II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4987 

To provide grants to enable nonprofit disability organizations to develop 

training programs that support safe interactions between law enforcement 

officers and individuals with disabilities and older individuals. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 9, 2020 

Mr. CASEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide grants to enable nonprofit disability organizations 

to develop training programs that support safe interactions between law enforcement officers and individuals 

with disabilities and older individuals. 

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 ‘‘Safe Interactions Act 

5 of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Individuals with disabilities are 2.5 times 

2 more likely to be victims of violent crime. 

3 (2) Individuals with disabilities are 3 times 

4 more likely to be victims of a serious crime. 

5 (3) Individuals with disabilities make up be6 tween one-third and one-half of all individuals killed 

7 by law enforcement officers. 

8 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

9 The purpose of this Act is to— 

10 (1) authorize the Attorney General to award 

11 competitive grants to nonprofit disability organiza12 tions to administer enhanced training programs to 

13 law enforcement officers who may encounter or pro14 vide services to covered individuals, including— 

15 (A) individuals with mental health disabil16 ities, including schizophrenia; 

17 (B) individuals who are deaf, hard of hear18 ing, or blind, are autistic, or have other intellec19 tual or developmental disabilities; 

20 (C) older individuals with dementia or 

21 other cognitive impairments; 

22 (D) individuals with any other disabilities 

23 or chronic health condition; and 


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1 (E) support, not replace, other specialized 

2 law enforcement officer training, such as crisis 

3 intervention team training; and 

4 (2)(A) increase the awareness, knowledge, and 

5 understanding of law enforcement officers about cov6 ered individuals and their unique needs and applica7 ble Federal civil rights laws; 

8 (B) reduce incidences of violence between law 

9 enforcement officers and covered individuals; 

10 (C) expand the knowledge of law enforcement 

11 officers of the signs of disabilities and effective ways 

12 to approach covered individuals to minimize situa13 tions of risk to— 

14 (i) those individuals; and 

15 (ii) the law enforcement officers who inter16 vene or provide services to those individuals; 

17 and 

18 (D) increase the knowledge of law enforcement 

19 officers of community resources available for covered 

20 individuals to ultimately limit interactions with law 

21 enforcement officers. 

22 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

23 In this Act: 

24 (1) COVERED GRANT.—The term ‘‘covered 

25 grant’’ means a grant awarded under section 5(a). 


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1 (2) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

2 individual’’ means— 

3 (A) an older individual; or 

4 (B) an individual with a disability. 

5 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti6 ty’’ means a nonprofit disability organization that 

7 has formed a partnership with a law enforcement 

8 agency or a consortium of law enforcement agencies 

9 to administer enhanced training programs to law en10 forcement officers of the agency or agencies on how 

11 to interact with covered individuals. 

12 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

13 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 

14 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu15 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

16 (5) INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY.—The term 

17 ‘‘individual with a disability’’ means any individual 

18 who has a disability, as defined in section 3 of the 

19 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

20 12102). 

21 (6) INITIAL TRAINING PROGRAM.—The term 

22 ‘‘initial training program’’ means a training program 

23 offered to new law enforcement officers under sec24 tion 5(d)(1)(A). 


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1 (7) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term 

2 ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ means any officer, agent, 

3 or employee of a State, political subdivision of a 

4 State, or Indian Tribe— 

5 (A) authorized by law or by a government 

6 agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, 

7 detection, or investigation of any violation of 

8 criminal law; or 

9 (B) authorized by law to supervise sen10 tenced criminal offenders. 

11 (8) NONPROFIT DISABILITY ORGANIZATION.— 

12 The term ‘‘nonprofit disability organization’’ means 

13 a nonprofit organization— 

14 (A) that serves covered individuals; and 

15 (B)(i) that is operated by a board of which 

16 the majority of members are covered individ17 uals; 

18 (ii) that has an advisory panel of which the 

19 majority of members are covered individuals; or 

20 (iii) the majority of the employees of which 

21 are covered individuals. 

22 (9) OLDER INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘older indi23 vidual’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

24 102 of the Older Americans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 

25 3002). 


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1 (10) PARTNER ACADEMY.—The term ‘‘partner 

2 academy’’, with respect to an eligible entity that re3 ceives a covered grant, means a law enforcement 

4 training academy with which the eligible entity part5 ners to administer an initial training program, as 

6 described in section 5(b)(1). 

7 (11) PARTNER AGENCY.—The term ‘‘partner 

8 agency’’, with respect to an eligible entity that re9 ceives a covered grant, means the law enforcement 

10 agency with which the eligible entity partners, or 

11 that is a member of a consortium with which the eli12 gible entity partners, to administer enhanced train13 ing programs to law enforcement officers of the 

14 agency on how to interact with covered individuals. 

15 (12) REFRESHER TRAINING PROGRAM.—The 

16 term ‘‘refresher training program’’ means a training 

17 program offered to existing law enforcement officers 

18 under section 5(d)(1)(B). 

19 SEC. 5. GRANT PROGRAM. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall award 

21 competitive grants to nonprofit disability organizations to 

22 administer enhanced training programs to law enforce23 ment officers who may encounter or provide services to 

24 covered individuals. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking a cov2 ered grant shall submit to the Attorney General an appli3 cation that— 

4 (1)(A) identifies a law enforcement training 

5 academy with which the eligible entity will partner 

6 to administer an initial training program; and 

7 (B) includes a memorandum of understanding 

8 entered into between the eligible entity and the law 

9 enforcement training academy; 

10 (2) describes any training on how to interact 

11 with covered individuals that is provided, as of the 

12 date of submission of the application— 

13 (A) by the partner academy to new law en14 forcement officers; or 

15 (B) by any partner agency to existing law 

16 enforcement officers; 

17 (3) describes the learning objectives of the 

18 training programs that the eligible entity will admin19 ister using the grant; 

20 (4) describes the activities that will be carried 

21 out under the grant; 

22 (5) includes a timeline of the activities de23 scribed in paragraph (4); and 

24 (6) demonstrates expertise in training related to 

25 covered individuals. 


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1 (c) PREFERENCES.—In awarding covered grants, the 

2 Attorney General shall ensure— 

3 (1) geographic diversity of grant recipients, in4 cluding grant recipients that serve rural localities; 

5 and 

6 (2) that the training funded by the grant is 

7 provided to multiple levels of law enforcement agen8 cies, including local, county, State, and Tribal agen9 cies. 

10 (d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

11 (1) MANDATORY USES.—An eligible entity that 

12 receives a covered grant shall use the grant funds 

13 to— 

14 (A) modify the training provided by the 

15 partner academy to new law enforcement offi16 cers of each partner agency so that the acad17 emy provides not fewer than 8 hours of training 

18 on how to interact with covered individuals and 

19 applicable Federal civil rights laws, including 

20 not fewer than 4 hours of interactive learning 

21 taught by covered individuals; and 

22 (B) develop and implement an enhanced 

23 training program for existing law enforcement 

24 officers of each partner agency on safe, effecVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:34 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4987.IS S4987

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1 tive, and respectful interactions with covered in2 dividuals— 

3 (i) that includes— 

4 (I) awareness of and education 

5 about covered individuals, including— 

6 (aa) individuals with mental 

7 health disabilities, including 

8 schizophrenia; 

9 (bb) individuals who are 

10 deaf, hard of hearing, or blind, 

11 are autistic, or have other intel12 lectual or developmental disabil13 ities; 

14 (cc) older individuals with 

15 dementia or other cognitive im16 pairments; and 

17 (dd) individuals with any 

18 other disabilities or chronic 

19 health condition; 

20 (II) escalation avoidance and de21 escalation techniques to be used when 

22 interacting with covered individuals, 

23 including procedures a law enforce24 ment officer should follow to ensure 


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1 the safety and calmness of a covered 

2 individual; and 

3 (III) communication strategies to 

4 be used when interacting with covered 

5 individuals, including individuals who 

6 do not use speech to communicate; 

7 (ii) that utilizes— 

8 (I) instructors who are covered 

9 individuals; or 

10 (II) guest instructors or speakers 

11 who are covered individuals; and 

12 (iii) in which each law enforcement of13 ficer participates not less frequently than 

14 once every 2 years. 

15 (2) OPTIONAL USES.—An eligible entity that re16 ceives a covered grant may use the grant funds to— 

17 (A) expand an existing training program 

18 regarding interaction with covered individuals 

19 that was provided to law enforcement officers 

20 by a nonprofit disability organization in con21 junction with the partner academy or a partner 

22 agency before the eligible entity received the 

23 grant; 

24 (B) reimburse staff members of the eligible 

25 entity for mileage and travel time expended to 


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1 attend an initial training program or refresher 

2 training program; 

3 (C) develop a model of training that uti4 lizes volunteer instructors, except that the eligi5 ble entity shall pay any instructor, including a 

6 guest instructor, who is a covered individual; or 

7 (D) acquire a computer system or software 

8 needed for the training programs. 

9 (e) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—An eligible enti10 ty that receives a covered grant shall use the grant funds 

11 to supplement, and not supplant, any funds that would, 

12 in the absence of the grant funds, be made available from 

13 a State, political subdivision of a State, or Indian Tribe 

14 for the activities described in subsection (d). 

15 (f) ADVISORY COUNCIL.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that re17 ceives a covered grant shall establish an advisory 

18 council composed of 15 members to advise the eligi19 ble entity on activities carried out using the grant. 

20 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—An advisory council estab21 lished under paragraph (1) shall— 

22 (A) be composed of— 

23 (i) 1 representative of the eligible en24 tity who is a covered individual and shall 

25 serve as chair of the advisory council; 


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1 (ii) 1 representative of the State law 

2 enforcement training academy or law en3 forcement agency for the State that the eli4 gible entity serves, who shall serve as vice 

5 chair of the advisory council; 

6 (iii) 4 representatives of community7 based organizations that support individ8 uals with disabilities, not fewer than 2 of 

9 whom have a disability; 

10 (iv) 2 representatives of community11 based organizations that support older 

12 adults; 

13 (v) 2 State officials or their designees; 

14 (vi) 2 representatives of a State public 

15 safety agency; and 

16 (vii) 3 members of the public with 

17 knowledge of individuals with disabilities 

18 and older adults with cognitive impair19 ment, including not fewer than 2 self-advo20 cates or family members of a covered indi21 vidual; and 

22 (B) include a majority of representation 

23 from racial and ethnic minority communities. 

24 (3) DUTIES.—An advisory council established 

25 under paragraph (1) shall— 


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1 (A) advise the eligible entity and provide 

2 general oversight of grant activities carried out 

3 by the eligible entity, including development of 

4 the training curriculum and implementation of 

5 the training programs; and 

6 (B) provide the advisory council with rec7 ommendations for the sustainability and expan8 sion of the training programs, such as the de9 velopment of a train-the-trainer model. 

10 (g) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

11 (1) REPORT TO ATTORNEY GENERAL BY ELIGI12 BLE ENTITIES.—Not later than 1 year after receiv13 ing a covered grant, and each year thereafter for the 

14 duration of the grant period, an eligible entity that 

15 receives a covered grant shall submit the following 

16 information to the Attorney General with respect to 

17 the preceding year: 

18 (A) The number of individuals who bene19 fitted from the training programs provided by 

20 the eligible entity using grant funds, includ21 ing— 

22 (i) the number of individuals who 

23 were trained through the training pro24 grams, including the total number of new 


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1 law enforcement officers who participated 

2 in the initial training program; and 

3 (ii) the estimated number of individ4 uals who were impacted by the training 

5 programs. 

6 (B) Demographic data, including age, sex, 

7 and race, for the law enforcement officers who 

8 received the training. 

9 (C) The number of partner agencies that 

10 participated in the training programs. 

11 (D) Each partner law enforcement agency, 

12 including the city and State in which the head13 quarters and each local office of the agency are 

14 located, and the result of that partnership. 

15 (E) Any recommendations for improving 

16 the grant program carried out under this Act. 

17 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS BY ATTORNEY GEN18 ERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the date of en19 actment of this Act, and each year thereafter, the 

20 Attorney General shall submit a report on the grant 

21 program carried out under this Act, with respect to 

22 the preceding year, to— 

23 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

24 Senate; 


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1 (B) the Committee on Appropriations of 

2 the Senate; 

3 (C) the Special Committee on Aging of the 

4 Senate; 

5 (D) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

6 House of Representatives; and 

7 (E) the Committee on Appropriations of 

8 the House of Representatives. 

9 (h) EVALUATION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

11 use not more than 2 percent of the amounts made 

12 available under section 6 for administrative purposes 

13 and for an evaluation of the grant program carried 

14 out under this Act. 

15 (2) INDEPENDENT EVALUATOR.—The Attorney 

16 General shall enter into a contract with a third-party 

17 entity that is unrelated to any recipient of a covered 

18 grant to carry out the evaluation under paragraph 

19 (1). 

20 (3) CONTENTS.—In carrying out the evaluation 

21 under paragraph (1), the third-party entity con22 tracted under paragraph (2) shall report to the At23 torney General on— 


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1 (A) the demographic characteristics of the 

2 population served by the training conducted by 

3 eligible entities using covered grants; and 

4 (B) any change in the occurrence of vio5 lence in the communities served by training de6 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

7 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Attor9 ney General $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

10 through 2024 to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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