I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 119 

To require the Attorney General to issue rules pertaining to the collection 

and compilation of data on the use of deadly force by law enforcement 

officers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2019 

Mr. COHEN (for himself, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

HASTINGS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 

Mr. KHANNA, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

PALLONE, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. RUSH, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SERRANO, 

and Mr. VARGAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require the Attorney General to issue rules pertaining 

to the collection and compilation of data on the use 

of deadly force by 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 ‘‘National Statistics on 

5 Deadly Force Transparency Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ATTORNEY GENERAL TO ISSUE REGULATIONS. 

2 (a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 6 months after 

3 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, 

4 in consultation with stakeholders, including Federal, 

5 State, and local law enforcement agencies and community, 

6 professional, research, and civil rights organizations, shall 

7 issue regulations for the collection and compilation of data 

8 pertaining to the use of deadly force by Federal, State, 

9 or local law enforcement officers. 

10 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations issued under 

11 subsection (a) shall— 

12 (1) require the collection of data on all in13 stances wherein deadly force was used by a Federal, 

14 State, or local law enforcement officer; 

15 (2) require that the data collected shall— 

16 (A) include identifying characteristics of 

17 the person who was the target of the use of 

18 deadly force and the officer who used deadly 

19 force, including— 

20 (i) race or ethnicity; 

21 (ii) gender; 

22 (iii) approximate age; and 

23 (iv) the actual or perceived religious 

24 affiliation; 

25 (B) include the date, time, and location of 

26 such use of deadly force; 


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1 (C) include the alleged criminal activity of 

2 the person who was the target of the use of 

3 deadly force; 

4 (D) include the nature of the deadly force 

5 used, including the use of a firearm; 

6 (E) include an explanation, if any, from 

7 the relevant law enforcement agency on why 

8 deadly force was used; 

9 (F) include a copy of any use of deadly 

10 force guidelines in effect at the relevant law en11 forcement agency at the time deadly force was 

12 used; 

13 (G) include a description of any non-lethal 

14 efforts employed to apprehend or subdue the 

15 person who was the target of the use of deadly 

16 force before deadly force was used; and 

17 (H) not include personally identifiable in18 formation described in section 4; 

19 (3) provide that a standardized form shall be 

20 made available to law enforcement agencies for the 

21 submission of data collected pursuant to this Act to 

22 the Department of Justice; 

23 (4) require that law enforcement agencies com24 pile data using the standardized form made available 

25 under paragraph (3), and submit the form to the 


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1 Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics 

2 and any other component of the Department of Jus3 tice that the Attorney General determines appro4 priate; and 

5 (5) require that law enforcement agencies shall 

6 maintain all data collected under this Act for not 

7 less than 4 years. 

8 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF THE BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS. 

9 The Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statis10 tics shall provide to Congress and make available to the 

11 public the data collected pursuant to this Act, excluding 

12 any personally identifiable information described in section 

13 4. 

14 SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS ON PUBLICATION OF DATA. 

15 The name or identifying information of a law enforce16 ment officer, person who was the target of the use of dead17 ly force, or any other individual involved in any activity 

18 for which data is collected and compiled under this Act 

19 shall not be— 

20 (1) released to the public; 

21 (2) disclosed to any person, except for— 

22 (A) such disclosures as are necessary to 

23 comply with this Act; 

24 (B) disclosures of information regarding a 

25 particular person to that person; or 


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1 (C) disclosures pursuant to litigation; or 

2 (3) subject to disclosure under section 552 of 

3 title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 

4 Freedom of Information Act), except for disclosures 

5 of information regarding a particular person to that 

6 person. 

7 SEC. 5. BYRNE JAG GRANT REDUCED FOR FAILURE TO RE8 PORT. 

9 In the case of a State or unit of local government 

10 that received a grant award under subpart 1 of part E 

11 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

12 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.), if that State or 

13 unit of local government fails substantially to comply with 

14 the requirement under section 2 for a fiscal year, the At15 torney General shall reduce the amount that would other16 wise be awarded to that State or unit of local government 

17 under such grant program in the following fiscal year by 

18 10 percent. 

Æ 


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