II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4962 

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

authorize a grant program to assist State and local law enforcement 

agencies in purchasing body-worn cameras and securely storing and 

maintaining recorded data for law enforcement officers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 3, 2020 

Mr. SCHATZ 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 authorize a grant program to assist 

State and local law enforcement agencies in purchasing 

body-worn cameras and securely storing and maintaining 

recorded data for law enforcement officers. 

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 ‘‘Police Creating Ac5 countability by Making Effective Recording Available Act 

6 of 2020’’ or the ‘‘Police CAMERA Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR LAW ENFORCE2 MENT BODY-WORN CAMERAS. 

3 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

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

5 by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘PART OO—MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR 

7 LAW ENFORCEMENT BODY-WORN CAMERAS 

8 AND RECORDED DATA 

9 ‘‘SEC. 3051. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau of 

11 Justice Assistance (in this section referred to as the ‘Di12 rector’) may make grants to States, units of local govern13 ment, and Indian tribes to purchase or lease body-worn 

14 cameras for use by State, local, and tribal law enforcement 

15 officers (as defined in section 2503) and expenses related 

16 to the implementation of a body-worn camera program in 

17 order to— 

18 ‘‘(1) deter excessive force, and unlawful stops, 

19 searches, and arrests; 

20 ‘‘(2) improve supervision, accountability, and 

21 transparency of use of force by law enforcement offi22 cers; 

23 ‘‘(3) assist in responding to complaints against 

24 law enforcement officers; and 

25 ‘‘(4) improve evidence collection, data collection, 

26 and retention. 


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1 ‘‘(b) DURATION OF GRANTS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded under this 

3 part shall be 2 years in duration. 

4 ‘‘(2) DISBURSEMENT OF GRANT AMOUNT.—In 

5 disbursing a grant awarded to an entity under this 

6 section— 

7 ‘‘(A) upon awarding the grant to the enti8 ty, the Director shall disburse 50 percent of the 

9 total grant amount to the entity; and 

10 ‘‘(B) upon demonstration by the entity of 

11 completion of the requirements in subsection 

12 (d)(1), the Director shall disburse the remain13 ing 50 percent of the total grant amount to the 

14 entity. 

15 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this 

16 section shall be— 

17 ‘‘(1) distributed directly to the State, unit of 

18 local government, or Indian tribe; and 

19 ‘‘(2) used solely for— 

20 ‘‘(A) the purchase or lease of body-worn 

21 cameras and voice recorders for law enforce22 ment officers authorized to work in the jurisdic23 tion of the grantee, including use while on pa24 trol or during a secondary employment; 


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1 ‘‘(B) any costs relating to the implementa2 tion of a body-worn camera program, including 

3 law enforcement officer training or the storage, 

4 maintenance, or security of recorded data col5 lected under a body-worn camera program; or 

6 ‘‘(C) implementing policies or procedures 

7 to comply with the requirements described in 

8 subsection (d). 

9 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall award a 

11 grant under this section to a State, unit of local gov12 ernment, or Indian tribe requesting the grant that 

13 commits to, not later than 30 days after the date on 

14 which the grant is disbursed— 

15 ‘‘(A) establishing and enforcing policies 

16 and procedures in accordance with the require17 ments described in paragraph (2) before law en18 forcement officers use or operation of body19 worn cameras; 

20 ‘‘(B) ensuring law enforcement officers fol21 low such policies and procedures through de22 fined accountability metrics and systems, in23 cluding supervisors’ routine audits of recorded 

24 video and audio; 


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1 ‘‘(C) adopting consistent and proportional 

2 disciplinary actions when policy violations occur, 

3 and maintain detailed personnel and discipli4 nary records that reflect all violations of the 

5 policies and procedures described herein; 

6 ‘‘(D) adopting recorded data collection and 

7 retention protocols as described in paragraph 

8 (3) before law enforcement officers use of body9 worn cameras; 

10 ‘‘(E) making the policies and protocols de11 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (D) available 

12 to the public; 

13 ‘‘(F) complying with the requirements for 

14 use of recorded data under paragraph (5); 

15 ‘‘(G) ensuring the grantee’s department 

16 uses a fully functioning and up-to-date collec17 tion database, that adheres to the requirements 

18 of this part; and 

19 ‘‘(H) prohibiting the use or implementation 

20 of facial recognition and biometric technology. 

21 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.— 

22 An entity receiving a grant under this section 

23 shall— 

24 ‘‘(A) solicit, document, and incorporate 

25 input from impacted persons, communities, or 


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1 organizations, including representatives of local 

2 civil rights organizations and victims of police 

3 use of force or unlawful stops, searches, and ar4 rests and publish for public view policies and 

5 protocols for— 

6 ‘‘(i) the safe and effective use of body7 worn cameras, including the activation and 

8 termination of recordings, including the ac9 tivation of a body-worn camera when a law 

10 enforcement officer removes the weapon of 

11 the officer from the holster; 

12 ‘‘(ii) the secure storage, handling, re13 tention, and destruction of recorded data 

14 collected by body-worn cameras; 

15 ‘‘(iii) the use of recorded data in mak16 ing incident reports, including a prohibi17 tion on the viewing of recorded data during 

18 the course of an investigation and prior to 

19 filing reports, making statements, or par20 ticipating in interviews, by all the officers 

21 and supervisors present during the inci22 dent; 

23 ‘‘(iv) protecting the privacy rights of 

24 any individual who may be recorded by a 

25 body-worn camera; 


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1 ‘‘(v) prohibiting a law enforcement of2 ficer from viewing the recorded footage be3 fore making an initial written report or 

4 statement, if that officer is under inves5 tigation; 

6 ‘‘(vi) the release of any recorded data 

7 collected by a body-worn camera in accord8 ance with the open records laws, if any, of 

9 the State; and 

10 ‘‘(vii) making recorded data available 

11 to prosecutors, defense attorneys, other of12 ficers of the court, recorded subjects, and 

13 the public in accordance with paragraph 

14 (5); and 

15 ‘‘(B) conduct evaluations of the security of 

16 the storage and handling of the body-worn cam17 era data not less frequently than once every 6 

18 months. 

19 ‘‘(3) RECORDED DATA COLLECTION AND RE20 TENTION PROTOCOL.—The recorded data collection 

21 and retention protocol described in this paragraph is 

22 a protocol that— 

23 ‘‘(A) requires— 

24 ‘‘(i) a law enforcement officer who is 

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1 ginning of an activity, to provide an expla2 nation if an activity that is required to be 

3 recorded by the body-mounted camera is 

4 not recorded by activating the body cam5 era’s visual and audio, and state on cam6 era that the officer will not record the fol7 lowing activity, and the officer’s justifica8 tion, before terminating the recording; 

9 ‘‘(ii) periodic auditing of recorded 

10 data by supervisors to ensure compliance 

11 with policy; 

12 ‘‘(iii) a law enforcement officer who is 

13 wearing a body-mounted camera to obtain 

14 verbal consent, captured, and recorded on 

15 the body camera, from a crime victim or 

16 witness before interviewing the victim or 

17 witness; 

18 ‘‘(iv) the system used to store re19 corded data collected by body-worn cam20 eras shall automatically log all viewing, 

21 modification, or deletion of stored recorded 

22 data and shall prevent the unauthorized 

23 access or disclosure of stored recorded 

24 data; 


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1 ‘‘(v) any law enforcement officer be 

2 prohibited from accessing the stored data 

3 without explicit authorization from a com4 manding officer, and only when the officer 

5 has an authorized purpose to view or listen 

6 to such footage; 

7 ‘‘(vi) during an incident investigation, 

8 a law enforcement officer shall— 

9 ‘‘(I) be required to provide an 

10 initial written statement, that may not 

11 be later edited in any form, before re12 viewing any recorded data involving— 

13 ‘‘(aa) an officer-involved 

14 shooting; 

15 ‘‘(bb) an in-custody death; 

16 ‘‘(cc) a criminal matter; 

17 ‘‘(dd) a critical incident; or 

18 ‘‘(ee) any other investigation 

19 conducted pursuant to an inter20 nal or civilian allegation of mis21 conduct; and 

22 ‘‘(II) have an opportunity to re23 view recorded data depicting the inci24 dent with a representative or attorney, 

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1 view, and providing the initial written 

2 statement described in subclause (I); 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(vii) the law enforcement agency to 

5 collect and report annual statistical data 

6 on— 

7 ‘‘(I) all incidences of use of force, 

8 including an officer’s display or dis9 charge of a firearm, disaggregated by 

10 race, ethnicity, gender, and age of the 

11 victim, type of force used, and any re12 sulting charges; 

13 ‘‘(II) the number of all com14 plaints filed against law enforcement 

15 officers, disaggregated by the type of 

16 action complained of and the race, 

17 ethnicity, gender, and age of the com18 plainant; 

19 ‘‘(III) the disposition of all com20 plaints filed against law enforcement 

21 officers, including any discipline im22 posed; 

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1 tion in investigations of crimes, disag2 gregated by the type of crime; and 

3 ‘‘(V) any other additional statis4 tical data that the Director deter5 mines should be collected and re6 ported; 

7 ‘‘(B) allows an individual, including anony8 mously or on behalf of a third party, to file a 

9 complaint, both online, via telephone, or in-per10 son, with a law enforcement agency relating to 

11 the improper use of body-worn cameras, receive 

12 a complaint tracking number, and have all evi13 dence relating to the complaint reviewed and 

14 properly investigated before the grantee makes 

15 a disposition on the complaint; and 

16 ‘‘(C) complies with any other requirements 

17 established by the Director. 

18 ‘‘(4) REPORTING.—Statistical data required to 

19 be collected under paragraph (3)(A)(vi) shall be re20 ported annually to the Director, who shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) establish a standardized reporting 

22 system for statistical data collected under this 

23 program; 

24 ‘‘(B) establish a national database of sta25 tistical data recorded under this program; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) ensure that statistical data is made 

2 publicly available, not later than 15 days of re3 ceipt of the report, in accessible and alternative 

4 formats, including on the website of the grantee 

5 and in print form at various locations. 

6 ‘‘(5) USE OR TRANSFER OF RECORDED DATA.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Recorded data col8 lected by an entity receiving a grant under this 

9 section for a body-mounted camera may be used 

10 in internal and external investigations of mis11 conduct by a law enforcement agency or officer, 

12 general supervision, integrity audits, and train13 ing purposes. The Director shall establish rules 

14 to ensure that the recorded data is used only 

15 for the purposes described in this subpara16 graph. 

17 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER.—Ex18 cept as provided in subparagraph (E), an entity 

19 receiving a grant under this section may not 

20 transfer any recorded data collected by the enti21 ty from a body-mounted camera to another law 

22 enforcement or intelligence agency. 

23 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC ACCESS.—An entity receiving 

24 a grant under this section shall implement a 


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1 process that at a minimum allows the public to 

2 obtain recorded data collected by the entity. 

3 ‘‘(D) RECORDED SUBJECT ACCESS.—An 

4 entity receiving a grant under this section shall 

5 implement an expedited process that allows a 

6 recorded subject to obtain recorded data col7 lected by the entity from an incident involving 

8 the recorded subject. 

9 ‘‘(E) EXCEPTIONS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION.—An 

11 entity receiving a grant under this section 

12 may transfer recorded data collected by the 

13 entity from a body-mounted camera to an14 other law enforcement agency or intel15 ligence agency for use in a criminal inves16 tigation if the requesting law enforcement 

17 or intelligence agency has reasonable sus18 picion that the requested data contains evi19 dence relating to the crime being inves20 tigated. 

21 ‘‘(ii) CIVIL RIGHTS CLAIMS.—An enti22 ty receiving a grant under this section may 

23 transfer recorded data collected by the law 

24 enforcement agency from a body-mounted 

25 camera to another law enforcement agency, 


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1 body, institution, or individual for use in 

2 an investigation of any right, privilege, or 

3 immunity secured or protected by the Con4 stitution or laws of the United States, or 

5 to evaluate, either in individual or cumu6 lative form, whether the grantee’s practices 

7 or patters violate any right, privilege, or 

8 immunity secured or protected by the Con9 stitution or laws of the United States. 

10 ‘‘(e) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para12 graph (3), the Federal share of the cost of a pro13 gram carried out using a grant under this part may 

14 not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the pro15 gram. 

16 ‘‘(2) INDIAN ASSISTANCE.—Any funds appro17 priated by Congress for the activities of any agency 

18 of an Indian tribal government or the Bureau of In19 dian Affairs performing law enforcement functions 

20 on any Indian lands may be used to provide the non21 Federal share of the matching requirement described 

22 in paragraph (1). 

23 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—The Director may waive, in 

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1 scribed in paragraph (1) in the case of fiscal hard2 ship, as determined by the Director. 

3 ‘‘(f) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—For each of fiscal 

4 years 2020 through 2022, of the amounts appropriated 

5 to the Bureau of Justice Assistance, $30,000,000 shall be 

6 used to carry out this part. 

7 ‘‘(g) AUDIT AND ASSESSMENT.— 

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

9 the date of enactment of this part, the Director of 

10 the Office of Audit, Assessment, and Management 

11 shall perform an assessment of the grant program 

12 and the policies and protocols of the grantees. 

13 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—Not later than September 1 of 

14 each year, beginning 1 year after the date of enact15 ment of this part, each recipient of a grant under 

16 this part shall submit to the Director of the Office 

17 of Audit, Assessment, and Management a detailed 

18 report that— 

19 ‘‘(A) describes the progress of the body20 worn camera program, including data dem21 onstrating the frequency of which the grantee 

22 and its employees failed to activate a body cam23 era when required; and 

24 ‘‘(B) contains recommendations on ways in 

25 which the Federal Government, States, and 


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1 units of local government can further support 

2 the implementation of the program. 

3 ‘‘(3) REVIEW.—The Director of the Office of 

4 Audit, Assessment, and Management shall evaluate 

5 the policies and protocols of the grantees and take 

6 such steps as the Director of the Office of Audit, As7 sessment, and Management determines necessary to 

8 ensure compliance with the program. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 3052. BODY-WORN CAMERA TRAINING TOOLKIT. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish and 

11 maintain a toolkit for law enforcement agencies, academia, 

12 and other relevant entities to provide training and tech13 nical assistance, including best practices for implementa14 tion, model policies and procedures, and research mate15 rials. 

16 ‘‘(b) MECHANISM.—In establishing the toolkit re17 quired to under subsection (a), the Director may consoli18 date research, practices, templates, and tools that have 

19 been developed by experts, law enforcement agencies, and 

20 civil rights organizations across the United States. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 3053. APPLICATIONS. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To request a grant under this 

23 part, the chief executive of a State, unit of local govern24 ment, or Indian tribe shall submit an application to the 


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1 Director in a form and containing information as the Di2 rector may reasonably require. 

3 ‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after 

4 the date of the enactment of this part, the Director shall 

5 promulgate regulations to implement this part, including 

6 the information that shall be included and the require7 ments that the States, units of local government, and In8 dian tribes must meet in submitting the applications re9 quired under this section. 

10 ‘‘SEC. 3054. STUDY. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

12 date on which all grants are awarded under this part, the 

13 Director, in consultation with the National Institute of 

14 Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics, shall conduct 

15 a study on— 

16 ‘‘(1) the efficacy of body-worn cameras in deter17 ring excessive force, and unlawful stops, searches, 

18 and arrests by law enforcement officers, including a 

19 review of relevant data and documentation, disaggre20 gated by race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, age, 

21 and disability of the victims; 

22 ‘‘(2) the impact of body-worn cameras on the 

23 accountability, supervision, and transparency of the 

24 use of force, unlawful stops, searches, and arrests by 

25 law enforcement officers; 


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1 ‘‘(3) the impact of body-worn cameras on re2 sponses to and adjudications of complaints of exces3 sive force and unlawful stops, searches, and arrests; 

4 ‘‘(4) the effect of the use of body-worn cameras 

5 on the safety of law enforcement officers on patrol; 

6 ‘‘(5) the effect of the use of body-worn cameras 

7 on public safety; 

8 ‘‘(6) the impact of body-worn cameras on evi9 dence collection for criminal investigations; 

10 ‘‘(7) issues relating to the secure storage and 

11 handling of recorded data from the body-worn cam12 eras; 

13 ‘‘(8) issues relating to the privacy of citizens 

14 and officers recorded on body-worn cameras; 

15 ‘‘(9) issues relating to the public’s access to 

16 body-worn camera footage; 

17 ‘‘(10) issues related to the use of body-warn 

18 cameras while officers are engaged in off-duty or 

19 secondary employment; 

20 ‘‘(11) the need for proper training of law en21 forcement officers that use body-worn cameras; 

22 ‘‘(12) best practices in the development of pro23 tocols for the safe and effective use of body-worn 

24 cameras; 


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1 ‘‘(13) a review of law enforcement agencies that 

2 found body-worn cameras to be unhelpful in the op3 erations of the agencies; 

4 ‘‘(14) a review of law enforcement agency use 

5 of body-worn cameras disaggregated by race and 

6 ethnicity, national origin, gender, age, and disability 

7 of the officers; and 

8 ‘‘(15) any other factors that the Director deter9 mines are relevant in evaluating the efficacy of body10 worn cameras. 

11 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 

12 date on which the study required under subsection (a) is 

13 completed, the Director shall submit to Congress a report 

14 on the study, which shall include any policy recommenda15 tions that the Director considers appropriate.’’. 

Æ 


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