for responding to a behavioral health 

4 crisis using the training curricula established under 

5 paragraph (1) or equivalents to the training cur6 ricula established under paragraph (1). 

7 ‘‘(3) TRANSITIONAL REGIONAL TRAINING PRO8 GRAMS FOR STATE AND LOCAL AGENCY PER9 SONNEL.—Until the end of fiscal year 2023, the At10 torney General shall, and thereafter may, provide re11 gional training to equip and certify personnel from 

12 law enforcement agencies of States and units of local 

13 government in a State to conduct training using the 

14 training curricula established under paragraph (1). 

15 ‘‘(4) LIST.—The Attorney General shall publish 

16 a list of law enforcement agencies of States and 

17 units of local government that employ officers who 

18 have successfully completed a course described under 

19 paragraph (2) or (3), which shall include— 

20 ‘‘(A) the total number of law enforcement 

21 officers employed by the agency; 

22 ‘‘(B) the number of officers who have com23 pleted the course; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) whether personnel from the law en2 forcement agency are certified to conduct train3 ing. 

4 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

6 this subsection $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

7 2021 through 2025.’’. 

8 (c) BYRNE JAG PROGRAM.—Subpart 1 of part E of 

9 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 

10 of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating section 508 as section 509; 

12 and 

13 (2) by inserting after section 507 the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 508. LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING PROGRAMS. 

15 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

16 ‘‘(1) the term ‘approved course in alternatives 

17 to use of force, de-escalation tactics, or techniques 

18 and strategies for responding to a behavioral health 

19 crisis’ means a course using the training curricula 

20 established under section 1701(n)(1) or equivalents 

21 to such training curricula— 

22 ‘‘(A) provided by the Attorney General 

23 under section 1701(n)(3); or 

24 ‘‘(B) provided by a certified entity; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) the term ‘certified entity’ means a public 

2 or private entity that has been certified by the At3 torney General under section 1701(n)(2). 

4 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.—The Attorney General shall, from 

5 amounts made available to fund law enforcement training 

6 programs pursuant to subsection (e), make grants to 

7 States for use by the State or a unit of government located 

8 in the State to— 

9 ‘‘(1) pay for costs associated with conducting 

10 the training and for attendance by law enforcement 

11 personnel at an approved course in alternatives to 

12 use of force, de-escalation tactics, or techniques and 

13 strategies for responding to a behavioral health cri14 sis; and 

15 ‘‘(2) procure training in alternatives to use of 

16 force, de-escalation tactics, or techniques and strate17 gies for responding to a behavioral health crisis from 

18 a certified entity. 

19 ‘‘(c) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the total amount appro21 priated to carry out this section for a fiscal year, the 

22 Attorney General shall allocate funds to each State 

23 in proportion to the total number of law enforcement 

24 officers in the State as compared to the total num25 ber of law enforcement officers in the United States. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TRAINING FOR STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT

2 OFFICERS.—Each State may retain from the total 

3 amount of funds provided to the State for the pur4 poses described in this section an amount that is not 

5 more than the amount that bears the same ratio to 

6 the total amount of funds as the ratio of— 

7 ‘‘(A) the total number of law enforcement 

8 officers employed by the State; to 

9 ‘‘(B) the total number of law enforcement 

10 officers employed by the State and units of 

11 local government within the State. 

12 ‘‘(3) TRAINING FOR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

13 OFFICERS.—A State shall make available to units of 

14 local government in the State for the purposes de15 scribed in this section the amounts remaining after 

16 a State retains funds under paragraph (2). At the 

17 request of a unit of local government, the State may 

18 use an amount of the funds allocated to the unit of 

19 local government under this paragraph to facilitate 

20 training in alternatives to use of force, de-escalation 

21 tactics, or techniques and strategies for responding 

22 to a behavioral health crisis to law enforcement offi23 cers employed by the unit of local government. 

24 ‘‘(d) REPORTING.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) UNITS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—Any 

2 unit of local government that receives funds from a 

3 State under subsection (c)(3) shall submit to the 

4 State a report indicating— 

5 ‘‘(A) the number of law enforcement offi6 cers that have completed training described in 

7 this section; 

8 ‘‘(B) the total number of law enforcement 

9 officers employed by the unit of local govern10 ment; and 

11 ‘‘(C) any barriers to providing the training. 

12 ‘‘(2) STATES.—Any State that receives funds 

13 under subsection (c)(2) shall, after receiving the re14 ports described in paragraph (1), submit to the At15 torney General— 

16 ‘‘(A) such reports; and 

17 ‘‘(B) a report by the State indicating— 

18 ‘‘(i) the number of law enforcement 

19 officers employed by the State that have 

20 completed training described in this sec21 tion; 

22 ‘‘(ii) the total number of law enforce23 ment officers employed by the State; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) any barriers to providing the 

25 training. 


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1 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.’’. 

Æ 


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