II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4220 

To limit the use of Federal law enforcement officers for crowd control, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2020 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. 

VAN HOLLEN, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BROWN, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. 

BALDWIN, Mr. KING, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. 

WARREN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, and Mr. BENNET) introduced the following 

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

A BILL 

To limit the use of Federal law enforcement officers for 

crowd control, 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 ‘‘Preventing Authori5 tarian Policing Tactics on America’s Streets Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON USE OF FEDERAL LAW ENFORCE7 MENT OFFICERS FOR CROWD CONTROL. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘Federal law enforcement officer’’ 

2 means— 

3 (A) an employee or officer in a position in 

4 the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of 

5 the Federal Government who is authorized by 

6 law to engage in or supervise a law enforcement 

7 function; or 

8 (B) an employee or officer of a contractor 

9 or subcontractor (at any tier) of an agency in 

10 the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of 

11 the Federal Government who is authorized by 

12 law or under the contract with the agency to 

13 engage in or supervise a law enforcement func14 tion; 

15 (2) the term ‘‘law enforcement function’’ means 

16 the prevention, detection, or investigation of, or the 

17 prosecution or incarceration of any person for, any 

18 violation of law; and 

19 (3) the term ‘‘member of an armed force’’ 

20 means a member of any of the armed forces, as de21 fined in section 101(a)(4) of title 10, United States 

22 Code, or a member of the National Guard, as de23 fined in section 101(3) of title 32, United States 

24 Code. 

25 (b) REQUIRED IDENTIFICATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal law enforce2 ment officer or member of an armed force who is en3 gaged in any form of crowd control, riot control, or 

4 arrest or detainment of individuals engaged in an 

5 act of civil disobedience, demonstration, protest, or 

6 riot in the United States shall at all times display 

7 identifying information in a clearly visible fashion, 

8 which shall include the Federal agency and the last 

9 name or unique identifier of the Federal law enforce10 ment officer or for a member of an armed force, the 

11 last name or unique identifier and rank of the mem12 ber. 

13 (2) SPECIFIC PROHIBITIONS.— 

14 (A) COVERING OF IDENTIFYING INFORMA15 TION.—A Federal law enforcement officer or 

16 member of an armed force may not tape over 

17 or otherwise obscure or conceal the identifying 

18 information required under paragraph (1) while 

19 the officer or member is engaged in any form 

20 of law enforcement activity described in para21 graph (1). 

22 (B) USE OF UNMARKED VEHICLES.—A 

23 Federal law enforcement officer or member of 

24 an armed force may not use an unmarked vehi25 cle for the apprehension, detention, or arrest of 


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1 civilians while the officer or member is engaged 

2 in any form of law enforcement activity de3 scribed in paragraph (1). 

4 (c) LIMITATION ON CROWD CONTROL AUTHORITY.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para6 graph (2), a Federal law enforcement officer or 

7 member of an armed force may only be authorized 

8 to perform any form of crowd control, riot control, 

9 or arrest or detainment of individuals engaged in an 

10 act of civil disobedience, demonstration, protest, or 

11 riot on Federal property or in the immediate vicinity 

12 thereof, which shall include the sidewalk and the 

13 public street immediately adjacent to any Federal 

14 building or property. 

15 (2) EXCEPTIONS.— 

16 (A) STATE AND LOCAL REQUEST FOR AS17 SISTANCE.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a 

18 Federal law enforcement officer or member of 

19 an armed force if the Governor of a State and 

20 the head of a unit of local government jointly 

21 request, in writing, Federal law enforcement 

22 support. 

23 (B) INSURRECTION ACT.—If chapter 13 of 

24 title 10, United States Code (commonly known 


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1 as the ‘‘Insurrection Act of 1807’’) is invoked, 

2 paragraph (1) shall not apply. 

3 (d) LIMITATION ON ARREST AUTHORITY.—It shall be 

4 unlawful for a Federal law enforcement officer or member 

5 of an armed force to arrest an individual in the United 

6 States if the Federal law enforcement officer or member 

7 of an armed force is conducting a law enforcement func8 tion in violation of subsection (b) or (c). 

9 (e) NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC.—Not later than 24 

10 hours after deployment of a Federal law enforcement offi11 cer or member of an armed force in response to any crowd 

12 control incident, riot, or public disturbance, the Federal 

13 agency or armed force responsible for such deployment 

14 shall publish prominent public notice on that public facing 

15 website of the agency or armed force that includes the fol16 lowing information: 

17 (1) The date of deployment of personnel for 

18 crowd control purposes. 

19 (2) The number of Federal law enforcement of20 ficers of the agency or members of the armed force 

21 in each city, town, or locality functioning in a law 

22 enforcement capacity. 

23 (3) A description of the specific nature of the 

24 mission. 


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1 (4) The location of any civilians being detained 

2 by the Federal law enforcement officers or members 

3 of the armed force deployed, and under whose cus4 tody the civilians are being held. 

5 (5) A copy of a written request for assistance 

6 described in subsection (c)(2)(A), if such request 

7 was made. 

Æ 


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