I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7384 

To reform policing, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2020 

Mr. CHABOT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reform policing, 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 ‘‘Safer Communities 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LAW ENFORCEMENT RECORDS RETENTION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part E of title I of the Omnibus 

8 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

9 10151 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘Subpart 4—Law Enforcement Records Retention 

2 ‘‘SEC. 531. LAW ENFORCEMENT RECORDS RETENTION. 

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

4 ‘‘(1) the term ‘applicable covered system’, with 

5 respect to a law enforcement agency, means the cov6 ered system of the covered government of which the 

7 law enforcement agency is part; 

8 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered government’ means a 

9 State or unit of local government; 

10 ‘‘(3) the term ‘covered system’ means a system 

11 maintained by a covered government under sub12 section (b); and 

13 ‘‘(4) the term ‘disciplinary record’— 

14 ‘‘(A) means any written document regard15 ing an allegation of misconduct by a law en16 forcement officer that— 

17 ‘‘(i) is substantiated and is adju18 dicated by a government agency or court; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(ii) results in— 

21 ‘‘(I) adverse action by the em22 ploying law enforcement agency; or 

23 ‘‘(II) criminal charges; and 

24 ‘‘(B) does not include a written document 

25 regarding an allegation described in subpara26 graph (A) if the adjudication described in 


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1 clause (i) of that subparagraph has been over2 turned on appeal. 

3 ‘‘(b) RECORDS RETENTION REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) RECORDS RETENTION SYSTEM.—A covered 

5 government that receives funds under this part shall 

6 maintain a system for sharing disciplinary records of 

7 law enforcement officers that meets the require8 ments under paragraph (2). 

9 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—In administering a cov10 ered system, a covered government shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) retain each disciplinary record or in12 ternal investigation record regarding a law en13 forcement officer that is prepared by a law en14 forcement agency of the covered government; 

15 ‘‘(B) retain a record of each award or com16 mendation regarding a law enforcement officer 

17 that is prepared by a law enforcement agency 

18 of the covered government; 

19 ‘‘(C) establish a policy that ensures that 

20 each record included in the covered system is 

21 retained and accessible for not less than 30 

22 years; 

23 ‘‘(D) allow a law enforcement officer, coun24 sel for a law enforcement officer, or the repVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:52 Jul 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7384.IH H7384

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1 resentative organization of a law enforcement 

2 officer to— 

3 ‘‘(i) submit information to the covered 

4 system relating to a disciplinary record or 

5 internal investigation record regarding the 

6 law enforcement officer that is retained 

7 under subparagraph (A); or 

8 ‘‘(ii) obtain access to the covered sys9 tem in order to review a disciplinary record 

10 or internal investigation record described 

11 in clause (i); 

12 ‘‘(E) allow any Federal, State, or local law 

13 enforcement agency to access any record in14 cluded in the covered system for the purpose of 

15 making a decision to hire a law enforcement of16 ficer; 

17 ‘‘(F) require that, before hiring a law en18 forcement officer, a representative of a law en19 forcement agency of the covered government 

20 with hiring authority— 

21 ‘‘(i) search the applicable covered sys22 tem of each law enforcement agency that 

23 has employed the applicant as a law en24 forcement officer in order to determine 

25 whether the applicant has a disciplinary 


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1 record, internal investigation record, or 

2 record of an award or commendation on 

3 file; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) if a record described in clause (i) 

5 exists, review the record in full before hir6 ing the law enforcement officer; and 

7 ‘‘(G) prohibit access to the covered system 

8 by any individual other than an individual who 

9 is authorized to access the covered system for 

10 purposes of— 

11 ‘‘(i) submitting records or other infor12 mation to the covered system as described 

13 in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (D); or 

14 ‘‘(ii) reviewing records or other infor15 mation in the covered system as described 

16 in subparagraphs (E) and (F). 

17 ‘‘(c) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered government may 

19 not receive funds under section 505, 506, 515, or 

20 516 unless the covered government is in compliance 

21 with subsection (b) of this section. 

22 ‘‘(2) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated 

23 under a section referred to in paragraph (1) to a 

24 covered government for failure to comply with sub25 section (b) shall be reallocated under that section to 


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1 covered governments that have complied with sub2 section (b). 

3 ‘‘(d) ONE-TIME GRANT.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall 

5 award a grant to each State, using an apportion6 ment formula that reflects the differences between 

7 each State, to be used by the State and units of 

8 local government within the State to establish cov9 ered systems. 

10 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant award11 ed to a State under paragraph (1) shall be not less 

12 than $1,000,000. 

13 ‘‘(3) DIRECT APPROPRIATIONS.—For the pur14 pose of making grants under this subsection, there 

15 is authorized to be appropriated, and there is appro16 priated, out of any money in the Treasury not other17 wise appropriated, $100,000,000, to remain avail18 able until expended. 

19 ‘‘(e) INDEMNIFICATION.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The United States shall in21 demnify and hold harmless a covered government, 

22 and any law enforcement agency thereof, against 

23 any claim (including reasonable expenses of litiga24 tion or settlement) by any person or entity related 

25 to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the retention of records in a covered 

2 system as required under subsection (b); or 

3 ‘‘(B) the review of records included in a 

4 covered system as required under subsection 

5 (b). 

6 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

7 apply to the release of a record— 

8 ‘‘(A) to a non-law enforcement entity or in9 dividual; or 

10 ‘‘(B) for a purpose other than making a 

11 decision to hire a law enforcement officer.’’. 

12 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 531(c) of title I of 

13 the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Acts of 

14 1968, as added by subsection (a), shall take effect on Oc15 tober 1 of the first fiscal year beginning after the date 

16 of enactment of this Act. 

17 SEC. 3. DAVID DORN FORMER PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS’ 

18 BENEFITS. 

19 Section 1205 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

20 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10285) is amend21 ed by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(o)(1) For the purposes of a benefit under sub23 section (a), an eligible retired public safety officer is 

24 deemed to be a public safety officer who has died as the 


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1 direct and proximate result of a personal injury sustained 

2 in the line of duty. 

3 ‘‘(2) In this section— 

4 ‘‘(A) the term ‘eligible retired public safety offi5 cer’ is an individual who— 

6 ‘‘(i) has separated from law enforcement 

7 service with a public agency in good standing 

8 and without record of any complaint resulting 

9 in disciplinary action; 

10 ‘‘(ii) was engaged in a public or private se11 curity employment obligation at the time such 

12 individual was killed; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) whose death was not caused by an 

14 immediate relative of such individual; and 

15 ‘‘(B) the term ‘immediate relative’ means a 

16 spouse, father, mother, guardian, brother, sister, 

17 son, daughter, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother18 in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, or 

19 any other individual who could make a claim under 

20 this section.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. GAO STUDY ON SETTLEMENT OR COLLABORATIVE 

22 AGREEMENTS. 

23 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

25 shall conduct a study and submit a report to Committees 


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1 on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and of 

2 the Senate, the Committee on Oversight and Reform of 

3 the House of Representatives, and the Committee on 

4 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen5 ate, on settlement or collaborative agreements entered into 

6 pursuant to litigation arising out of allegations of police 

7 misconduct, including the Cincinnati Collaborative Agree8 ment, which— 

9 (1) assesses the effectiveness of such agree10 ments on improving community-police relations; 

11 (2) assesses the impact of such agreements on 

12 crime and disorder; 

13 (3) determines whether similar agreements 

14 could improve community-police relations in other 

15 major metropolitan cities in the United States; and 

16 (4) offers recommendations for further improve17 ments to such agreements. 

Æ 


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