I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2429 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the staffing, transparency, 

and accountability of the law enforcement operations of the Department 

of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 8, 2021 

Miss RICE of New York (for herself and Mrs. RADEWAGEN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 

staffing, transparency, and accountability of the law enforcement operations of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 ‘‘VA Police Improve5 ment and Accountability Act’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2429 IH

1 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO TRANSPARENCY OF LAW EN2 FORCEMENT OPERATIONS OF DEPARTMENT 

3 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

4 (a) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Section 902 of 

5 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(e)(1) The Secretary shall publish on the internet 

8 website of each facility of the Department the following 

9 information with respect to the facility: 

10 ‘‘(A) Summaries and statistics covering the pre11 vious five-year period regarding— 

12 ‘‘(i) arrests made by and tickets issued by 

13 Department police officers; 

14 ‘‘(ii) prosecutions, ticketing, and other ac15 tions relating to such arrests; 

16 ‘‘(iii) the use of force and weapons dis17 charge by Department police officers; and 

18 ‘‘(iv) complaints, investigations, and dis19 ciplinary actions regarding Department police 

20 officers. 

21 ‘‘(B) Contact information for employees of the 

22 Department and the public to directly contact the 

23 police force of the facility, including for an indi24 vidual (or the representative, attorney, or authorized 

25 agent of the individual) to request information re26 garding the arrest, ticketing, detainment, use of 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2429 IH

1 force, or other police matters pertaining to that indi2 vidual. 

3 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall ensure that each police force 

4 of a facility of the Department is able to provide to an 

5 individual who contacts the police force pursuant to para6 graph (1)(B) the information described in such para7 graph.’’. 

8 (b) USE OF BODY WORN CAMERAS BY DEPARTMENT

9 POLICE OFFICERS.— 

10 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Subsection (a) of such 

11 section 902 is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(3) Beginning not later than 180 days after the date 

14 of the enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary shall 

15 require Department police officers to use cameras worn 

16 on the individual police officer’s person that record and 

17 store audio and video (commonly known as ‘body worn 

18 cameras’).’’. 

19 (2) GUIDANCE.—Not later than one year after 

20 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

21 shall issue, and make publicly available, guidance on 

22 the use of body worn cameras by Department police 

23 officers pursuant to section 902(a)(3) of title 38, 

24 United States Code, as amended by paragraph (1). 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2429 IH

1 (3) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall issue 

2 the guidance under paragraph (2) in consultation 

3 with veterans service organizations, civil rights orga4 nizations, law enforcement organizations, law en5 forcement accreditation organizations, privacy rights 

6 organizations, and other relevant organizations or 

7 experts. 

8 (c) DATA AND REPORTING ON POLICE INCIDENTS.— 

9 Section 902 of title 38, United States Code, as amended 

10 by subsection (a), is further amended by adding at the 

11 end the following new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(f) POLICE INCIDENTS.—(1)(A) The Secretary shall 

13 track and analyze the following information regarding the 

14 police force of the Department: 

15 ‘‘(i) Arrests made by and tickets 

16 issued by Department police officers. 

17 ‘‘(ii) Prosecutions, ticketing, and 

18 other actions relating to such arrests. 

19 ‘‘(iii) The use of force and weapons 

20 discharge. 

21 ‘‘(iv) Complaints, investigations, and 

22 disciplinary actions. 

23 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall carry out subparagraph (A) 

24 by implementing one or more Department-wide data sys25 tems. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2429 IH

1 ‘‘(2)(A) Beginning not later than one year after the 

2 date of the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary 

3 shall ensure that each incident described in subparagraph 

4 (C) is promptly reported to the Assistant Secretary with 

5 responsibility for operations, preparedness, security, and 

6 law enforcement functions. 

7 ‘‘(B) The Assistant Secretary shall, in a timely man8 ner— 

9 ‘‘(i) review each incident described in subpara10 graph (C)(i) that is reported under subparagraph 

11 (A); and 

12 ‘‘(ii) investigate each incident described in sub13 paragraph (C)(ii) that is reported under subpara14 graph (A). 

15 ‘‘(C) An incident described in this subparagraph is 

16 either of the following: 

17 ‘‘(i) An incident, including an allegation, of the 

18 use of force by a Department police officer. 

19 ‘‘(ii) An incident, including an allegation, of the 

20 use of force by a Department police officer that re21 sults in any person receiving medical attention.’’. 

22 (d) PLAN ON POLICE STAFFING.—The Secretary 

23 shall develop a plan that establishes minimum standards 

24 for police staffing at each facility of the Department, in25 cluding with respect to— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2429 IH

1 (1) the number of Department police officers 

2 assigned to each facility; and 

3 (2) the pay grades for such officers. 

4 (e) REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 

5 one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

6 Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Af7 fairs of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 

8 report on the implementation of this section and the 

9 amendments made by this section. The report shall include 

10 the following: 

11 (1) With respect to the staffing needs of the 

12 Department police force— 

13 (A) identification of the amount of turn14 over among Department police officers; 

15 (B) how the compensation for Department 

16 police officers affects such turnover; 

17 (C) a comparison of such compensation 

18 with the compensation provided to specialty po19 lice units, such as police units at medical facili20 ties and other police units in the same locality 

21 pay area; and 

22 (D) the plan developed under subsection 

23 (d), including— 

24 (i) estimates on the costs to carry out 

25 the plan; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2429 IH

1 (ii) any recommendations for legisla2 tive actions required to carry out the plan. 

3 (2) With respect to body worn cameras, a re4 view of the implementation and use of body worn 

5 cameras by Department police officers, including 

6 under pilot programs carried out by the Secretary 

7 during the five-year period preceding the date of the 

8 report. 

9 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) The term ‘‘body worn camera’’ means a 

11 camera worn on an individual police officer’s person 

12 that records and stores audio and video. 

13 (2) The term ‘‘Department police officer’’ 

14 means an employee of the Department of Veterans 

15 Affairs described in section 902(a) of title 38, 

16 United States Code. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS