II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1918 

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 

OCTOBER 4, 2017 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. PAUL, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. MERKLEY) 

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 2017’’ or the ‘‘Police CAMERA Act of 2017’’. 


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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 MM—MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR 

7 LAW ENFORCEMENT BODY-WORN CAMERAS 

8 AND RECORDED DATA 

9 ‘‘SEC. 3031. 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 deter excessive force, improve accountability and 

18 transparency of use of force by law enforcement officers, 

19 assist in responding to complaints against law enforce20 ment officers, and improve evidence collection. 

21 ‘‘(b) DURATION OF GRANTS.— 

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

23 part shall be 2 years in duration. 

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

25 disbursing a grant awarded to an entity under this 

26 section— 


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1 ‘‘(A) upon awarding the grant to the enti2 ty, the Director shall disburse 50 percent of the 

3 total grant amount to the entity; and 

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

5 completion of the requirements in subsection 

6 (d)(1), the Director shall disburse the remain7 ing 50 percent of the total grant amount to the 

8 entity. 

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

10 section shall be— 

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

12 local government, or Indian tribe; and 

13 ‘‘(2) used for— 

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

15 cameras for law enforcement officers on patrol 

16 in the jurisdiction of the grantee; 

17 ‘‘(B) any costs relating to the implementa18 tion of a body-worn camera program, including 

19 law enforcement officer training or the storage, 

20 maintenance, or security of recorded data col21 lected under a body-worn camera program; or 

22 ‘‘(C) implementing policies or procedures 

23 to comply with the requirements described in 

24 subsection (d). 

25 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS.— 


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

2 grant under this section to a State, unit of local gov3 ernment, or Indian tribe requesting the grant that 

4 commits to— 

5 ‘‘(A) establishing policies and procedures 

6 in accordance with the requirements described 

7 in paragraph (2) before law enforcement offi8 cers use of body-worn cameras; 

9 ‘‘(B) adopting recorded data collection and 

10 retention protocols as described in paragraph 

11 (3) before law enforcement officers use of body12 worn cameras; 

13 ‘‘(C) making the policies and protocols de14 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) available 

15 to the public; and 

16 ‘‘(D) complying with the requirements for 

17 use of recorded data under paragraph (5). 

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

19 An entity receiving a grant under this section 

20 shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) develop with community input and 

22 publish for public view policies and protocols 

23 for— 

24 ‘‘(i) the safe and effective use of body25 worn cameras; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the secure storage, handling, and 

2 destruction of recorded data collected by 

3 body-worn cameras; 

4 ‘‘(iii) protecting the privacy rights of 

5 any individual who may be recorded by a 

6 body-worn camera; 

7 ‘‘(iv) the release of any recorded data 

8 collected by a body-worn camera in accord9 ance with the open records laws, if any, of 

10 the State; and 

11 ‘‘(v) making recorded data available 

12 to prosecutors, defense attorneys, and 

13 other officers of the court in accordance 

14 with paragraph (5); and 

15 ‘‘(B) conduct periodic evaluations of the 

16 security of the storage and handling of the 

17 body-worn camera data. 

18 ‘‘(3) RECORDED DATA COLLECTION AND RE19 TENTION PROTOCOL.—The recorded data collection 

20 and retention protocol described in this paragraph is 

21 a protocol that— 

22 ‘‘(A) requires— 

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

24 wearing a body-mounted camera to provide 

25 an explanation if an activity that is reVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Oct 06, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1918.IS S1918

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1 quired to be recorded by the body-mounted 

2 camera is not recorded; 

3 ‘‘(ii) a law enforcement officer who is 

4 wearing a body-mounted camera to obtain 

5 consent to be recorded from a crime victim 

6 or witness before interviewing the victim or 

7 witness; 

8 ‘‘(iii) the collection of recorded data 

9 unrelated to a legitimate law enforcement 

10 purpose be minimized to the greatest ex11 tent practicable; 

12 ‘‘(iv) the system used to store re13 corded data collected by body-worn cam14 eras shall log all viewing, modification, or 

15 deletion of stored recorded data and shall 

16 prevent, to the greatest extent practicable, 

17 the unauthorized access or disclosure of 

18 stored recorded data; 

19 ‘‘(v) any law enforcement officer be 

20 prohibited from accessing the stored data 

21 without an authorized purpose; and 

22 ‘‘(vi) the law enforcement agency to 

23 collect and report statistical data on— 


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1 ‘‘(I) incidences of use of force, 

2 disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gen3 der, and age of the victim; 

4 ‘‘(II) the number of complaints 

5 filed against law enforcement officers; 

6 ‘‘(III) the disposition of com7 plaints filed against law enforcement 

8 officers; 

9 ‘‘(IV) the number of times cam10 era footage is used for evidence collec11 tion in investigations of crimes; and 

12 ‘‘(V) any other additional statis13 tical data that the Director deter14 mines should be collected and re15 ported; 

16 ‘‘(B) allows an individual to file a com17 plaint with a law enforcement agency relating 

18 to the improper use of body-worn cameras; and 

19 ‘‘(C) complies with any other requirements 

20 established by the Director. 

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

22 be collected under paragraph (3)(A)(vi) shall be re23 ported to the Director, who shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) establish a standardized reporting 

2 system for statistical data collected under this 

3 program; and 

4 ‘‘(B) establish a national database of sta5 tistical data recorded under this program. 

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 from a body-mounted camera shall be 

10 used only in internal and external investigations 

11 of misconduct by a law enforcement agency or 

12 officer, if there is reasonable suspicion that a 

13 recording contains evidence of a crime, or for 

14 limited training purposes. The Director shall es15 tablish rules to ensure that the recorded data is 

16 used only for the purposes described in this 

17 subparagraph. 

18 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER.—Ex19 cept as provided in subparagraph (C), an entity 

20 receiving a grant under this section may not 

21 transfer any recorded data collected by the enti22 ty from a body-mounted camera to another law 

23 enforcement or intelligence agency. 

24 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION.—An 

2 entity receiving a grant under this section 

3 may transfer recorded data collected by the 

4 entity from a body-mounted camera to an5 other law enforcement agency or intel6 ligence agency for use in a criminal inves7 tigation if the requesting law enforcement 

8 or intelligence agency has reasonable sus9 picion that the requested data contains evi10 dence relating to the crime being inves11 tigated. 

12 ‘‘(ii) CIVIL RIGHTS CLAIMS.—An enti13 ty receiving a grant under this section may 

14 transfer recorded data collected by the law 

15 enforcement agency from a body-mounted 

16 camera to another law enforcement agency 

17 for use in an investigation of any right, 

18 privilege, or immunity secured or protected 

19 by the Constitution or laws of the United 

20 States. 

21 ‘‘(e) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (3), the Federal share of the cost of a pro24 gram carried out using a grant under this part may 


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1 not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the pro2 gram. 

3 ‘‘(2) INDIAN ASSISTANCE.—Any funds appro4 priated by Congress for the activities of any agency 

5 of an Indian tribal government or the Bureau of In6 dian Affairs performing law enforcement functions 

7 on any Indian lands may be used to provide the non8 Federal share of the matching requirement described 

9 in paragraph (1). 

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

11 whole or in part, the matching requirement de12 scribed in paragraph (1) in the case of fiscal hard13 ship, as determined by the Director. 

14 ‘‘(f) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—For fiscal years 2018 

15 and 2019, of the amounts appropriated to the Bureau of 

16 Justice Assistance, $30,000,000 shall be used to carry out 

17 this part. 

18 ‘‘(g) AUDIT AND ASSESSMENT.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

20 after the date of enactment of this part, the Director 

21 of the Office of Audit, Assessment, and Management 

22 shall perform an assessment of the grant program 

23 and the policies and protocols of the grantees. 

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

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1 ment of this part, each recipient of a grant under 

2 this part shall submit to the Director of the Office 

3 of Audit, Assessment, and Management a report 

4 that— 

5 ‘‘(A) describes the progress of the body6 worn camera program; and 

7 ‘‘(B) contains recommendations on ways in 

8 which the Federal Government, States, and 

9 units of local government can further support 

10 the implementation of the program. 

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

12 Audit, Assessment, and Management shall evaluate 

13 the policies and protocols of the grantees and take 

14 such steps as the Director of the Office of Audit, As15 sessment, and Management determines necessary to 

16 ensure compliance with the program. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 3032. BODY-WORN CAMERA TRAINING TOOLKIT. 

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

19 maintain a toolkit for law enforcement agencies, academia, 

20 and other relevant entities to provide training and tech21 nical assistance, including best practices for implementa22 tion, model policies and procedures, and research mate23 rials. 

24 ‘‘(b) MECHANISM.—In establishing the toolkit re25 quired to under subsection (a), the Director may consoliVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Oct 05, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1918.IS S1918

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1 date research, practices, templates, and tools that been de2 veloped by expert and law enforcement agencies across the 

3 country. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 3033. APPLICATIONS. 

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

6 part, the chief executive of a State, unit of local govern7 ment, or Indian tribe shall submit an application to the 

8 Director in a form and containing information as the Di9 rector may reasonably require. 

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

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

12 promulgate regulations to implement this part, including 

13 the information that shall be included and the require14 ments that the States, units of local government, and In15 dian tribes must meet in submitting the applications re16 quired under this section. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 3034. STUDY. 

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

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

20 Director shall conduct a study on— 

21 ‘‘(1) the efficacy of body-worn cameras in deter22 ring excessive force by law enforcement officers; 

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

24 accountability and transparency of the use of force 

25 by 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; 

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) the need for proper training of law en18 forcement officers that use body-worn cameras; 

19 ‘‘(11) best practices in the development of pro20 tocols for the safe and effective use of body-worn 

21 cameras; 

22 ‘‘(12) a review of law enforcement agencies that 

23 found body-worn cameras to be unhelpful in the op24 erations of the agencies; and 


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1 ‘‘(13) any other factors that the Director deter2 mines are relevant in evaluating the efficacy of body3 worn cameras. 

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

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

6 completed, the Director shall submit to Congress a report 

7 on the study, which shall include any policy recommenda8 tions that the Director considers appropriate.’’. 

Æ 


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