II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1245 

To provide for oversight of, and place restrictions on, Federal programs 

that provide equipment to law enforcement agencies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2015 

Mrs. MCCASKILL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for oversight of, and place restrictions on, Federal 

programs that provide equipment to law enforcement 

agencies. 

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 ‘‘Protecting Commu5 nities and Police Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

7 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Findings. 

Sec. 4. Task force to assist Federal officials in determining appropriateness of 

items for use by law enforcement. 


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Sec. 5. Urban Area Secure Initiative grants and State Homeland Security Program grants. 

Sec. 6. Modification of authority to transfer Department of Defense property 

for law enforcement activities. 

Sec. 7. Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants. 

Sec. 8. Department of Justice reports on SWAT teams. 

Sec. 9. Federal Law Enforcement Training Center certification of instructors 

in training on use of force and special equipment. 

1 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) There is a lack of reliable data and informa4 tion on the amount and types of weapons and equip5 ment that law enforcement agencies purchase using 

6 Federal funding, and the use and deployment of 

7 those weapons and equipment. 

8 (2) The Federal Government lacks reliable data 

9 and information about the number, composition, and 

10 deployment of Special Weapons and Tactics teams 

11 (referred to in this section as ‘‘SWAT teams’’). 

12 (3) According to estimates, the percentage of 

13 small towns in the United States that had SWAT 

14 teams grew from 20 percent in the 1980s to 80 per15 cent in the mid-2000s. 

16 (4) According to estimates, the number of 

17 SWAT team raids per year grew from 3,000 in the 

18 1980s to 45,000 in the mid-2000s. 

19 (5) The majority of SWAT team deployments 

20 are for the purpose of executing a warrant. 


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1 (6) In 2014, the Federal Government provided 

2 more than $2,000,000,000 in grants and equipment 

3 to law enforcement agencies. 

4 (7) In 2013 and 2014, the Department of De5 fense provided excess Mine Resistant Ambush Pro6 tected vehicles (referred to in this section as 

7 ‘‘MRAPs’’) to 624 local law enforcement agencies 

8 for free. 

9 (8) MRAPs can weigh up to 17 tons and cost 

10 up to $600,000, and are known to damage road sur11 faces due to their weight. 

12 (9) State and local governments that are re13 sponsible for oversight of their law enforcement 

14 agencies are not always aware of equipment and 

15 grant funding that the law enforcement agencies ob16 tain from the Federal Government. 

17 SEC. 4. TASK FORCE TO ASSIST FEDERAL OFFICIALS IN DE18 TERMINING APPROPRIATENESS OF ITEMS 

19 FOR USE BY LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Federal 

21 Emergency Management Agency, the Director of the De22 fense Logistics Agency, and the Attorney General shall 

23 jointly appoint a task force to assist each such official in 

24 discharging certain functions as required under— 


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1 (1) section 2009 of the Homeland Security Act 

2 of 2002, as added by section 5; 

3 (2) section 2576a of title 10, United States 

4 Code, as added by section 6; and 

5 (3) section 509 of the Omnibus Crime Control 

6 and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as added by section 

7 7. 

8 (b) MEMBERS.—The task force appointed under this 

9 section shall include the following: 

10 (1) One representative from a law enforcement 

11 agency within the Department of Homeland Secu12 rity. 

13 (2) An individual appointed under section 

14 2009(h)(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, 

15 as added by section 5. 

16 (3) In consultation with the Director of the 

17 Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1 representative 

18 from the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the 

19 FBI Academy. 

20 (4) An individual employed by the Defense Lo21 gistics Agency pursuant to section 2576a(e)(2) of 

22 title 10, United States Code, as added by section 6. 

23 (5) An individual appointed under section 

24 509(h)(1)(B) of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

25 Safe Streets Act of 1968, as added by section 7. 


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1 (6) One representative of each of the Fraternal 

2 Order of Police, the National Association of Police 

3 Organizations, the National Organization of Black 

4 Law Enforcement Officers, the National Tactical Of5 ficers Association, the International Association of 

6 Bomb Technicians and Investigators, the National 

7 Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board, the Air8 borne Law Enforcement Association, the Inter9 national Association of Chiefs of Police, the National 

10 Sheriffs Association, the National Governors Asso11 ciation, and the United States Conference of May12 ors. 

13 (7) An individual unaffiliated with an organiza14 tion specified in paragraph (6) who has a doctoral 

15 or masters degree in criminology or criminal justice 

16 and a demonstrated expertise in police tactics. 

17 (8) One or more individuals from an organiza18 tion or organizations whose mission is related to the 

19 protection of civil rights and liberties, including the 

20 American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Con21 stitutional Rights, the Lawyers Committee for Civil 

22 Rights Under Law, the Leadership Conference on 

23 Civil and Human Rights, the National Association 

24 for the Advancement of Colored People, the NAACP 

25 Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., and the 


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1 Rainbow PUSH Coalition, selected by the Adminis2 trator in consultation with the head of such organi3 zation. 

4 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

5 authorized to be appropriated for the activities of the task 

6 force appointed under this section $1,000,000 for the first 

7 fiscal year beginning after the date of enactment of this 

8 Act. 

9 SEC. 5. URBAN AREAS SECURITY INITIATIVE AND STATE 

10 HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT PROGRAM. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title XX of the 

12 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 603 et seq.) 

13 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 2009. USE OF FUNDS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

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

16 ‘‘(1) the term ‘Authorized Equipment List’ 

17 means the Authorized Equipment List published by 

18 the Grant Programs Directorate of the Federal 

19 Emergency Management Agency; 

20 ‘‘(2) the term ‘covered funds’ means funds 

21 awarded under section 2003 or 2004; 

22 ‘‘(3) the term ‘law enforcement agency’— 

23 ‘‘(A) means an agency or entity with law 

24 enforcement officers— 


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1 ‘‘(i) who have arrest and apprehension 

2 authority; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) whose primary function is to en4 force the laws; 

5 ‘‘(B) includes a local educational agency 

6 with officers described in subparagraph (A); 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(C) does not include a firefighting agency 

9 or entity; 

10 ‘‘(4) the term ‘law enforcement council’ means 

11 a consortium of law enforcement agencies operating 

12 in a partnership within a region to promote and en13 hance public safety; 

14 ‘‘(5) the term ‘law enforcement equipment list’ 

15 means the list of items designated by the Adminis16 trator under subsection (b)(1)(B); 

17 ‘‘(6) the term ‘local educational agency’ has the 

18 meaning given that term in section 8013(9) of the 

19 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

20 (20 U.S.C. 7713(9)); 

21 ‘‘(7) the term ‘prohibited item’ means an item 

22 that is not on the law enforcement equipment list; 

23 ‘‘(8) the term ‘restricted item’ means— 

24 ‘‘(A) tactical law enforcement ballistic pro25 tection equipment, including body armor, a balVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:21 May 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1245.IS S1245

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1 listic helmet, a ballistic shield, a battle dress 

2 uniform, or camouflage uniforms or clothing; 

3 ‘‘(B) a remotely piloted aerial vehicle; 

4 ‘‘(C) a tactical military vehicle; 

5 ‘‘(D) facial recognition software; 

6 ‘‘(E) watercraft; or 

7 ‘‘(F) manned aircraft; 

8 ‘‘(9) the term ‘SWAT team’ means a Special 

9 Weapons and Tactics team or other specialized tac10 tical team composed of sworn law enforcement offi11 cers; and 

12 ‘‘(10) the term ‘tactical military vehicle’ means 

13 an armored vehicle having military characteristics 

14 resulting from military research and development 

15 processes, designed primarily for use by forces in the 

16 field in direct connection with, or support of, combat 

17 or tactical operations. 

18 ‘‘(b) ASSESSMENT OF AUTHORIZED EQUIPMENT

19 LIST; DESIGNATION OF APPROVED ITEMS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall, in 

21 consultation with the task force appointed under sec22 tion 4 of the Protecting Communities and Police Act 

23 of 2015— 

24 ‘‘(A) as soon as practicable after the date 

25 of enactment of the Protecting Communities 


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1 and Police Act of 2015, assess the appropriate2 ness of items on the Authorized Equipment List 

3 for use by law enforcement agencies in counter4 terrorism activities; 

5 ‘‘(B) not later than 3 years after the date 

6 of enactment of the Protecting Communities 

7 and Police Act of 2015, based on the assess8 ment conducted under subparagraph (A) and in 

9 accordance with the procedures required under 

10 paragraph (2), designate a list of items, which 

11 may include restricted items, that may be pur12 chased using covered funds for use by a law en13 forcement agency; and 

14 ‘‘(C) not less frequently than once every 5 

15 years, review and revise, as appropriate, the list 

16 of items designated under subparagraph (B). 

17 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—The Administrator shall 

18 publish the law enforcement equipment list on the 

19 website of the Department and in the Federal Reg20 ister. 

21 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITED ITEMS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

23 subparagraph (B), a law enforcement agency 

24 may not— 


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1 ‘‘(i) use covered funds to purchase a 

2 prohibited item; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) receive a prohibited item that 

4 was purchased using covered funds. 

5 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR THREATS TO NA6 TIONAL SECURITY.—A law enforcement agency 

7 may purchase a prohibited item using covered 

8 funds, or receive a prohibited item that was 

9 purchased using covered funds, if— 

10 ‘‘(i) the Administrator determines 

11 that the prohibited item will be useful in 

12 preventing or mitigating damage resulting 

13 from a threat to national security; 

14 ‘‘(ii) the law enforcement agency has 

15 in place an agreement with the National 

16 Guard of the State in which the law en17 forcement agency is located for the storage 

18 of the prohibited item at a National Guard 

19 site; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) the law enforcement agency pro21 vides a copy of the agreement described in 

22 clause (ii) to the Administrator. 

23 ‘‘(4) REPORTS TO CONGRESS ON EXPECTED

24 PUBLICATION OF FINAL LAW ENFORCEMENT EQUIP25 MENT LIST.—Beginning in the third full fiscal year 


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1 after the date of enactment of the Protecting Com2 munities and Police Act of 2015, the Administrator 

3 shall submit to Congress a monthly report on the ex4 pected date of publication of the final law enforce5 ment equipment list. 

6 ‘‘(5) AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS CONTIN7 GENT ON PUBLICATION OF FINAL LIST.—Beginning 

8 in the fifth full fiscal year after the date of enact9 ment of the Protecting Communities and Police Act 

10 of 2015, the Administrator shall withhold from a 

11 grant awarded under section 2003 or 2004 any 

12 amounts that are intended for use by a law enforce13 ment agency unless the Administrator has published 

14 a final law enforcement equipment list. 

15 ‘‘(c) OTHER RESTRICTIONS AND LIMITATIONS ON

16 USE OF COVERED FUNDS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) RESTRICTED ITEMS PURCHASED USING

18 COVERED FUNDS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENTS.—A law enforcement 

20 agency may not receive or use covered funds for 

21 the purchase of a restricted item, or receive a 

22 restricted item purchased using covered funds, 

23 unless the law enforcement agency— 


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1 ‘‘(i) except as provided in subpara2 graph (B), publishes a needs justification 

3 statement— 

4 ‘‘(I) that, except as provided in 

5 subclause (II), includes the informa6 tion required under subparagraph (D) 

7 if that information is not otherwise 

8 publicly available; and 

9 ‘‘(II) from which the law enforce10 ment agency may redact— 

11 ‘‘(aa) the information re12 quired under clause (x) or (xi) of 

13 subparagraph (D); and 

14 ‘‘(bb) with respect to the 

15 training records required under 

16 clause (vi), any personally identi17 fiable information and all but the 

18 title and subject of such training; 

19 ‘‘(ii) obtains the approval of the head 

20 of the State, political subdivision of a 

21 State, or Indian tribe of which the law en22 forcement agency is an agency to obtain 

23 the restricted items; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) submits the needs justification 

25 statement, including all information reVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:21 May 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1245.IS S1245

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1 quired under subparagraph (D), to the 

2 State, high-risk urban area, or directly eli3 gible tribe from which the law enforcement 

4 agency is to receive the covered funds or 

5 restricted item. 

6 ‘‘(B) ONGOING OPERATIONS.—The re7 quirements under subparagraph (A) shall not 

8 apply to a law enforcement agency that obtains 

9 a restricted item that was purchased using cov10 ered funds to be used in an active, ongoing 

11 counterterrorism operation. 

12 ‘‘(C) NOTIFICATION TO ADMINISTRATOR

13 REGARDING APPROVAL OF CERTAIN APPLICA14 TIONS.—If an official other than the Adminis15 trator approves an application for a grant 

16 under section 2003 or 2004 that proposes to 

17 use funds for the purchase of a restricted item, 

18 the official shall notify the Administrator of the 

19 approval before distributing those funds. 

20 ‘‘(D) NEEDS JUSTIFICATION STATE21 MENTS.—A needs justification statement of a 

22 law enforcement agency shall include the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(i) The type and number of re25 stricted items proposed to be purchased on 


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1 behalf of, or distributed to, the law en2 forcement agency. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The number of sworn, full-time 

4 law enforcement officers of the law en5 forcement agency. 

6 ‘‘(iii) The number, if any, of items 

7 similar to the restricted item that the law 

8 enforcement agency has in good working 

9 condition. 

10 ‘‘(iv) The number and type of items, 

11 if any, that the law enforcement agency 

12 has that were— 

13 ‘‘(I) transferred to the law en14 forcement agency under section 2576a 

15 of title 10, United States Code; or 

16 ‘‘(II) purchased using funds from 

17 the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 

18 Assistance Grant Program under sub19 part 1 of part E of title I of the Om20 nibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

21 Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.) 

22 during the 5-year period preceding the 

23 date on which the statement is pub24 lished. 


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1 ‘‘(v) The use of force policy of the law 

2 enforcement agency. 

3 ‘‘(vi) Whether the law enforcement 

4 agency intends for a SWAT team to use 

5 the restricted item, and, if so, the training 

6 records of the SWAT team, including the 

7 course outlines of such training. 

8 ‘‘(vii) Whether the law enforcement 

9 agency has or plans to adopt a memo10 randum of understanding or other joint 

11 use agreement for the shared use of the re12 stricted item with any other law enforce13 ment agency. 

14 ‘‘(viii) The capability gap to be filled 

15 by the restricted item, and a description of 

16 the proposed use of the restricted item by 

17 the law enforcement agency. 

18 ‘‘(ix) Whether a consent decree is in 

19 effect between the United States and the 

20 law enforcement agency relating to civil 

21 rights abuses or excessive use of force. 

22 ‘‘(x) Whether the law enforcement 

23 agency is currently under investigation, or 

24 has been under investigation during the 

25 preceding 10 years, by the Department of 


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1 Justice, an inspector general, or any equiv2 alent State or local entity for civil rights 

3 abuses or excessive use of force. 

4 ‘‘(xi) Whether the head of the law en5 forcement agency has ever been determined 

6 by the Department of Justice, an inspector 

7 general, or any equivalent State or local 

8 entity to have engaged in civil rights 

9 abuses or excessive use of force, if such in10 formation is publicly available. 

11 ‘‘(xii)(I) Whether the law enforcement 

12 agency requested funds from a regional, 

13 State, or local political entity to purchase 

14 the requested item; 

15 ‘‘(II) if the law enforcement agency 

16 requested funds from a regional, State, or 

17 local political entity and the request was 

18 denied, a statement of the reason or rea19 sons for the denial; and 

20 ‘‘(III) if the law enforcement agency 

21 did not request funds from a regional, 

22 State, or local political entity, a statement 

23 explaining why the law enforcement agency 

24 did not do so. 


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1 ‘‘(xiii) A certification that any item on 

2 the law enforcement equipment list pur3 chased using covered funds has not been, 

4 and will not be, used by a SWAT team of 

5 the law enforcement agency engaging in 

6 routine patrol-related incidents, non-tac7 tical incidents, or non-tactical assignments. 

8 ‘‘(xiv) Any other information on the 

9 recent record of the law enforcement agen10 cy regarding civil rights and the excessive 

11 use of force that the Administrator deter12 mines appropriate. 

13 ‘‘(2) RESTRICTIONS ON SMALL AGENCIES.— 

14 ‘‘(A) TACTICAL MILITARY VEHICLES.—A 

15 law enforcement agency with 10 or fewer sworn 

16 law enforcement officers— 

17 ‘‘(i) that has 1 or more functioning 

18 tactical military vehicles may not— 

19 ‘‘(I) use covered funds for the 

20 purchase of a tactical military vehicle; 

21 or 

22 ‘‘(II) receive a tactical military 

23 vehicle purchased using covered funds; 

24 ‘‘(ii) that does not have a functioning 

25 tactical military vehicle may— 


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1 ‘‘(I) use covered funds for the 

2 purchase of not more than 1 tactical 

3 military vehicle; or 

4 ‘‘(II) receive not more than 1 

5 tactical military vehicle purchased 

6 using covered funds; or 

7 ‘‘(iii) that is the designated procure8 ment agency for a multi-jurisdictional 

9 joint-use agreement may use covered funds 

10 for the purchase of more than 1 tactical 

11 military vehicle, or receive more than 1 

12 tactical military vehicle purchased using 

13 covered funds, if agency purchases or re14 ceives not more than 1 tactical military ve15 hicle for every 10 sworn law enforcement 

16 officers covered by the joint-use agreement. 

17 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON USE OF COVERED

18 FUNDS BY SMALL SWAT TEAMS.—A law en19 forcement agency may not use covered funds to 

20 purchase a restricted item, or receive a re21 stricted item purchased using covered funds, for 

22 use by a SWAT team— 

23 ‘‘(i) composed of fewer than 17 sworn 

24 law enforcement officers; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) composed entirely of members 

2 from a single law enforcement agency that 

3 has fewer than 35 sworn law enforcement 

4 officers; 

5 ‘‘(iii) composed of members from 2 or 

6 more law enforcement agencies that have, 

7 in aggregate, fewer than 35 sworn law en8 forcement officers; or 

9 ‘‘(iv) in a routine patrol-related inci10 dent, non-tactical incident, or non-tactical 

11 assignment. 

12 ‘‘(3) TRANSPORTATION COSTS.—Covered funds 

13 may not be used to pay the cost of transporting an 

14 eligible defense item transferred to a law enforce15 ment agency under section 2576a of title 10, United 

16 States Code. 

17 ‘‘(4) AGENCIES UNDER CONSENT DECREES OR

18 CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATIONS.—A law enforcement 

19 agency for which a consent decree is in effect be20 tween the United States and the law enforcement 

21 agency, or that is under investigation by the Depart22 ment of Justice, relating to civil rights abuses or ex23 cessive use of force may not, without the approval of 

24 the Department of Justice— 


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1 ‘‘(A) use covered funds to purchase a re2 stricted item; or 

3 ‘‘(B) receive a restricted item that was 

4 purchased using covered funds. 

5 ‘‘(d) TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) STATE CERTIFICATION OF LAW ENFORCE7 MENT INSTRUCTORS ON LAW ENFORCEMENT TAC8 TICS AND THE USE OF RESTRICTED ITEMS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On and after the date 

10 that is 3 years after the date of enactment of 

11 the Protecting Communities and Police Act of 

12 2015, a State, any jurisdiction within the State, 

13 and any directly eligible tribe any part of which 

14 is located within the State, may not receive cov15 ered funds for use by a law enforcement agency 

16 to purchase a restricted item unless the Gov17 ernor or highest official of the State certifies to 

18 the Administrator that the State conducts a 

19 program for certifying law enforcement instruc20 tors in the provision of training on law enforce21 ment tactics and investigations that meets the 

22 requirements under subparagraph (B). 

23 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The re24 quirements for a program described in subpara25 graph (A) are the following: 


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1 ‘‘(i) The program shall include in2 struction in training on the following: 

3 ‘‘(I) The use of force by law en4 forcement officers in the ordinary 

5 course of their duties. 

6 ‘‘(II) The use of restricted items 

7 by law enforcement officers in the or8 dinary course of their duties. 

9 ‘‘(III) The use of restricted items 

10 by SWAT teams. 

11 ‘‘(IV) The appropriate deploy12 ment of SWAT teams. 

13 ‘‘(V) Civil rights and civil lib14 erties. 

15 ‘‘(VI) Any other matters on the 

16 training of law enforcement officers 

17 that the head of the State law en18 forcement agency considers appro19 priate. 

20 ‘‘(ii) A list of the instructors who are 

21 certified pursuant to the program or pur22 suant to the program conducted by the 

23 Secretary under section 2010 shall be 

24 maintained and published. 


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1 ‘‘(C) DISCHARGE THROUGH EXISTING PRO2 GRAMS.—A State may satisfy the requirement 

3 under subparagraph (A) using a program in ef4 fect on the date that is 3 years after the date 

5 of the enactment of the Protecting Commu6 nities and Police Act of 2015 if such program 

7 satisfies the requirements in subparagraph (B). 

8 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM ANNUAL TRAINING REQUIRE9 MENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—On and after the 

11 date that is 3 years after the date of enactment 

12 of the Protecting Communities and Police Act 

13 of 2015, a State, any jurisdiction within the 

14 State, and any directly eligible tribe any part of 

15 which is located within the State, may not re16 ceive covered funds, or equipment purchased 

17 using covered funds, unless the State estab18 lishes minimum annual training requirements 

19 for all sworn law enforcement officers in the 

20 State, including— 

21 ‘‘(i) specialized leadership training re22 quirements for heads of law enforcement 

23 agencies who have— 


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1 ‘‘(I) decisionmaking authority on 

2 the deployment of SWAT teams and 

3 tactical military vehicles; or 

4 ‘‘(II) responsibility for drafting 

5 policies on the use of force and SWAT 

6 team deployment; 

7 ‘‘(ii) specialized SWAT team training 

8 requirements for all SWAT team members 

9 in law enforcement tactics used in tactical 

10 operations; 

11 ‘‘(iii) training in the appropriate use 

12 and deployment of tactical military vehi13 cles; and 

14 ‘‘(iv) not less than 1 training session 

15 on sensitivity, including training on ethnic 

16 and racial bias, cultural diversity, and law 

17 enforcement interaction with disabled indi18 viduals, mentally ill individuals, and new 

19 immigrants. 

20 ‘‘(B) FEDERALLY CERTIFIED OR STATE21 CERTIFIED INSTRUCTORS.—The training re22 quirements established by a State under sub23 paragraph (A) may only be satisfied through 

24 training conducted by an instructor certified 

25 under— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the program conducted by the 

2 Secretary under section 2010; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) a program conducted by a State 

4 under paragraph (1). 

5 ‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLETED

6 TRAINING.—On and after the date that is 1 

7 year after the date on which a program is es8 tablished under paragraph (1), a law enforce9 ment agency may not directly or indirectly re10 ceive covered funds, or receive equipment pur11 chased using covered funds, unless the law en12 forcement agency certifies to the entity from 

13 which the law enforcement agency is seeking 

14 funds or equipment that, during the preceding 

15 year, each sworn law enforcement officer em16 ployed by the law enforcement agency met all 

17 applicable minimum annual training require18 ments established by the State in which the law 

19 enforcement agency is located under subpara20 graph (A) of this paragraph, including special21 ized SWAT team training requirements. 

22 ‘‘(D) FALSE CERTIFICATION.—The Admin23 istrator shall suspend or terminate the eligi24 bility of a law enforcement agency to directly or 

25 indirectly receive covered funds, or receive 


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1 equipment purchased using covered funds, if 

2 the law enforcement agency intentionally sub3 mits a false certification under subparagraph 

4 (C) that a law enforcement officer met the min5 imum annual training requirements established 

6 by the State in which the agency is located 

7 under subparagraph (A). 

8 ‘‘(E) SATISFACTION BY RECENT HIREES.— 

9 The requirements under subparagraph (A) shall 

10 provide for the first completion of the training 

11 concerned by an individual who becomes an offi12 cer in a law enforcement agency or a member 

13 of a SWAT team by not later than 1 year after 

14 the date on which the individual becomes an of15 ficer in the law enforcement agency or a mem16 ber of a SWAT team, as applicable. 

17 ‘‘(e) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORTS BY ADMINISTRATOR.— 

19 The Administrator shall make public and submit to 

20 Congress and the Attorney General— 

21 ‘‘(A) an annual report on the purchase by 

22 law enforcement agencies of restricted items 

23 purchased using covered funds; and 

24 ‘‘(B) an annual report on the purchase and 

25 use by law enforcement agencies of tactical 


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1 military vehicles and remotely piloted aerial ve2 hicles purchased using covered funds. 

3 ‘‘(2) GRANT APPLICANTS AND RECIPIENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) LIST OF EQUIPMENT PURCHASED.— 

5 As a condition of receiving a grant under sec6 tion 2003 or 2004, a State, high-risk urban 

7 area, or directly eligible tribe shall submit to 

8 the Administrator, as part of the report sub9 mitted under section 2022(b)(1)(A) relating to 

10 the last quarter of any fiscal year, a description 

11 of the quantity and specific type of equipment 

12 purchased by the recipient and any subgrantee 

13 of the recipient using covered funds. 

14 ‘‘(B) AGENCIES WITH SPECIAL EQUIP15 MENT.—As a condition of receiving a grant 

16 under section 2003 or 2004, a State, high-risk 

17 urban area, or directly eligible tribe shall sub18 mit to the Administrator a report that de19 scribes, for each law enforcement agency that 

20 purchased a restricted item using covered funds 

21 made available by the State, high-risk urban 

22 area, or directly eligible tribe, or received a re23 stricted item that the State, high-risk urban 

24 area, or directly eligible tribe purchased using 

25 covered funds— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the needs justification statement 

2 that the law enforcement agency submitted 

3 to the State, high-risk urban area, or di4 rectly eligible tribe with respect to the re5 stricted item under subsection 

6 (c)(1)(A)(iii); and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the number and types of re8 stricted items that the law enforcement 

9 agency purchased or received. 

10 ‘‘(C) SWAT TEAM DEPLOYMENT

11 RECORDS.—A law enforcement agency that uses 

12 covered funds to purchase a tactical military ve13 hicle, or receives a tactical military vehicle pur14 chased using covered funds, for use by a SWAT 

15 team shall maintain a record of each deploy16 ment of the tactical military vehicle by the 

17 SWAT team, which shall include— 

18 ‘‘(i) the type of police activity for 

19 which the tactical military vehicle is de20 ployed; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the rationale for the deployment; 

22 ‘‘(iii) the nexus between— 

23 ‘‘(I) the use of force policy and 

24 SWAT team policy of the law enforce25 ment agency, if applicable; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) the police activity for which 

2 the tactical military vehicle is de3 ployed; and 

4 ‘‘(iv) a description, written after the 

5 deployment, of whether force or weapons 

6 were used by or against the law enforce7 ment officers deploying the tactical mili8 tary vehicle. 

9 ‘‘(f) WHISTLEBLOWER AND INDEPENDENT OVER10 SIGHT REQUIREMENTS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) WHISTLEBLOWER REQUIREMENTS.—On or 

12 after the date that is 3 years after the date of enact13 ment of the Protecting Communities and Police Act 

14 of 2015, a State, any jurisdiction within the State, 

15 and any directly eligible tribe any part of which is 

16 located within the State, may not directly or indi17 rectly receive covered funds for the purchase of a re18 stricted item unless the Governor or highest officer 

19 of the State certifies to the Administrator that the 

20 State— 

21 ‘‘(A) has in place— 

22 ‘‘(i) a program, including a public 

23 complaint hotline, that provides individuals 

24 the ability to disclose any— 


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1 ‘‘(I) misuse of equipment pur2 chased using covered funds; or 

3 ‘‘(II) other waste, fraud, or abuse 

4 in connection with the use of covered 

5 funds; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) mechanisms (commonly referred 

7 to as ‘whistleblower protections’) to protect 

8 individuals who make a disclosure de9 scribed in clause (i) from retaliatory or 

10 other adverse personnel actions in connec11 tion with such disclosures; and 

12 ‘‘(B) publicizes the existence of the pro13 gram and whistleblower protections described in 

14 subparagraph (A). 

15 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION OF OVERSIGHT AND AC16 COUNTABILITY.— 

17 ‘‘(A) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—A law 

18 enforcement agency may not receive a restricted 

19 item purchased using covered funds, or directly 

20 or indirectly receive covered funds to purchase 

21 a restricted item, unless the head of the law en22 forcement agency submits to the Administrator 

23 a written certification (in the form of a memo24 randum of understanding, memorandum of 

25 agreement, or letterhead correspondence) that 


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1 an entity that does not report to the head of 

2 the law enforcement agency is authorized— 

3 ‘‘(i) to receive any complaints regard4 ing the use of any equipment and funds of 

5 the law enforcement agency; 

6 ‘‘(ii) to periodically review and assess 

7 the use of such equipment and funds by 

8 the law enforcement agency; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) to make recommendations to the 

10 law enforcement agency regarding the use 

11 of such equipment and funds by the law 

12 enforcement agency that are either— 

13 ‘‘(I) non-binding in character; or 

14 ‘‘(II) binding in character, if au15 thorized by— 

16 ‘‘(aa) a law or ordinance 

17 governing the law enforcement 

18 agency or the entity; or 

19 ‘‘(bb) an agreement between 

20 the law enforcement agency and 

21 organizations representing law 

22 enforcement officers of the law 

23 enforcement agency. 

24 ‘‘(B) DISCHARGE THROUGH EXISTING EN25 TITIES.—A law enforcement agency may satisfy 


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1 the requirement in subparagraph (A) through 

2 an entity that exists as of the date of the enact3 ment of the Protecting Communities and Police 

4 Act of 2015, including an independent review 

5 board, a Federal, State, or local inspector gen6 eral, a Federal, State, county, or city attorney 

7 general, a district attorney, the Federal Bureau 

8 of Investigation or another Federal agency, a 

9 State agency, a State or local governing body 

10 (such as a city council or county commission), 

11 a law enforcement council, or an independent 

12 entity established by one or more such officials, 

13 agencies, or entities on behalf of one or more 

14 law enforcement agencies. 

15 ‘‘(g) SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) FOR LOST OR STOLEN ITEMS.—As a con17 dition of receiving a grant under section 2003 or 

18 2004, a State, high-risk urban area, or directly eligi19 ble tribe shall implement procedures under which, if 

20 a restricted item that was purchased using covered 

21 funds and is in the possession of a law enforcement 

22 agency is lost, stolen, or misappropriated— 

23 ‘‘(A) on the first occurrence, and after the 

24 law enforcement agency is provided with notice 

25 and the opportunity to contest the allegation, 


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1 the eligibility of the law enforcement agency to 

2 receive covered funds to purchase a restricted 

3 item, or to receive a restricted item purchased 

4 using covered funds, shall be suspended for a 

5 period of not less than 6 months; and 

6 ‘‘(B) on the subsequent occurrence, and 

7 after the law enforcement agency is provided 

8 with notice and the opportunity to contest the 

9 allegation, the eligibility of the law enforcement 

10 agency to receive covered funds or receive a re11 stricted item purchased using covered funds 

12 shall be suspended for a period of not less than 

13 5 years. 

14 ‘‘(2) INTENTIONAL FALSIFICATION OF INFOR15 MATION.—As a condition of receiving a grant under 

16 section 2003 or 2004, a State, high-risk urban area, 

17 or directly eligible tribe shall implement procedures 

18 under which the eligibility of a law enforcement 

19 agency to receive covered funds, or to receive a re20 stricted item purchased using covered funds, shall, if 

21 the law enforcement agency is determined to have 

22 intentionally falsified any information relating to the 

23 purchase or receipt of a restricted item, and after 

24 the law enforcement agency is provided with notice 


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1 and the opportunity to contest the allegation, be sus2 pended for a period of not less than 5 years. 

3 ‘‘(3) DISCLOSURE TO ADMINISTRATOR.—Each 

4 State, high-risk urban area, or directly eligible tribe 

5 that receives a grant under section 2003 or 2004 

6 shall submit to the Administrator an annual report 

7 that describes each law enforcement agency that is 

8 ineligible, due to a suspension or termination under 

9 paragraph (1) or (2), to receive covered funds to 

10 purchase a restricted item, or to receive a restricted 

11 item purchased using covered funds. 

12 ‘‘(h) LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERTISE.— 

13 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

14 ‘covered grant application’ means a grant applica15 tion under section 2003 or 2004 that proposes to— 

16 ‘‘(A) use funds for the purchase of a re17 stricted item for use by a law enforcement 

18 agency; or 

19 ‘‘(B) provide funds to a law enforcement 

20 agency for the purchase of a restricted item. 

21 ‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT.—The Administrator shall 

22 appoint individuals with expertise in State, county, 

23 or local law enforcement agency functions to assist 

24 the Administrator in— 


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1 ‘‘(A) determining which items are appro2 priate for inclusion on the law enforcement 

3 equipment list; and 

4 ‘‘(B) assessing covered grant applications. 

5 ‘‘(3) NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS.—The Adminis6 trator shall appoint as many individuals under para7 graph (2) as necessary to ensure that— 

8 ‘‘(A) not less that 1 such individual as9 sesses each covered grant application; and 

10 ‘‘(B) the involvement of such individuals in 

11 the process of assessing covered grant applica12 tions does not substantially delay the process. 

13 ‘‘(4) MANAGERIAL EXPERIENCE PREFERRED.— 

14 In appointing individuals under paragraph (2), the 

15 Administrator shall give preference to individuals 

16 with law enforcement managerial experience.’’. 

17 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

18 The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Se19 curity Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–96; 116 Stat. 2135) 

20 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

21 2008 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 2009. Use of funds by law enforcement.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. MODIFICATION OF AUTHORITY TO TRANSFER DE2 PARTMENT OF DEFENSE PROPERTY FOR LAW 

3 ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES. 

4 (a) RESTATEMENT AND MODIFICATION OF CURRENT

5 AUTHORITY FOR TRANSFER FOR STATE AND LOCAL LAW

6 ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES.—Section 2576a of title 10, 

7 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘§ 2576a. Excess personal property: sale or donation 

9 of certain controlled defense items for 

10 State or local law enforcement activities 

11 ‘‘(a) TRANSFER AUTHORIZED.—Notwithstanding 

12 any other provision of law and subject to the provisions 

13 of this section, the Secretary of Defense may transfer to 

14 State and local law enforcement agencies for law enforce15 ment activities controlled defense items of the Department 

16 of Defense, including small arms and ammunition, that 

17 are determined in accordance with subsection (f) to be eli18 gible defense items for purposes of this section. 

19 ‘‘(b) NO TRANSFER OF ITEMS REQUESTED BY FED20 ERAL AGENCIES.—An item may not be transferred under 

21 this section if requested for transfer by a Federal agency 

22 under section 2576b of this title. 

23 ‘‘(c) CONDITIONS FOR TRANSFER.—The Secretary of 

24 Defense may transfer items under this section only if— 

25 ‘‘(1) the items are drawn from existing stocks 

26 of the Department of Defense; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the recipient accepts the items on an as2 is, where-is basis; 

3 ‘‘(3) the transfer is made without the expendi4 ture of any funds available to the Department of 

5 Defense for the procurement of defense equipment; 

6 ‘‘(4) all costs incurred subsequent to the trans7 fer of the items are borne or reimbursed by the re8 cipient; and 

9 ‘‘(5) the recipient agrees to comply with any in10 ventory, accountability, reporting, and disposal re11 quirements prescribed in the regulations for pur12 poses of this section under subsection (g). 

13 ‘‘(d) CONSIDERATION.—Subject to subsection (c)(4), 

14 the Secretary of Defense may transfer items under this 

15 section without charge to the recipient agency. 

16 ‘‘(e) ASSISTANCE FOR DIRECTOR OF DLA IN DIS17 CHARGE OF CERTAIN FUNCTION BY EXPERTS IN LAW

18 ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the De20 fense Logistics Agency shall employ in the Defense 

21 Logistics Agency individuals with expertise in law 

22 enforcement to assist the Director in the discharge 

23 of the functions specified in paragraph (2). The Di24 rector shall ensure that the number of individuals so 

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1 ment of applications described in paragraph (2)(A) 

2 in order to ensure that no delay occurs in the trans3 fer of eligible defense items under this section by 

4 reason of such assessments. The Director shall ac5 cord a preference in the employment under this 

6 paragraph of individuals with experience in law en7 forcement management. 

8 ‘‘(2) FUNCTIONS.—Individuals employed under 

9 this subsection shall assist the Director in the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(A) The assessment of applications of 

12 State and local law enforcement agencies for 

13 the transfer of eligible defense items in accord14 ance with subsection (j)(3). 

15 ‘‘(B) The determination whether controlled 

16 defense items that are not eligible for treatment 

17 as eligible defense items under this section will 

18 be useful in preventing or mitigating damage 

19 resulting from an actionable threat to national 

20 security for purposes of subsection (h)(1). 

21 ‘‘(f) DETERMINATION AND NOTICE TO PUBLIC ON

22 ELIGIBLE DEFENSE ITEMS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) CONTROLLED DEFENSE ITEMS APPRO24 PRIATE FOR TREATMENT AS ELIGIBLE DEFENSE

25 ITEMS.—The Secretary of Defense shall, acting 


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1 through the Director of the Defense Logistics Agen2 cy, maintain, and periodically update, a list of cur3 rent controlled defense items that are appropriate 

4 for treatment as eligible defense items for purposes 

5 of this section. 

6 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION OF CONTROLLED DE7 FENSE ITEMS AS ELIGIBLE DEFENSE ITEMS.—The 

8 Director shall, in consultation with the task force 

9 appointed pursuant to section 4 of the Protecting 

10 Communities and Police Act of 2015 and in accord11 ance with the regulations for purposes of this section 

12 under subsection (g), identify controlled defense 

13 items that are appropriate for treatment as eligible 

14 defense items for purposes of this section by identi15 fying controlled defense items that— 

16 ‘‘(A) can be readily put to civilian use by 

17 State and local law enforcement agencies; and 

18 ‘‘(B) are suitable for transfer to State and 

19 local law enforcement agencies pursuant to this 

20 section. 

21 ‘‘(3) AVAILABILITY TO PUBLIC OF ELIGIBLE

22 DEFENSE ITEMS LIST.—Upon a determination pur23 suant to paragraph (2) of controlled defense items 

24 to be treated as eligible defense items for purposes 

25 of this section, the Director shall make available to 


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1 the public, on an Internet website of the Department 

2 of Defense available to the public, a list of all con3 trolled defense items currently treated as eligible de4 fense items for purposes of this section. The Inter5 net website may be a current website of the Depart6 ment or a website of the Department established 

7 and maintained for purposes of this section. 

8 ‘‘(g) REQUIREMENTS AND LIMITATIONS ON DETER9 MINATIONS OF CONTROLLED DEFENSE ITEMS AS ELIGI10 BLE DEFENSE ITEMS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) REGULATIONS REQUIRED.—The de13 termination under subsection (f)(2) whether a 

14 controlled defense item is an eligible defense 

15 item for purposes of this section shall be made 

16 in accordance with criteria and requirements 

17 set forth in regulations prescribed by the Direc18 tor of the Defense Logistics Agency, in con19 sultation with the task force appointed pursu20 ant to section 4 of the Protecting Communities 

21 and Police Act of 2015. Public notice and com22 ment shall not be required in connection with 

23 any such determination unless otherwise re24 quired by such regulations. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PERIODIC REVIEW REQUIRED.—The 

2 Director shall, in consultation with the task 

3 force, review and revise the regulations for pur4 poses of this section not less often than once 

5 every five years. 

6 ‘‘(C) MANNER OF PRESCRIPTION.—In pre7 scribing or revising regulations under this para8 graph, the Director shall publish a written 

9 statement from the task force on the extent of 

10 its approval of such regulations as so prescribed 

11 or revised. 

12 ‘‘(D) TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES.—The 

13 Director may, in consultation with the task 

14 force, update the regulations for purposes of 

15 this section without regard to formal rule16 making requirements if necessary to respond to 

17 technological advances and the development of 

18 new models of items on the list of controlled de19 fense items determined by the Director under 

20 subsection (f)(2) to be eligible defense items for 

21 purposes of this section. In so updating the reg22 ulations, the Director shall publish a written 

23 statement on the extent of the approval of the 

24 task force of the regulations as so revised. 


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1 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZED ELEMENTS.—The regula2 tions for purposes of this section may include the 

3 following: 

4 ‘‘(A) Tiers of eligibility of State or local 

5 law enforcement agencies for transfers of eligi6 ble defense items based on types of items, need 

7 of law enforcement agencies for particular 

8 items, size and capabilities of law enforcement 

9 agencies, or such other factors as the Director, 

10 in consultation with the task force referred to 

11 in paragraph (1)(B), may specify in the regula12 tions. 

13 ‘‘(B) Restrictions on the numbers or types 

14 of eligible defense items that may be trans15 ferred to a particular State or local law enforce16 ment agency, within a particular period of time, 

17 to law enforcement agencies in a particular re18 gion, or such other factors as the Director, in 

19 consultation with the task force, may specify in 

20 regulations. 

21 ‘‘(C) Restrictions on the use of particular 

22 eligible defense items by State or local law en23 forcement agencies based on size, capability, or 

24 such other factors the Director, in consultation 


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1 with the task force, may specify in the regula2 tions. 

3 ‘‘(D) Such inventory, accountability, re4 porting, and disposal requirements regarding el5 igible defense items transferred under this sec6 tion as the Director, in consultation with the 

7 task force, considers appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(E) Requirements for memoranda of un9 derstanding or other appropriate agreements in 

10 the case of joint use of eligible defense items 

11 transferred under this section by more than one 

12 State or local law enforcement agency. 

13 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION ON TREATMENT OF CERTAIN

14 ITEMS AS ELIGIBLE DEFENSE ITEMS.—The regula15 tions for purposes of this section shall prohibit the 

16 treatment as eligible defense items for purposes of 

17 this section of the following: 

18 ‘‘(A) Mine Resistant Ambush Protected 

19 (MRAP) vehicles. 

20 ‘‘(B) Remotely piloted aircraft that are ar21 mored, weaponized, or both. 

22 ‘‘(C) Aircraft that are combat configured 

23 or combat coded or have no established com24 mercial flight application. 

25 ‘‘(D) Bayonets. 


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1 ‘‘(E) Tasers developed primarily for use by 

2 the military. 

3 ‘‘(F) Any controlled defense item that can4 not be purchased by State or local law enforce5 ment agencies in the private sector. 

6 ‘‘(G) Any other controlled defense item de7 termined by the Director to be unsuitable for 

8 use by State or local law enforcement agencies. 

9 ‘‘(4) APPROVAL REQUIRED BEFORE TRANSFER

10 OF CERTAIN ITEMS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If any item specified 

12 in subparagraph (B) is an eligible defense item 

13 for purposes of this section, such item may not 

14 be transferred under this section without the 

15 approval of the Director, in consultation with 

16 an individual employed pursuant to subsection 

17 (e). 

18 ‘‘(B) ITEMS.—The items specified in this 

19 subparagraph are the following: 

20 ‘‘(i) Weapons over .50 caliber. 

21 ‘‘(ii) Grenades, flash bang grenades, 

22 grenade launchers, and grenade launcher 

23 attachments. 

24 ‘‘(iii) Tactical military vehicles. 


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1 ‘‘(5) LIMITATIONS ON TRANSFER OF TACTICAL

2 MILITARY VEHICLES TO SMALL LAW ENFORCEMENT

3 AGENCIES.—The regulations for purposes of this 

4 section shall limit the transfer of tactical military ve5 hicles to a State or local law enforcement agency 

6 with 10 or fewer sworn law enforcement officers as 

7 follows: 

8 ‘‘(A) If the law enforcement agency has 

9 one or more functioning tactical military vehi10 cles, a tactical military vehicle may not be 

11 transferred to the agency. 

12 ‘‘(B) If the law enforcement agency does 

13 not have a functioning tactical military vehicle, 

14 not more than one tactical military vehicle may 

15 be transferred to the agency. 

16 ‘‘(C) If the law enforcement agency is the 

17 designated procurement agency for a multi-ju18 risdictional joint-use agreement, not more than 

19 1 tactical military vehicle may be transferred to 

20 the agency for every 10 sworn law enforcement 

21 officers covered by the joint-use agreement. 

22 ‘‘(6) LIMITATION ON TRANSFER OF CAMOU23 FLAGE UNIFORMS OR CLOTHING.—The regulations 

24 for purposes of this section shall prohibit the trans25 fer of camouflage uniforms or clothing to a State or 


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1 law enforcement agency unless the law enforcement 

2 agency certifies that its geographic area of jurisdic3 tion contains environments that may require the use 

4 of camouflage uniforms or clothing. 

5 ‘‘(7) PROHIBITIONS ON TRANSFER OF ITEMS

6 FOR USE BY SMALL SWAT TEAMS.—The regulations 

7 for purposes of this section shall prohibit the trans8 fer of eligible defense items under this section for 

9 use by any SWAT team as follows: 

10 ‘‘(A) A SWAT team composed of fewer 

11 than 17 sworn law enforcement officers. 

12 ‘‘(B) A SWAT team composed entirely of 

13 members from a single State or local law en14 forcement agency that has fewer than 35 sworn 

15 law enforcement officers. 

16 ‘‘(C) A SWAT team composed of members 

17 from 2 or more State or local law enforcement 

18 agencies which agencies have, in aggregate, 

19 fewer than 35 sworn law enforcement officers. 

20 ‘‘(8) PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER OF CERTAIN

21 ITEMS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES UNDER

22 CONSENT DECREES.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The regulations for 

24 purposes of this section shall prohibit the trans25 fer of items specified in subparagraph (B) to a 


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1 State or local law enforcement agency for which 

2 a consent decree is in effect between the United 

3 States and the law enforcement agency, or that 

4 is under investigation by the Department of 

5 Justice, relating to civil rights abuses or exces6 sive use of force, without the approval of the 

7 Department of Justice. 

8 ‘‘(B) ITEMS.—The items specified in this 

9 subparagraph are the following: 

10 ‘‘(i) Weapons. 

11 ‘‘(ii) Tactical military vehicles. 

12 ‘‘(9) TRANSFER TO LOCAL EDUCATION AGEN13 CIES.— 

14 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER.—The 

15 regulations for purposes of this section shall 

16 prohibit the transfer of eligible defense items to 

17 any local educational agency or law enforcement 

18 agency affiliated with a local educational agency 

19 as follows: 

20 ‘‘(i) A local educational agency that is 

21 served by a State or local law enforcement 

22 agency that— 

23 ‘‘(I) is unaffiliated with the local 

24 educational agency; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) has items or equipment 

2 identical or similar to the eligible de3 fense items otherwise to be trans4 ferred. 

5 ‘‘(ii) A local educational agency that 

6 is served by one or more State or local law 

7 enforcement agencies that are unaffiliated 

8 with the local educational agency if no 

9 such serving agency will agree to store and 

10 maintain the eligible defense items for the 

11 local educational agency. 

12 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.— 

13 The regulations for purposes of this section 

14 shall provide that a local educational agency 

15 transferred an eligible defense item under this 

16 section may not use funds of the local edu17 cational agency— 

18 ‘‘(i) to transport the item to the dis19 trict of the local educational agency; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) to maintain the item. 

21 ‘‘(10) PROHIBITION ON REQUIREMENT FOR

22 TIMELY USE OF TRANSFERRED ITEMS.—The regula23 tions for purposes of this section may not require 

24 the use of an eligible defense item transferred under 

25 this section within one year of the receipt of the 


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1 item by the State or local law enforcement agency 

2 concerned. 

3 ‘‘(h) NATIONAL SECURITY EXCEPTION FOR TRANS4 FER OF CERTAIN CONTROLLED DEFENSE ITEMS NOT

5 TREATABLE AS ELIGIBLE DEFENSE ITEMS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) THREATS TO NATIONAL SECURITY.—The 

7 regulations for purposes of this section under sub8 section (g) shall permit the transfer of a controlled 

9 defense item that is not treated as an eligible de10 fense item for purposes of this section if— 

11 ‘‘(A) there is an actionable threat to na12 tional security; and 

13 ‘‘(B) the Director of the Defense Logistics 

14 Agency, in consultation with individuals em15 ployed pursuant to subsection (e), determines 

16 that the item will be useful in preventing or 

17 mitigating damage resulting from the threat de18 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

19 ‘‘(2) UPDATE TO LIST.—If an actionable threat 

20 to national security justifies the transfer of a con21 trolled defense item under this subsection, the Direc22 tor shall revise the regulations for purposes of this 

23 section to treat the controlled defense item as an eli24 gible defense item for purposes of this section as 

25 soon as practicable. A transfer of a controlled deVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:21 May 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00048 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1245.IS S1245

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1 fense item may occur in accordance with paragraph 

2 (1) regardless of whether the update to the regula3 tions for purposes of this section has been made 

4 under this paragraph at the time of transfer. 

5 ‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER REQUIRE6 MENTS.—If an actionable threat to national security 

7 justifies the transfer of a controlled defense item 

8 under this subsection, any requirements, prohibi9 tions, and limitations otherwise applicable to the 

10 transfer of the item as an eligible defense item 

11 under this section shall not apply to the transfer of 

12 the item under this subsection. 

13 ‘‘(4) DISPOSITION OF ITEMS AFTER THREAT.— 

14 Upon the cessation of the threat to national security 

15 for which a controlled defense item is transferred 

16 under this subsection, the State or local law enforce17 ment agency receiving the item shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) arrange for the storage of the item 

19 with the National Guard of the State con20 cerned; or 

21 ‘‘(B) if arrangements under subparagraph 

22 (A) cannot be made, transfer the item to the 

23 Director. 

24 ‘‘(i) NOTICE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES ON

25 AVAILABLE STOCKS OF ELIGIBLE DEFENSE ITEMS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) DLA REVIEW AND NOTICE ON DOD

2 STOCKS.—The Director of the Defense Logistics 

3 Agency shall periodically review the existing stocks 

4 of the Department of Defense in order to identify 

5 the type and quantity, if any, of surplus stocks of 

6 the Department of items that are currently treated 

7 as eligible defense items for purposes of this section. 

8 ‘‘(2) NOTICE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES

9 ON AVAILABLE STOCKS OF ITEMS.—The Director 

10 shall make information on the results of reviews 

11 under paragraph (1) available to the public on the 

12 Internet website of the Department referred to in 

13 subsection (f)(3). 

14 ‘‘(j) MECHANISMS OF TRANSFER OF ELIGIBLE DE15 FENSE ITEMS TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—A State or local law en17 forcement agency seeking transfer of eligible defense 

18 items pursuant to this section shall submit an appli19 cation therefore to the State Coordinator for the 

20 State in which the law enforcement agency is lo21 cated. The application shall include a statement of 

22 the need of the agency for the items and the infor23 mation specified in subsection (l). 

24 ‘‘(2) STATE COORDINATOR REVIEW.—A State 

25 Coordinator shall review, and approve or disapprove, 


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1 each application submitted to the State Coordinator 

2 under paragraph (1). In determining whether to ap3 prove or disapprove an application, a State Coordi4 nator shall apply all criteria applicable to the appli5 cation in the regulations for purposes of this section 

6 under subsection (g). A State Coordinator shall 

7 transmit each such application, whether approved or 

8 disapproved, to the Director of the Defense Logistics 

9 Agency, together with the information specified in 

10 subsection (l). 

11 ‘‘(3) DIRECTOR OF DLA REVIEW OF APPROVED

12 APPLICATIONS.—The Director shall review, and ap13 prove or disapprove, each application transmitted to 

14 the Director pursuant to paragraph (2) that is ap15 proved by a State Coordinator under that para16 graph. As part of the review of each application, the 

17 Director shall obtain an assessment of such applica18 tion by an individual employed pursuant to sub19 section (e). 

20 ‘‘(4) DISCHARGE OF TRANSFER.—The Director 

21 and the State Coordinator concerned shall jointly 

22 carry out the transfer of eligible defense items cov23 ered by applications approved by the Director under 

24 this subsection. 


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1 ‘‘(k) PUBLIC NOTICE ON REQUESTS FOR TRANS2 FERS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para4 graph (2), a State or local law enforcement agency 

5 requesting transfer of an eligible defense item under 

6 this section, including pursuant to interagency trans7 fer under subsection (r), shall— 

8 ‘‘(A) publish notice to the public on such 

9 request, including the information specified in 

10 subsection (l) (other than paragraphs (7), (11), 

11 (12), and (16) of that subsection, and with any 

12 personally identifiable information otherwise re13 quired by paragraphs (17) and (18) of that 

14 subsection redacted) if such information is not 

15 otherwise available to the public; and 

16 ‘‘(B) obtain approval of the request by the 

17 State or political subdivision of a State of which 

18 the law enforcement agency is an agency. 

19 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) ITEMS FOR UNDERCOVER OPER21 ATIONS.—A State or local law enforcement 

22 agency requesting transfer of an eligible defense 

23 item is not required to comply with paragraph 

24 (1) if the item requested is for an active under25 cover operation. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ALTERNATIVE NOTICE REQUIRE2 MENT.—A State or local law enforcement agen3 cy receiving an item under this section pursuant 

4 to a request covered by subparagraph (A) shall 

5 publish public notice of the request not later 

6 than 10 business days after the conclusion of 

7 the undercover operation for which the item 

8 was requested. 

9 ‘‘(l) INFORMATION IN SUPPORT OF APPLICATIONS.— 

10 The application of a State or local law enforcement agency 

11 for the transfer of eligible defense items under subsection 

12 (j)(1), and the transmittal of the State Coordinator con13 cerned to the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency 

14 with respect to the application pursuant to subsection 

15 (j)(2), shall include with the application a statement of 

16 the need of the law enforcement agency for the items as 

17 described in subsection (j)(1), which shall include the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(1) The type and amount of each item being 

20 requested. 

21 ‘‘(2) The name of the law enforcement agency. 

22 ‘‘(3) The number of sworn, full-time law en23 forcement officers of the law enforcement agency. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The number, if any, of items similar to the 

2 items being requested that the law enforcement 

3 agency has in good working condition. 

4 ‘‘(5) The amount and type of items, if any, that 

5 the law enforcement agency has that were purchased 

6 using funds from— 

7 ‘‘(A) the Urban Area Security Initiative 

8 authorized under section 2003 of the Homeland 

9 Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 604); 

10 ‘‘(B) the State Homeland Security Grant 

11 Program authorized under section 2004 of the 

12 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 605); 

13 or 

14 ‘‘(C) the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice 

15 Assistance Grant Program under subpart 1 of 

16 part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

17 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 

18 et seq.). 

19 ‘‘(6) The use of force policy of the law enforce20 ment agency. 

21 ‘‘(7) Whether the law enforcement agency in22 tends for SWAT teams to use the requested items, 

23 and, if so, the deployment policies of the law en24 forcement agency for SWAT teams. 


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1 ‘‘(8) Whether the law enforcement agency has 

2 or plans to adopt a memorandum of understanding 

3 or other joint use agreement for the shared use of 

4 the requested items with any other law enforcement 

5 agency. 

6 ‘‘(9) The capability gap to be filled by the items 

7 requested, and a description of the proposed use of 

8 the items by the law enforcement agency. 

9 ‘‘(10) Whether a consent decree is in effect be10 tween the United States and the law enforcement 

11 agency relating to civil rights abuses or excessive use 

12 of force. 

13 ‘‘(11) Whether the law enforcement agency is 

14 currently under investigation, or has been under in15 vestigation in the last 10 years, by the Department 

16 of Justice, an inspector general, or any equivalent 

17 State or local entity for civil rights abuses or exces18 sive use of force. 

19 ‘‘(12) Whether the chief of police of the law en20 forcement agency has ever been determined by the 

21 Department of Justice, an inspector general, or any 

22 equivalent State or local entity to have engaged in 

23 civil rights abuses or excessive use of force. 


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1 ‘‘(13) Whether the law enforcement agency re2 quested funds from a regional, State, or local polit3 ical entity to purchase the requested items, and— 

4 ‘‘(A) if so and the request was denied, a 

5 statement of the reason or reasons for such de6 nial; or 

7 ‘‘(B) if not, a statement of the reason or 

8 reasons the law enforcement agency did not. 

9 ‘‘(14) Such other information on the recent 

10 record of the law enforcement agency regarding civil 

11 rights and the excessive use of force as the Director 

12 shall specify in the regulations for purposes of this 

13 section. 

14 ‘‘(15) An executed maintenance requirement re15 lease acknowledging that the law enforcement agen16 cy understands and accepts responsibility for all 

17 costs associated with the upkeep of the items. 

18 ‘‘(16) Detailed documentation on the manner in 

19 which the law enforcement agency will provide for 

20 the storage and security of the items. 

21 ‘‘(17) A description of the policies and proce22 dures of the law enforcement agency for use of the 

23 items, including who will have authority over the use 

24 of the items and an organizational chart, and the 


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1 names and titles of agency members, who will have 

2 charge of the items. 

3 ‘‘(18) Documentation showing that the mem4 bers identified pursuant to paragraph (17) as in 

5 charge of items have been trained in the use and de6 ployment of such items within the past five years, or 

7 identifying specific training such members identified 

8 shall participate not later than 90 days after receipt 

9 of the items. 

10 ‘‘(19) Certification that any eligible defense 

11 items transferred under this section for use by a 

12 SWAT team have not been used, and will not be 

13 used, by a SWAT team engaging in routine patrol14 related incidents, non-tactical incidents, and non-tac15 tical assignments. 

16 ‘‘(20) Such other information on the law en17 forcement agency, and the application of the law en18 forcement agency, as the Director shall specify in 

19 the regulations for purposes of this section. 

20 ‘‘(m) REQUIREMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH USE OF

21 ELIGIBLE DEFENSE ITEMS BY SWAT TEAMS.—Eligible 

22 defense items may not be transferred to a State or local 

23 law enforcement agency under this section for use by a 

24 SWAT team unless the law enforcement agency requesting 

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1 tics Agency that the law enforcement agency makes avail2 able to the public the training records of the SWAT team, 

3 including the course outlines of such training (except that 

4 any personally identifiable information, and all but the 

5 title and subject of such training, may be redacted). The 

6 Attorney General shall issue, and may from time to time 

7 update, nonbinding guidelines on such policies. 

8 ‘‘(n) POLICIES ON USE OF VIDEO RECORDING

9 EQUIPMENT AND RECORDING.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Video recording equipment 

11 (including body cameras) may not be transferred to 

12 a State or local law enforcement agency under this 

13 section unless the law enforcement agency request14 ing such equipment certifies to the Director of the 

15 Defense Logistics Agency that the law enforcement 

16 agency has in place, and makes available to the pub17 lic, policies on the use of such equipment by law en18 forcement officers, and on securing video recordings 

19 of operations of law enforcement officers using video 

20 equipment, that meets the requirements specified in 

21 paragraph (2). 

22 ‘‘(2) POLICY REQUIREMENTS.—The require23 ments specified in this paragraph for policies de24 scribed in paragraph (1) are the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Policies on the appropriate use of 

2 video recording equipment, including whether 

3 such equipment should be left on at all times. 

4 ‘‘(B) Mechanisms to preserve, to the extent 

5 practicable, the integrity and security of video 

6 recordings, including a description of the per7 sonnel of the law enforcement agency, and 

8 other parties, who are authorized to access the 

9 recordings, mechanisms for the storage of re10 cordings, and measures to ensure the cybersecu11 rity of such recordings (if applicable to the stor12 age, retention, and retrieval of such recordings). 

13 ‘‘(C) Policies on the authorized and unau14 thorized public release of video recordings. 

15 ‘‘(D) A requirement that any video record16 ing of an interaction between a law enforcement 

17 officer and an individual who is not a law en18 forcement officer involving the use of force 

19 (whether deadly or otherwise) shall retained by 

20 the law enforcement agency for a period not 

21 shorter than the period of limitation in the 

22 State concerned for actions for civil rights viola23 tions under section 1979 of the Revised Stat24 utes (42 U.S.C. 1983). 


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1 ‘‘(o) STATE CERTIFICATION OF INSTRUCTORS IN

2 TRAINING ON USE OF FORCE AND CERTAIN ITEMS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) CERTIFICATION OF INSTRUCTORS IN

4 TRAINING REQUIRED.—On and after the date that is 

5 three years after the date of the enactment of the 

6 Protecting Communities and Police Act of 2015, eli7 gible defense items may not be transferred to a 

8 State or local law enforcement agency of a State 

9 under this section unless the Governor of the State 

10 (or the designee of the Governor) certifies to the Di11 rector of the Defense Logistics Agency that the 

12 State conducts a program for certifying police in13 structors in the provision of training on the use of 

14 force, and in the use of eligible defense items and 

15 special justice items, that meets the requirements 

16 specified in paragraph (2). Any instructor certified 

17 under a program conducted under section 2010 of 

18 the Homeland Security Act of 2002 shall be consid19 ered certified as a police instructor in any State for 

20 purposes of this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The require22 ments specified in this paragraph for a program de23 scribed in paragraph (1) are the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) The program shall include instruction 

25 in training on the following: 


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1 ‘‘(i) The use of force by State and 

2 local law enforcement officers in the ordi3 nary course of their duties. 

4 ‘‘(ii) The use of eligible defense items 

5 and special justice items by State and local 

6 law enforcement officers in the ordinary 

7 course of their duties. 

8 ‘‘(iii) The use of eligible defense items 

9 and special justice items by SWAT teams. 

10 ‘‘(iv) The appropriate deployment of 

11 SWAT teams. 

12 ‘‘(v) Civil rights and civil liberties. 

13 ‘‘(vi) Any other matters on the train14 ing of State and local law enforcement offi15 cers that the Governor of the State (or the 

16 designee of the Governor) considers appro17 priate. 

18 ‘‘(B) A list of the instructors who are cer19 tified pursuant to the program shall be main20 tained and published. 

21 ‘‘(3) DISCHARGE THROUGH EXISTING PRO22 GRAMS.—A State may satisfy the requirement in 

23 paragraph (1) using a program in effect on the date 

24 that is three years after the date of the enactment 

25 of the Protecting Communities and Police Act of 


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1 2015 if such program satisfies the requirements in 

2 paragraph (2). 

3 ‘‘(p) TRAINING REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) MINIMUM ANNUAL TRAINING REQUIRE5 MENTS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On and after the date 

7 that is three years after the date of the enact8 ment of the Protecting Communities and Police 

9 Act of 2015, eligible defense items may not be 

10 transferred to a State or local law enforcement 

11 agency under this section unless the Governor 

12 of the State (or the designee of the Governor) 

13 certifies to the Director of the Defense Logis14 tics Agency that the State has in place min15 imum annual training requirements for all 

16 sworn law enforcement officers in the State, in17 cluding— 

18 ‘‘(i) specialized leadership training re19 quirements for heads of law enforcement 

20 agencies who have— 

21 ‘‘(I) decisionmaking authority on 

22 the deployment of SWAT teams and 

23 tactical military vehicles; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) responsibility for drafting 

2 policies on the use of force and SWAT 

3 team deployment; 

4 ‘‘(ii) specialized SWAT team training 

5 requirements for all SWAT team members, 

6 including in law enforcement tactics used 

7 in tactical operations; 

8 ‘‘(iii) training in the appropriate use 

9 and deployment of tactical military vehi10 cles; and 

11 ‘‘(iv) training on sensitivity, including 

12 training on ethnic and racial bias, cultural 

13 diversity, and police interaction with the 

14 disabled, mentally ill, and new immigrants. 

15 ‘‘(B) SATISFACTION BY RECENT HIREES.— 

16 The requirements under subparagraph (A) shall 

17 provide for the first completion of the training 

18 concerned by an individual who becomes an offi19 cer in a law enforcement agency by not later 

20 than one year after the date on which the indi21 vidual becomes an officer in the law enforce22 ment agency. 

23 ‘‘(2) STATE COORDINATORS.—On and after the 

24 date that is three years after the date of the enact25 ment of the Protecting Communities and Police Act 


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1 of 2015, eligible defense items may not be trans2 ferred to a State or local law enforcement agency of 

3 a State under this section unless the Governor of the 

4 State (or the designee of the Governor) certifies to 

5 the Director of the Defense Logistics Agency that 

6 the individual who serves as a State Coordinator in 

7 the State receives on an annual basis training in the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(A) Inventory management. 

10 ‘‘(B) The assessment of the needs of State 

11 and local law enforcement agencies for eligible 

12 defense items. 

13 ‘‘(3) USE OF ELIGIBLE DEFENSE ITEMS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On and after the date 

15 that is three years after the date of the enact16 ment of the Protecting Communities and Police 

17 Act of 2015, eligible defense items may not be 

18 transferred to a State or local law enforcement 

19 agency under this section unless the head of the 

20 law enforcement agency requesting such items 

21 certifies to the Director that any law enforce22 ment officer who is authorized to use such 

23 items will have received training on the proper 

24 law enforcement use of such items by an in25 structor certified as described in subsection (o) 


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1 or section 2010 of the Homeland Security Act 

2 of 2002. 

3 ‘‘(B) SATISFACTION BY RECENT HIREES.— 

4 Training required by subparagraph (A) shall be 

5 completed by an individual who becomes a 

6 member of a State or local law enforcement 

7 agency by not later than one year after the date 

8 on which the individual becomes a member of 

9 the law enforcement agency. 

10 ‘‘(4) SWAT TEAMS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On and after the date 

12 that is three years after the date of the enact13 ment of the Protecting Communities and Police 

14 Act of 2015, eligible defense items may not be 

15 transferred to a State or local law enforcement 

16 agency under this section for use by a SWAT 

17 team unless the head of the law enforcement 

18 agency requesting such items certifies to the 

19 Director that any law enforcement officer who 

20 is a member of such SWAT team will have par21 ticipated during the preceding year in tactical 

22 SWAT team training by an instructor certified 

23 as described in subsection (o) or section 2010 

24 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and 

25 training required pursuant to paragraph (1). 


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1 ‘‘(B) SATISFACTION BY RECENT HIREES.— 

2 Training required by subparagraph (A) shall be 

3 completed by an individual who becomes a 

4 member of a SWAT team by not later than one 

5 year after the date on which the individual be6 comes a member of the SWAT team. 

7 ‘‘(q) WHISTLEBLOWER AND INDEPENDENT OVER8 SIGHT REQUIREMENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) WHISTLEBLOWER REQUIREMENTS.—On 

10 and after the date that is three years after the date 

11 of the enactment of the Protecting Communities and 

12 Police Act of 2015, eligible defense items may not 

13 be transferred to a State or local law enforcement 

14 agency of a State under this section unless the Gov15 ernor of the State (or the designee of the Governor) 

16 certifies to the Director of the Defense Logistics 

17 Agency that the State— 

18 ‘‘(A) has in place— 

19 ‘‘(i) a program, including a public 

20 complaint hotline, that provides individuals 

21 the ability to disclose any waste, fraud, or 

22 abuse in connection with the use of such 

23 items; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) mechanisms (commonly referred 

25 to as ‘whistleblower protections’) to protect 


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1 individuals who make a disclosure de2 scribed in clause (i) from retaliatory or 

3 other adverse personnel actions in connec4 tion with such disclosures; and 

5 ‘‘(B) publicizes the existence of the pro6 gram and whistleblower protections described in 

7 subparagraph (A). 

8 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION OF OVERSIGHT AND AC9 COUNTABILITY.— 

10 ‘‘(A) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Eligible 

11 defense items may not be transferred to a State 

12 or local law enforcement agency under this sec13 tion unless the head of the law enforcement 

14 agency requesting such items submits to the Di15 rector a written certification (in the form of a 

16 memorandum of understanding, memorandum 

17 of agreement, or letterhead correspondence) 

18 that an entity that is unaffiliated with the law 

19 enforcement agency is authorized— 

20 ‘‘(i) to receive any complaints regard21 ing the use of any equipment and funds of 

22 the law enforcement agency; 

23 ‘‘(ii) to periodically review and assess 

24 the use of such equipment and funds by 

25 the law enforcement agency; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) to make recommendations to the 

2 law enforcement agency regarding the use 

3 of such equipment and funds by the law 

4 enforcement agency that are either— 

5 ‘‘(I) non-binding in character; or 

6 ‘‘(II) binding in character, if au7 thorized by a law or ordinance gov8 erning the law enforcement agency or 

9 the entity or by an agreement between 

10 the governing body of the law enforce11 ment agency and organizations rep12 resenting law enforcement officers of 

13 the law enforcement agency. 

14 ‘‘(B) DISCHARGE THROUGH EXISTING EN15 TITIES.—A law enforcement agency may satisfy 

16 the requirement in subparagraph (A) through 

17 an entity that exists as of the date of the enact18 ment of the Protecting Communities and Police 

19 Act of 2015, including an independent review 

20 board, a Federal, State, or local inspector gen21 eral, a Federal, State, county, or city attorney 

22 general, a district attorney, the Federal Bureau 

23 of Investigation or another Federal agency, a 

24 State agency, a State or local governing body 

25 (such as a city council or county commission), 


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1 a law enforcement council, or an independent 

2 entity established by one or more such officials, 

3 agencies, or entities on behalf of one or more 

4 law enforcement agencies. 

5 ‘‘(r) INTERAGENCY TRANSFER.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 

7 State or local law enforcement agency may transfer 

8 an eligible defense item transferred to the law en9 forcement agency under this section to another State 

10 or local law enforcement agency. 

11 ‘‘(2) APPROVAL REQUIRED.—An eligible de12 fense item may not be transferred by a State or 

13 local law enforcement agency to another law enforce14 ment agency under this subsection without the ap15 proval of the Director of the Defense Logistics 

16 Agency (or the designee of the Director). A law en17 forcement agency seeking the approval of the Direc18 tor for the transfer of an item pursuant to this para19 graph shall submit to the Director an application 

20 therefor in such form and manner as the Director 

21 shall specify in the regulations for purposes of this 

22 section under subsection (g). 

23 ‘‘(s) SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION.— 

24 ‘‘(1) FOR LOST OR STOLEN ITEMS.—In the 

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1 forcement agency under this section is lost, stolen, 

2 or misappropriated— 

3 ‘‘(A) in the case of an offensive weapon or 

4 ordnance— 

5 ‘‘(i) on the first occurrence in the case 

6 of the law enforcement agency, the Direc7 tor of the Defense Logistics Agency, after 

8 providing the law enforcement agency with 

9 notice and the opportunity to contest the 

10 allegation, shall suspend the law enforce11 ment agency from eligibility for receipt of 

12 items under this section for a period of 6 

13 months; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) on any subsequent occurrence in 

15 the case of the law enforcement agency, 

16 the Director, after providing the law en17 forcement agency with notice and the op18 portunity to contest the allegation, shall 

19 suspend the law enforcement agency from 

20 eligibility for receipt of items under this 

21 section for a period of five years; and 

22 ‘‘(B) in the case of any other item— 

23 ‘‘(i) on the third occurrence in the 

24 case of the law enforcement agency, the 

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1 ment agency with notice and the oppor2 tunity to contest the allegation, shall sus3 pend the law enforcement agency from eli4 gibility for receipt of items under this sec5 tion for a period of 6 months; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) on any subsequent occurrence in 

7 the case of the law enforcement agency, 

8 the Director, after providing the law en9 forcement agency with notice and the op10 portunity to contest the allegation, shall 

11 suspend the law enforcement agency from 

12 eligibility for receipt of items under this 

13 section for a period of three years. 

14 ‘‘(2) INTENTIONAL FALSIFICATION OF INFOR15 MATION.—In the event a State or local law enforce16 ment agency is determined by the Director (or the 

17 designee of the Director) to have intentionally fal18 sified any information in requesting or applying for 

19 items under this section, the Director, after pro20 viding the law enforcement agency with notice and 

21 the opportunity to contest the determination, shall 

22 terminate the law enforcement agency from eligi23 bility for receipt of items under this section. 

24 ‘‘(t) REPORT REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

2 AGENCIES REPORT REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 

3 one year after the date of the enactment of the Pro4 tecting Communities and Police Act of 2015 and 

5 every year thereafter, each State or local law en6 forcement agency that receives eligible defense items 

7 under this section shall submit to the Director of the 

8 Defense Logistics Agency a report setting forth an 

9 accounting of such items. Each report of an agency 

10 shall include the following: 

11 ‘‘(A) For weapons, tactical vehicles, air12 craft, and boats, time-stamped serial numbers 

13 of the items. 

14 ‘‘(B) Such information on the status and 

15 use of such items as the Secretary of Defense 

16 requires in order to make the reports required 

17 by paragraph (2). 

18 ‘‘(2) SECRETARY OF DEFENSE REPORT RE19 QUIREMENTS.—Not later than one year after the 

20 date of the enactment of the Protecting Commu21 nities and Police Act of 2015, once a year for every 

22 four years thereafter, and once every three years 

23 thereafter after such five years, the Secretary of De24 fense shall submit to the Attorney General, the Sec25 retary of Homeland Security, and Congress, and 


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1 make available to the public, a comprehensive report 

2 on the use during the preceding year of eligible de3 fense items transferred under this section. Each re4 port shall include the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) A description of all eligible defense 

6 items transferred under this section during the 

7 year covered by such report, including an ap8 pendix setting forth a plain English description 

9 or manufacturer make, model number, and 

10 name of each item transferred, the quantity of 

11 each item transferred, the recipient of each 

12 item, and a brief explanation of the need for 

13 each item by the recipient. 

14 ‘‘(B) A statement of the items described in 

15 subparagraph (A) that were in new or like-new 

16 condition at the time of transfer. 

17 ‘‘(C) For each type of eligible defense item 

18 transferred under this section during the year 

19 covered by such report, the quantity, if any, of 

20 the same or a similar item purchased by the 

21 Department of Defense during the prior fiscal 

22 year. 

23 ‘‘(D) The number of requests for transfer 

24 of eligible defense items during the year covered 

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1 ordinators and the Director of the Defense Lo2 gistics Agency. 

3 ‘‘(E) The number of requests for transfer 

4 of eligible defense items during the year covered 

5 by such report that were approved by State Co6 ordinators but denied by the Director, and, for 

7 each such request, a statement of the type of 

8 item requested and the reason or reasons for 

9 the denial. 

10 ‘‘(F) The number of requests for transfer 

11 of eligible defense items during the year covered 

12 by such report that were denied by State Coor13 dinators, and, for each such request, a state14 ment of the type of item requested and the rea15 son or reasons for the denial. 

16 ‘‘(u) CONSTRUCTION WITH OTHER DLA AUTHOR17 ITY.—Nothing in this section shall be construed to over18 ride, alter, or supersede the authority of the Director of 

19 the Defense Logistics Agency to dispose of property of the 

20 Department of Defense that is not a controlled defense 

21 item to law enforcement agencies under another other pro22 vision of law. 

23 ‘‘(v) NON-CONTROLLED DEFENSE ITEMS TO LAW

24 ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.—Notwithstanding any provi25 sion of chapter 5 of title 40 or any other provision of law, 


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1 the Administrator of General Services shall accord a pri2 ority in the disposal of excess and surplus items and equip3 ment of the Department of Defense that are not controlled 

4 defense items to law enforcement agencies. 

5 ‘‘(w) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 ‘‘(1) The term ‘controlled defense item’ means 

7 property of the Department of Defense that is sub8 ject to the restrictions of the United States Muni9 tions List (22 Code of Federal Regulations Part 

10 121) or the Commerce Control List (15 Code of 

11 Federal Regulations Part 774). 

12 ‘‘(2) The term ‘eligible defense item’ means a 

13 controlled defense item that is eligible for transfer to 

14 a law enforcement agency pursuant to this section. 

15 ‘‘(3) The term ‘law enforcement council’ means 

16 a consortium of law enforcement agencies operating 

17 in a partnership within a region to promote and en18 hance public safety. 

19 ‘‘(4) The term ‘local educational agency’ has 

20 the meaning given that term in section 8013(9) of 

21 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

22 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7713(9)). 

23 ‘‘(5) The term ‘special justice item’ has the 

24 meaning given that term in section 509(a) of the 


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1 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

2 1968. 

3 ‘‘(6) The term ‘State Coordinator’ means an in4 dividual appointed by the Governor of a State— 

5 ‘‘(A) to manage requests of State and local 

6 law enforcement agencies of the State for eligi7 ble defense items; and 

8 ‘‘(B) to ensure the appropriate use of eligi9 ble defense items transferred under this section 

10 by such law enforcement agencies. 

11 ‘‘(7) The term ‘State or local law enforcement 

12 agency’ means a State or local agency or entity with 

13 law enforcement officers that have arrest and appre14 hension authority and whose primary function is to 

15 enforce the laws. The term includes a local edu16 cational agency with such officers. The term does 

17 not include a firefighting agency or entity. 

18 ‘‘(8) The term ‘SWAT team’ means a Special 

19 Weapons and Tactics team or other specialized tac20 tical team composed of State or local sworn law en21 forcement officers. 

22 ‘‘(9) The term ‘tactical military vehicle’ means 

23 an armored vehicle having military characteristics 

24 resulting from military research and development 

25 processes, designed primarily for use by forces in the 


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1 field in direction connection with, or support of, 

2 combat or tactical operations.’’. 

3 (b) LIMITATIONS ON TRANSFER OF CERTAIN ITEMS

4 PENDING ACHIEVEMENT OF CERTAIN PROGRAM MILE5 STONES.— 

6 (1) LIMITATION PENDING EMPLOYMENT OF

7 LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERTS IN DLA.—No item de8 scribed in paragraph (4) may be transferred under 

9 section 2576a of title 10, United States Code (as 

10 amended by subsection (a)), until the employment in 

11 the Defense Logistics Agency of law enforcement ex12 perts required by subsection (e) of such section. 

13 (2) DELAYED LIMITATION PENDING APPOINT14 MENT OF TASK FORCE.—Effective as of the date 

15 that is one year after the date of the enactment of 

16 this Act, no item described in paragraph (4) may be 

17 transferred under section 2576a of title 10, United 

18 States Code (as so amended), until the appointment 

19 of the task force required by section 4 of this Act. 

20 (3) DELAYED LIMITATION PENDING PUBLICA21 TION OF LIST OF ELIGIBLE DEFENSE ITEMS.—Ef22 fective as of the date that is two years after the date 

23 of the enactment of this Act, no item described in 

24 paragraph (4) may be transferred under section 

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1 ed), until the publication under subsection (f)(3) of 

2 such section of the items determined to be eligible 

3 defense items for purposes of such section. 

4 (4) COVERED ITEMS.—An item described in 

5 this paragraph is the following: 

6 (A) A controlled defense item. 

7 (B) An eligible defense item. 

8 (C) An item specified in section 

9 2576a(g)(4)(B) of title 10, United States Code 

10 (as so amended). 

11 (5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the 

12 terms ‘‘controlled defense item’’ and ‘‘eligible de13 fense item’’ have the meaning given such terms in 

14 section 2576a(w) of title 10, United States Code (as 

15 so amended). 

16 (c) RESTATEMENT AND MODIFICATION OF CURRENT

17 AUTHORITY FOR TRANSFER FOR FEDERAL LAW EN18 FORCEMENT ACTIVITIES.—Chapter 153 of title 10, 

19 United States Code, is amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating section 2576b as section 

21 2576d; and 

22 (2) by inserting after section 2576a (as amend23 ed by subsection (a)) the following new sections: 


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1 ‘‘§ 2576b. Excess personal property: sale or donation 

2 of certain non-controlled defense items 

3 for State or local law enforcement activi4 ties 

5 ‘‘(a) TRANSFER AUTHORIZED.—(1) Notwithstanding 

6 any other provision of law and subject to subsection (b), 

7 the Secretary of Defense may transfer to State agencies 

8 personal property of the Department of Defense that the 

9 Secretary determines is— 

10 ‘‘(A) not a controlled defense item, an eligible 

11 defense item, or an item specified in section 

12 2576a(g)(4)(B) of this title; 

13 ‘‘(B) suitable for use by State agencies in law 

14 enforcement activities, including counter-drug and 

15 counter-terrorism activities; and 

16 ‘‘(C) excess to the needs of the Department of 

17 Defense. 

18 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall carry out this section in con19 sultation with the Attorney General and the Director of 

20 National Drug Control Policy. 

21 ‘‘(b) CONDITIONS FOR TRANSFER.—The Secretary of 

22 Defense may transfer personal property under this section 

23 only if— 

24 ‘‘(1) the property is drawn from existing stocks 

25 of the Department of Defense; 


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1 ‘‘(2) the recipient accepts the property on an 

2 as-is, where-is basis; 

3 ‘‘(3) the transfer is made without the expendi4 ture of any funds available to the Department of 

5 Defense for the procurement of defense equipment; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(4) all costs incurred subsequent to the trans8 fer of the property are borne or reimbursed by the 

9 recipient. 

10 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATION.—Subject to subsection (b)(4), 

11 the Secretary may transfer personal property under this 

12 section without charge to the recipient agency. 

13 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘con14 trolled defense item’ and ‘eligible defense item’ have the 

15 meaning given such terms in section 2576a(w) of this title. 

16 ‘‘§ 2576c. Excess personal property: sale or donation 

17 for Federal law enforcement activities 

18 ‘‘(a) TRANSFER AUTHORIZED.—(1) Notwithstanding 

19 any other provision of law and subject to subsection (b), 

20 the Secretary of Defense may transfer to Federal agencies 

21 personal property of the Department of Defense, including 

22 small arms and ammunition, that the Secretary deter23 mines is— 


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1 ‘‘(A) suitable for use by the agencies in law en2 forcement activities, including counter-drug and 

3 counter-terrorism activities; and 

4 ‘‘(B) excess to the needs of the Department of 

5 Defense. 

6 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall carry out this section in con7 sultation with the Attorney General and the Director of 

8 National Drug Control Policy. 

9 ‘‘(b) CONDITIONS FOR TRANSFER.—The Secretary of 

10 Defense may transfer personal property under this section 

11 only if— 

12 ‘‘(1) the property is drawn from existing stocks 

13 of the Department of Defense; 

14 ‘‘(2) the recipient accepts the property on an 

15 as-is, where-is basis; 

16 ‘‘(3) the transfer is made without the expendi17 ture of any funds available to the Department of 

18 Defense for the procurement of defense equipment; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(4) all costs incurred subsequent to the trans21 fer of the property are borne or reimbursed by the 

22 recipient. 

23 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATION.—Subject to subsection (b)(4), 

24 the Secretary may transfer personal property under this 

25 section without charge to the recipient agency.’’. 


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1 (d) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections 

2 at the beginning of chapter 153 of title 10, United States 

3 Code, is amended by striking the items relating to sections 

4 2576a and 2576b and inserting the following new items: 

‘‘2576a. Excess personal property: sale or donation of certain controlled defense 

items for State or local law enforcement activities. 

‘‘2576b. Excess personal property: sale or donation of certain non-controlled defense items for State or local law enforcement activities. 

‘‘2576c. Excess personal property: sale or donation for Federal law enforcement 

activities. 

‘‘2576d. Excess personal property: sale or donation to assist firefighting agencies.’’. 

5 (e) CJCS DUTY TO ENSURE FEDERAL AGENCY RE6 SPONSIBILITY FOR TRANSFERRED PROPERTY.—Section 

7 153(a) of title 10, United States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating paragraph (6) as para9 graph (7); and 

10 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol11 lowing new paragraph (6): 

12 ‘‘(6) TRANSFERS OF DOD PROPERTY FOR FED13 ERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES.—Ensuring 

14 that Federal agencies to which property of the De15 partment of Defense is transferred pursuant to sec16 tion 2576c of this title accept responsibility for in17 ventory, management, accountability, and disposal of 

18 such property.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. EDWARD BYRNE MEMORIAL JUSTICE ASSISTANCE 

2 GRANTS. 

3 (a) USE OF FUNDS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.—Sub4 part 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

5 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.) 

6 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 509. USE OF FUNDS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT. 

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

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered funds’ means funds pro10 vided under this subpart; 

11 ‘‘(2) the term ‘law enforcement agency’— 

12 ‘‘(A) means an agency or entity with law 

13 enforcement officers— 

14 ‘‘(i) who have arrest and apprehension 

15 authority; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) whose primary function is to en17 force the laws; 

18 ‘‘(B) includes a local educational agency 

19 with officers described in subparagraph (A); 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(C) does not include a firefighting agency 

22 or entity; 

23 ‘‘(3) the term ‘local educational agency’ has the 

24 meaning given that term in section 8013(9) of the 

25 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

26 (20 U.S.C. 7713(9)); 


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1 ‘‘(4) the term ‘prohibited item’ means an item 

2 that the Attorney General determines under sub3 section (b)(1) may not be purchased by a law en4 forcement agency using covered funds; 

5 ‘‘(5) the term ‘special justice item’ means an 

6 item that the Attorney General determines under 

7 subsection (b)(1) is not generally issued to a law en8 forcement patrol officer but is suitable for certain 

9 uses by law enforcement officers in engagements 

10 with individuals who are not law enforcement offi11 cers; 

12 ‘‘(6) the term ‘SWAT team’ means a Special 

13 Weapons and Tactics team or other specialized tac14 tical team composed of sworn law enforcement offi15 cers; and 

16 ‘‘(7) the term ‘tactical military vehicle’ means 

17 an armored vehicle having military characteristics 

18 resulting from military research and development 

19 processes, designed primarily for use by forces in the 

20 field in direct connection with, or support of, combat 

21 or tactical operations. 

22 ‘‘(b) PURCHASE OF CERTAIN ITEMS BY LAW EN23 FORCEMENT.— 

24 ‘‘(1) LISTS OF PROHIBITED ITEMS AND SPE25 CIAL JUSTICE ITEMS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, 

2 in consultation with the task force appointed 

3 under section 4 of the Protecting Communities 

4 and Police Act of 2015, shall— 

5 ‘‘(i) not later than 3 years after the 

6 date of enactment of the Protecting Com7 munities and Police Act of 2015, create— 

8 ‘‘(I) a list of prohibited items; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(II) a list of special justice 

11 items; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) review and revise each list cre13 ated under clause (i) not less often than 

14 once every 5 years. 

15 ‘‘(B) SPECIFIC ITEMS.—The Attorney 

16 General shall place each of the following items 

17 on the list of prohibited items or the list of spe18 cial justice items: 

19 ‘‘(i) Weapons over .50 caliber. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Tactical military vehicles. 

21 ‘‘(iii) Other tactical military equip22 ment. 

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1 listic shields, battle dress uniforms, and 

2 camouflage uniforms and clothing. 

3 ‘‘(v) Grenades, flash bang grenades, 

4 grenade launchers, and grenade launcher 

5 attachments. 

6 ‘‘(C) PUBLICATION.—The Attorney Gen7 eral shall publish each list created under sub8 paragraph (A) on the website of the Depart9 ment of Justice and in the Federal Register. 

10 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITED ITEMS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

12 subparagraph (B), a law enforcement agency 

13 may not use covered funds to purchase a pro14 hibited item or receive a prohibited item that 

15 was purchased using covered funds. 

16 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.— 

17 ‘‘(i) THREATS TO NATIONAL SECU18 RITY.—A law enforcement agency may 

19 purchase a prohibited item using covered 

20 funds, or receive a prohibited item that 

21 was purchased using covered funds, if— 

22 ‘‘(I) the Attorney General deter23 mines that the prohibited item will be 

24 useful in preventing or mitigating 


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1 damage resulting from a threat to na2 tional security; 

3 ‘‘(II) the law enforcement agency 

4 has in place an agreement with the 

5 National Guard of the State in which 

6 the law enforcement agency is located 

7 for the storage of the restricted item 

8 at a National Guard site; and 

9 ‘‘(III) the law enforcement pro10 vides a copy of the agreement de11 scribed in subclause (II) to the Attor12 ney General. 

13 ‘‘(ii) UPDATE TO LIST.—If a threat to 

14 national security justifies the purchase of a 

15 prohibited item under clause (i), the Attor16 ney General shall publish an updated list 

17 of prohibited items or special justice items, 

18 as appropriate, under paragraph (1)(C) as 

19 soon as practicable. 

20 ‘‘(3) AUTHORITY TO PRESCRIBE REGULA21 TIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

23 may prescribe regulations that place restrictions 

24 and limitations on special justice items that 

25 may be purchased by law enforcement agencies 


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1 using covered funds, based on the appropriate2 ness of the use of the items in law enforcement 

3 activities. 

4 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZED ELEMENTS.—The regu5 lations prescribed by the Attorney General 

6 under subparagraph (A) may include the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(i) Tiers of eligibility of law enforce9 ment agencies to purchase special justice 

10 items using covered funds based on need of 

11 law enforcement agencies for particular 

12 items, size and capabilities of law enforce13 ment agencies, or such other factors as the 

14 Attorney General may specify in the regu15 lations. 

16 ‘‘(ii) Restrictions on the numbers or 

17 types of special justice items that may be 

18 purchased by a particular law enforcement 

19 agency using covered funds, within a par20 ticular period of time, to law enforcement 

21 agencies in a particular region, or such 

22 other factors as the Attorney General may 

23 specify in regulations. 

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1 ment agencies purchased using covered 

2 funds based on size, capability, or such 

3 other factors the Attorney General may 

4 specify in the regulations. 

5 ‘‘(iv) Requirements for memoranda of 

6 understanding or other appropriate agree7 ments in the case of joint use of special 

8 justice items, purchased using covered 

9 funds, by more than 1 law enforcement 

10 agency. 

11 ‘‘(c) OTHER RESTRICTIONS AND LIMITATIONS ON

12 USE OF COVERED FUNDS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) PURCHASE OF SPECIAL JUSTICE ITEMS

14 USING COVERED FUNDS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A law enforcement 

16 agency may not receive or use covered funds to 

17 purchase a special justice item unless the law 

18 enforcement agency— 

19 ‘‘(i) except as provided in subpara20 graph (B), publishes a needs justification 

21 statement— 

22 ‘‘(I) on its website, on the 

23 website of its governing body, or in a 

24 manner and location in which the 

25 needs justification statement can be 


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1 easily viewed by the residents in the 

2 area in which the law enforcement 

3 agency has jurisdiction; 

4 ‘‘(II) that, except as provided in 

5 subclause (III), includes the informa6 tion required under subparagraph (C); 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(III) from which the law en9 forcement agency may redact— 

10 ‘‘(aa) the information re11 quired under clause (x) or (xi) of 

12 subparagraph (C); and 

13 ‘‘(bb) with respect to the 

14 training records required under 

15 clause (vi), any personally identi16 fiable information and all but the 

17 title and subject of such training 

18 courses; 

19 ‘‘(ii) obtains the approval of the head 

20 of the State, political subdivision of a 

21 State, or Indian tribe of which the law en22 forcement agency is an agency before re23 questing the covered funds; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) submits the needs justification 

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1 quired under subparagraph (C), to the en2 tity from which the law enforcement agen3 cy is to receive the covered funds. 

4 ‘‘(B) ONGOING OPERATIONS.—The re5 quirements under subparagraph (A)(i) shall not 

6 apply to a law enforcement agency that receives 

7 or uses covered funds to purchase a special jus8 tice item to be used in an active, ongoing 

9 counterterrorism or undercover operation. 

10 ‘‘(C) NEEDS JUSTIFICATION STATE11 MENTS.—A needs justification statement of a 

12 law enforcement agency shall include the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(i) The number and type of special 

15 justice items proposed to be purchased. 

16 ‘‘(ii) The number of sworn, full-time 

17 law enforcement officers of the law en18 forcement agency. 

19 ‘‘(iii) The number, if any, of items 

20 similar to the special justice item that the 

21 law enforcement agency has in good work22 ing condition. 

23 ‘‘(iv) The number and type of items, 

24 if any, that the law enforcement agency 

25 has that were— 


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1 ‘‘(I) transferred to the law en2 forcement agency under section 2576a 

3 of title 10, United States Code; or 

4 ‘‘(II) purchased using funds 

5 from— 

6 ‘‘(aa) the Urban Area Secu7 rity Initiative authorized under 

8 section 2003 of the Homeland 

9 Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 

10 604); or 

11 ‘‘(bb) the State Homeland 

12 Security Grant Program author13 ized under section 2004 of the 

14 Homeland Security Act of 2002 

15 (6 U.S.C. 605) during the 5-year 

16 period preceding the date on 

17 which the statement is published. 

18 ‘‘(v) The use of force policy of the law 

19 enforcement agency. 

20 ‘‘(vi) Whether the law enforcement 

21 agency intends to have a SWAT team use 

22 the special justice item and, if so, the 

23 training records of the SWAT team, in24 cluding the course outlines of such train25 ing. 


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1 ‘‘(vii) Whether the law enforcement 

2 agency has or plans to adopt a memo3 randum of understanding or other joint 

4 use agreement for the shared use of the 

5 special justice item with any other law en6 forcement agency. 

7 ‘‘(viii) The capability gap to be filled 

8 by the special justice item, and a descrip9 tion of the proposed use of the special jus10 tice item by the law enforcement agency. 

11 ‘‘(ix) Whether a consent decree is in 

12 effect between the United States and the 

13 law enforcement agency relating to civil 

14 rights abuses or excessive use of force. 

15 ‘‘(x) Whether the law enforcement 

16 agency is currently under investigation, or 

17 has been under investigation during the 

18 preceding 10 years, by the Department of 

19 Justice, an inspector general, or any equiv20 alent State or local entity for civil rights 

21 abuses or excessive use of force. 

22 ‘‘(xi) Whether the head of the law en23 forcement agency has ever been determined 

24 by the Department of Justice, an inspector 

25 general, or any equivalent State or local 


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1 entity to have engaged in civil rights 

2 abuses or excessive use of force, if such in3 formation is publicly available. 

4 ‘‘(xii)(I) Whether the law enforcement 

5 agency requested funds from a regional, 

6 State, or local political entity to purchase 

7 the requested item; 

8 ‘‘(II) if the law enforcement agency 

9 requested funds from a regional, State, or 

10 local political entity and the request was 

11 denied, a statement of the reason or rea12 sons for the denial; and 

13 ‘‘(III) if the law enforcement agency 

14 did not request funds from a regional, 

15 State, or local political entity, a statement 

16 explaining why the law enforcement agency 

17 did not do so. 

18 ‘‘(xiii) A certification that any item 

19 purchased using covered funds has not 

20 been, and will not be, used by a SWAT 

21 team of the law enforcement agency engag22 ing in routine patrol-related incidents, non23 tactical incidents, or non-tactical assign24 ments. 


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1 ‘‘(xiv) Any other information on the 

2 recent record of the law enforcement agen3 cy regarding civil rights and the excessive 

4 use of force that the Attorney General de5 termines appropriate. 

6 ‘‘(2) RESTRICTIONS ON SMALL LAW ENFORCE7 MENT AGENCIES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION ON PURCHASE OF TAC9 TICAL MILITARY VEHICLES BY SMALL LAW EN10 FORCEMENT AGENCIES.—A law enforcement 

11 agency with 10 or fewer sworn law enforcement 

12 officers— 

13 ‘‘(i) that has 1 or more functioning 

14 tactical military vehicles may not use cov15 ered funds to purchase a tactical military 

16 vehicle; 

17 ‘‘(ii) that does not have a functioning 

18 tactical military vehicle may use covered 

19 funds to purchase not more than 1 tactical 

20 military vehicle; or 

21 ‘‘(iii) that is the designated procure22 ment agency for a multi-jurisdictional 

23 joint-use agreement may use covered funds 

24 for the purchase of more than 1 tactical 

25 military vehicle, or receive more than 1 


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1 tactical military vehicle purchased using 

2 covered funds, if the agency purchases or 

3 receives not more than 1 tactical military 

4 vehicle for every 10 sworn law enforcement 

5 officers covered by the joint-use agreement. 

6 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON USE OF ITEMS BY

7 SMALL SWAT TEAMS.—A special justice item 

8 purchased using covered funds may not be used 

9 by— 

10 ‘‘(i) a SWAT team composed of fewer 

11 than 17 sworn law enforcement officers; 

12 ‘‘(ii) a SWAT team composed entirely 

13 of members from a single law enforcement 

14 agency that has fewer than 35 sworn law 

15 enforcement officers; or 

16 ‘‘(iii) a SWAT team composed of 

17 members from 2 or more law enforcement 

18 agencies which agencies have, in aggregate, 

19 fewer than 35 sworn law enforcement offi20 cers. 

21 ‘‘(3) RESTRICTIONS ON LOCAL EDUCATION

22 AGENCIES.— 

23 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION ON USE OF COVERED

24 FUNDS.—A local educational agency, or a law 

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1 cation agency, may not use covered funds to 

2 purchase a tactical military vehicle if— 

3 ‘‘(i) the local educational agency is 

4 served by a law enforcement agency that— 

5 ‘‘(I) is unaffiliated with the local 

6 education agency; and 

7 ‘‘(II) has a tactical military vehi8 cle; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) the local educational agency is 

10 served by 1 or more law enforcement agen11 cies that are unaffiliated with the local 

12 education agency and no such serving 

13 agency will agree to store and maintain the 

14 tactical military vehicle for the local edu15 cational agency. 

16 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON USE OF COVERED

17 FUNDS.—A local educational agency that pur18 chases a tactical military vehicle using covered 

19 funds may not use funds of the local edu20 cational agency— 

21 ‘‘(i) to transport the tactical military 

22 vehicle to the district of the local edu23 cational agency; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) to maintain the tactical military 

25 vehicle. 


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1 ‘‘(4) CAMOUFLAGE UNIFORMS OR CLOTHING.— 

2 A law enforcement agency may only use funding 

3 provided under this subpart to purchase camouflage 

4 uniforms or clothing if the camouflage uniforms or 

5 clothing are for use by a SWAT team that dem6 onstrates a legitimate geographic or environmental 

7 need for camouflage uniforms or clothing based on 

8 the physical environment in which the SWAT team 

9 operates. 

10 ‘‘(5) APPROVAL REQUIRED FOR PURCHASE OF

11 CERTAIN ITEMS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) NO DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY.— 

13 The Attorney General may not delegate the au14 thority to approve an application for a grant 

15 under this subpart if the application proposes 

16 to use funds for the purchase of an item speci17 fied in subparagraph (B). 

18 ‘‘(B) ITEMS.—The items specified in this 

19 subparagraph are the following: 

20 ‘‘(i) Weapons over .50 caliber. 

21 ‘‘(ii) Grenades, flash bang grenades, 

22 grenade launchers, and grenade launcher 

23 attachments. 

24 ‘‘(iii) Tactical military vehicles. 


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1 ‘‘(6) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES UNDER

2 CONSENT DECREES.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A law enforcement 

4 agency for which a consent decree is in effect 

5 between the United States and the law enforce6 ment agency, or that is under investigation by 

7 the Department of Justice, relating to civil 

8 rights abuses or excessive use of force, may not 

9 use covered funds to purchase any weapon or 

10 tactical military vehicle without the approval of 

11 the Department of Justice. 

12 ‘‘(B) PRIORITY.—In considering requests 

13 for covered funds that are intended to be used 

14 by or for a law enforcement agency described in 

15 subparagraph (A), the Attorney General shall 

16 prioritize any such requests that relate to fund17 ing for equipment, training, and activities re18 lated to community policing efforts. 

19 ‘‘(7) TRANSPORTATION COSTS.—No covered 

20 funds may be used to pay the cost of transporting 

21 an eligible defense item transferred to a law enforce22 ment agency under section 2576a of title 10, United 

23 States Code. 

24 ‘‘(d) TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) STATE CERTIFICATION OF LAW ENFORCE2 MENT INSTRUCTORS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On and after the date 

4 that is 3 years after the date of enactment of 

5 the Protecting Communities and Police Act of 

6 2015, a State, and any law enforcement agency 

7 of or in the State, may not receive or use cov8 ered funds to purchase a special justice item 

9 unless the chief executive of the State certifies 

10 to the Attorney General that the State conducts 

11 a program for certifying law enforcement in12 structors in the provision of training that meets 

13 the requirements under subparagraph (B). 

14 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—The re15 quirements for a program described in subpara16 graph (A) are the following: 

17 ‘‘(i) The program shall include in18 struction in training on the following: 

19 ‘‘(I) The use of force by law en20 forcement officers in the ordinary 

21 course of their duties. 

22 ‘‘(II) The use of special justice 

23 items by law enforcement officers in 

24 the ordinary course of their duties. 


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1 ‘‘(III) The use of special justice 

2 items by SWAT teams. 

3 ‘‘(IV) The appropriate deploy4 ment of SWAT teams. 

5 ‘‘(V) Civil rights and civil lib6 erties. 

7 ‘‘(VI) Any other matters on the 

8 training of law enforcement officers 

9 that the head of the State law en10 forcement agency considers appro11 priate. 

12 ‘‘(ii) A list of the instructors who are 

13 certified pursuant to the program or pur14 suant to the program conducted by the 

15 Secretary of Homeland Security under sec16 tion 2010 of the Homeland Security Act of 

17 2002 shall be maintained and published. 

18 ‘‘(C) DISCHARGE THROUGH EXISTING PRO19 GRAMS.—A State may satisfy the requirement 

20 under subparagraph (A) using a program in ef21 fect on the date that is 3 years after the date 

22 of the enactment of the Protecting Commu23 nities and Police Act of 2015 if such program 

24 satisfies the requirements in subparagraph (B). 


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1 ‘‘(2) MINIMUM ANNUAL TRAINING REQUIRE2 MENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—On and after the 

4 date that is 3 years after the date of enactment 

5 of the Protecting Communities and Police Act 

6 of 2015, a State, and a unit of local govern7 ment within the State, may not receive covered 

8 funds unless the State establishes minimum an9 nual training requirements for all law enforce10 ment officers in the State, including— 

11 ‘‘(i) specialized leadership training re12 quirements for chiefs of police or other de13 partment heads who have— 

14 ‘‘(I) decisionmaking authority on 

15 the deployment of SWAT teams and 

16 tactical military vehicles; or 

17 ‘‘(II) responsibility for drafting 

18 policies on the use of force and SWAT 

19 team deployment; 

20 ‘‘(ii) specialized SWAT team training 

21 requirements for all SWAT team members; 

22 ‘‘(iii) training in appropriate crowd23 control tactics; and 

24 ‘‘(iv) not less than 1 training session 

25 on sensitivity, including training on ethnic 


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1 and racial bias, cultural diversity, and law 

2 enforcement interaction with disabled indi3 viduals, mentally ill individuals, and new 

4 immigrants. 

5 ‘‘(B) FEDERALLY CERTIFIED OR STATE6 CERTIFIED INSTRUCTORS.—The training re7 quirements established by a State under sub8 paragraph (A) may only be satisfied through 

9 training conducted by an instructor certified 

10 under— 

11 ‘‘(i) a program conducted by the Sec12 retary of Homeland Security under section 

13 2010 of the Homeland Security Act of 

14 2002; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) a program conducted by a State 

16 under paragraph (1). 

17 ‘‘(C) CERTIFICATION OF COMPLETED

18 TRAINING.—On and after the date that is 1 

19 year after the date on which a program is es20 tablished under paragraph (1), a law enforce21 ment agency may not receive covered funds un22 less the law enforcement agency certifies to the 

23 Attorney General that each sworn law enforce24 ment officer employed by the law enforcement 

25 agency has met all applicable minimum annual 


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1 training requirements established by the State 

2 in which the law enforcement agency is located 

3 under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(D) FALSE CERTIFICATION.—The Attor5 ney General shall suspend or terminate the eli6 gibility of a law enforcement agency to receive 

7 covered funds if the law enforcement agency in8 tentionally submits a false certification under 

9 subparagraph (C) that a law enforcement offi10 cer has met the minimum annual training re11 quirements established by the State in which 

12 the law enforcement agency is located under 

13 subparagraph (A). 

14 ‘‘(E) SATISFACTION BY RECENT HIREES.— 

15 The requirements under subparagraph (A) shall 

16 provide for the first completion of the training 

17 concerned by an individual who becomes an offi18 cer in a law enforcement agency or becomes a 

19 member of a SWAT team by not later than 1 

20 year after the date on which the individual be21 comes an officer in the law enforcement agency 

22 or becomes a member of a SWAT team, as ap23 plicable. 

24 ‘‘(3) BEST PRACTICES.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On and after the date 

2 that is 2 years after the date of enactment of 

3 the Protecting Communities and Police Act of 

4 2015, the Attorney General shall publish, peri5 odically review, distribute to each State or unit 

6 of local government that applies for a grant 

7 under this subpart, and require each such State 

8 or unit of local government to distribute to each 

9 organization or unit of local government with 

10 respect to which the State or unit of local gov11 ernment enters into a contract or makes a 

12 subaward under section 501(b), best practices 

13 for— 

14 ‘‘(i) training law enforcement officers 

15 and the use of lethal and non-lethal force 

16 by law enforcement officers; 

17 ‘‘(ii) training, use, and deployment of 

18 SWAT teams; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) community-oriented police ef20 forts. 

21 ‘‘(B) ATTORNEY GENERAL UPDATES TO

22 CONGRESS REGARDING DELAY IN PUBLICATION

23 OF BEST PRACTICES.—On and after the date 

24 that is 2 years after the date of enactment of 

25 the Protecting Communities and Police Act of 


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1 2015, if the Attorney General has not published 

2 the best practices required under subparagraph 

3 (A), the Attorney General shall provide quar4 terly updates to Congress on the reason for the 

5 delay in publication and the expected date of 

6 publication. 

7 ‘‘(e) REPORTING AND POLICY REQUIREMENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) REPORTING AND RECORDKEEPING RE9 QUIREMENTS FOR GRANT FUNDING RECIPIENTS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) SWAT TEAM DEPLOYMENT

11 RECORDS.—A law enforcement agency that re12 ceives covered funds shall maintain a record of 

13 each deployment of a SWAT team by the law 

14 enforcement agency, which shall include— 

15 ‘‘(i) the type of police activity for 

16 which the SWAT team is deployed; 

17 ‘‘(ii) the rationale for the deployment; 

18 ‘‘(iii) the nexus between— 

19 ‘‘(I) the use of force policy and 

20 SWAT team policy of the law enforce21 ment agency; and 

22 ‘‘(II) the police activity for which 

23 the SWAT team is deployed; and 

24 ‘‘(iv) a description, written after the 

25 deployment, of whether force or weapons 


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1 were used by or against the law enforce2 ment officers serving on the SWAT team. 

3 ‘‘(B) EQUIPMENT PURCHASED.—A law en4 forcement agency that purchases equipment 

5 using covered funds shall submit to the Attor6 ney General a report describing the quantity 

7 and type of equipment purchased. 

8 ‘‘(2) DOJ REPORTS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) SPECIAL JUSTICE ITEMS.—The At10 torney General shall publish and submit to Con11 gress, the Secretary of Defense, and the Sec12 retary of Homeland Security an annual report 

13 on special justice items that includes, with re14 spect to the preceding year— 

15 ‘‘(i) the number and type of special 

16 justice items purchased using covered 

17 funds; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) an appendix describing— 

19 ‘‘(I) each law enforcement agency 

20 that used covered funds to purchase a 

21 special justice item; 

22 ‘‘(II) the number of each special 

23 justice item described in subclause (I) 

24 purchased by each law enforcement 

25 agency; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) a summary of the needs 

2 justification statement submitted 

3 under subsection (c)(1)(A)(i) by each 

4 law enforcement agency described in 

5 subclause (I) of this clause. 

6 ‘‘(B) CRIME RATES.—The Attorney Gen7 eral shall collect and publish data on crime 

8 rates over time for each jurisdiction in which a 

9 law enforcement agency receives covered funds. 

10 ‘‘(C) DOJ GUIDES AND BEST PRAC11 TICES.—The Attorney General shall conduct 

12 periodic surveys on the use of materials pub13 lished by the Attorney General in print and on14 line relating to local law enforcement training 

15 and the use of force, including lethal and non16 lethal force. 

17 ‘‘(f) WHISTLEBLOWER AND INDEPENDENT OVER18 SIGHT REQUIREMENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) WHISTLEBLOWER REQUIREMENTS.—On or 

20 after the date that is 3 years after the date of enact21 ment of the Protecting Communities and Police Act 

22 of 2015, a State or unit of local government of a 

23 State may not receive covered funds unless the chief 

24 executive of the State certifies to the Attorney Gen25 eral that the State— 


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1 ‘‘(A) has in place— 

2 ‘‘(i) a program, including a public 

3 complaint hotline, that provides individuals 

4 the ability to disclose any— 

5 ‘‘(I) misuse of equipment pur6 chased using covered funds; or 

7 ‘‘(II) other waste, fraud, or abuse 

8 in connection with the use of covered 

9 funds; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) mechanisms (commonly referred 

11 to as ‘whistleblower protections’) to protect 

12 individuals who make a disclosure de13 scribed in clause (i) from retaliatory or 

14 other adverse personnel actions in connec15 tion with such disclosures; and 

16 ‘‘(B) publicizes the existence of the pro17 gram and whistleblower protections described in 

18 subparagraph (A). 

19 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION OF OVERSIGHT AND AC20 COUNTABILITY.— 

21 ‘‘(A) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—A law 

22 enforcement agency may not receive covered 

23 funds unless the head of the law enforcement 

24 agency submits to the Attorney General a writ25 ten certification (in the form of a memorandum 


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1 of understanding, memorandum of agreement, 

2 or letterhead correspondence) that an entity 

3 that is unaffiliated with the law enforcement 

4 agency is authorized— 

5 ‘‘(i) to receive any complaints regard6 ing the use of special justice items and 

7 covered funds of the law enforcement agen8 cy; 

9 ‘‘(ii) to periodically review and assess 

10 the use of special justice items and covered 

11 funds by the law enforcement agency; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) to make recommendations to the 

13 law enforcement agency regarding the use 

14 of special justice items and covered funds 

15 by the law enforcement agency that are ei16 ther— 

17 ‘‘(I) non-binding in character; or 

18 ‘‘(II) binding in character, if au19 thorized by— 

20 ‘‘(aa) a law or ordinance 

21 governing the law enforcement 

22 agency or the entity; or 

23 ‘‘(bb) an agreement between 

24 the governing body of the law en25 forcement agency and organizaVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:21 May 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00110 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1245.IS S1245

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1 tions representing law enforce2 ment officers of the law enforce3 ment agency. 

4 ‘‘(B) DISCHARGE THROUGH EXISTING EN5 TITIES.—A law enforcement agency may satisfy 

6 the requirement in subparagraph (A) through 

7 an entity that exists as of the date of the enact8 ment of the Protecting Communities and Police 

9 Act of 2015, including an independent review 

10 board, a Federal, State, or local inspector gen11 eral, a Federal, State, county, or city attorney 

12 general, a district attorney, the Federal Bureau 

13 of Investigation or another Federal agency, a 

14 State agency, a State or local governing body 

15 (such as a city council or county commission), 

16 a law enforcement council, or an independent 

17 entity established by one or more such officials, 

18 agencies, or entities on behalf of one or more 

19 law enforcement agencies. 

20 ‘‘(g) SUSPENSION AND TERMINATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) FOR LOST OR STOLEN ITEMS.—If a special 

22 justice item purchased by a law enforcement agency 

23 using covered funds is lost, stolen, or misappro24 priated— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in the case of an offensive weapon or 

2 ordnance— 

3 ‘‘(i) on the first occurrence in the case 

4 of the law enforcement agency, the Attor5 ney General, after providing the law en6 forcement agency with notice and the op7 portunity to contest the allegation, shall 

8 suspend the law enforcement agency from 

9 eligibility to receive covered funds for a pe10 riod of not less than 6 months; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) on the subsequent occurrence in 

12 the case of the law enforcement agency, 

13 the Attorney General, after providing the 

14 law enforcement agency with notice and 

15 the opportunity to contest the allegation, 

16 shall terminate the law enforcement agency 

17 from eligibility to receive covered funds; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(B) in the case of a special justice item 

20 not described in subparagraph (A)— 

21 ‘‘(i) on the third occurrence in the 

22 case of the law enforcement agency, the 

23 Director, after providing the law enforce24 ment agency with notice and the oppor25 tunity to contest the allegation, shall susVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:21 May 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00112 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1245.IS S1245

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1 pend the law enforcement agency from eli2 gibility to receive covered funds for a pe3 riod of 6 months; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) on any subsequent occurrence in 

5 the case of the law enforcement agency, 

6 the Director, after providing the law en7 forcement agency with notice and the op8 portunity to contest the allegation, shall 

9 suspend the law enforcement agency from 

10 eligibility to receive covered funds for a pe11 riod of 3 years. 

12 ‘‘(2) INTENTIONAL FALSIFICATION OF INFOR13 MATION.—If a law enforcement agency is determined 

14 by the Attorney General to have intentionally fal15 sified any information relating to the use of covered 

16 funds, the Attorney General, after providing the law 

17 enforcement agency with notice and the opportunity 

18 to contest the determination, shall terminate the law 

19 enforcement agency from eligibility to receive cov20 ered funds. 

21 ‘‘(h) ADDITIONAL PROGRAM OVERSIGHT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) ATTORNEY GENERAL OBLIGATIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) SUBGRANTEE OVERSIGHT.—In con24 ducting oversight of the use of covered funds, 

25 the Attorney General shall conduct inspections 


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1 of some local law enforcement agencies that re2 ceive covered funds through a subaward under 

3 section 501(b), to ensure compliance with this 

4 section. 

5 ‘‘(B) LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERTISE.— 

6 ‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT OF POSITION.— 

7 The Attorney General shall appoint indi8 viduals with expertise in State and local 

9 law enforcement agency functions to posi10 tions within the Bureau to assist the At11 torney General in assessing grant applica12 tions under this subpart by determining 

13 whether equipment proposed to be pur14 chased by a law enforcement agency using 

15 covered funds is— 

16 ‘‘(I) appropriate to the mission of 

17 the law enforcement agency; and 

18 ‘‘(II) necessary based on the 

19 needs justification statement sub20 mitted by the law enforcement agency 

21 under subsection (c)(1)(A)(iii). 

22 ‘‘(ii) NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS.—The 

23 Attorney General shall appoint as many in24 dividuals under clause (i) as necessary to 

25 ensure that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) not less than 1 such indi2 vidual is involved in the determination 

3 under clause (i) for each grant appli4 cation under this subpart; and 

5 ‘‘(II) the involvement of such in6 dividuals in the process of assessing 

7 grant applications under this subpart 

8 does not delay the process. 

9 ‘‘(iii) MANAGERIAL EXPERIENCE PRE10 FERRED.—In appointing individuals under 

11 clause (i), the Attorney General shall give 

12 preference to individuals with law enforce13 ment managerial expertise. 

14 ‘‘(2) GRANT RECIPIENT OBLIGATIONS RELAT15 ING TO USE OF BODY CAMERAS BY LAW ENFORCE16 MENT OFFICERS.—A law enforcement agency that 

17 uses covered funds to purchase or maintain a body 

18 camera, or for related costs, shall have in place, and 

19 make available to the public, a policy on the use of 

20 a body camera by a law enforcement officer that in21 cludes— 

22 ‘‘(A) a policy on the appropriate use of a 

23 body camera, including whether the camera 

24 should be left on at all times; 


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1 ‘‘(B) mechanisms to preserve, to the extent 

2 practicable, the integrity and security of a video 

3 recording made by a body camera, including— 

4 ‘‘(i) a description of the personnel of 

5 the law enforcement agency, and other 

6 parties, who are authorized to access the 

7 recording; 

8 ‘‘(ii) mechanisms for the storage of 

9 the recording; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) measures to ensure the cyberse11 curity of the recording (if applicable to the 

12 storage, retention, and retrieval of the re13 cording); 

14 ‘‘(C) a policy on the authorized and unau15 thorized public release of a video recording; and 

16 ‘‘(D) a requirement that any video record17 ing of an interaction between a law enforcement 

18 officer and an individual who is not a law en19 forcement officer involving the use of force 

20 (whether deadly or otherwise) shall be retained 

21 by the law enforcement agency for a period not 

22 shorter than the period of limitation in the 

23 State concerned for actions for civil rights viola24 tions under section 1979 of the Revised Stat25 utes (42 U.S.C. 1983).’’. 


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1 (b) PROHIBITED USES OF COVERED FUNDS.—Sec2 tion 501(d)(2) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

3 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3751(d)(2)) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 

6 through (E) as subparagraphs (C) through (F), re7 spectively; and 

8 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(B) unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned 

11 aircraft, or unmanned aircraft systems;’’. 

12 (c) FUNDS FOR BODY CAMERAS.—Section 505(b) of 

13 title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 

14 of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3755(b)) is amended— 

15 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘60 percent’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘57.5 percent’’; and 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

19 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘40 percent’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘37.5 percent’’; and 

22 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

23 inserting a semicolon; and 

24 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) 2.5 percent shall be for direct grants to 

2 States for the purchase or maintenance of body cam3 eras, dashboard cameras, or gun cameras for law en4 forcement agencies and related costs; and 

5 ‘‘(4) 2.5 percent shall be for direct grants to 

6 units of local government for the purchase or main7 tenance of body cameras, dashboard cameras, or gun 

8 cameras for law enforcement agencies and related 

9 costs.’’. 

10 SEC. 8. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REPORTS ON SWAT 

11 TEAMS. 

12 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘SWAT 

13 team’’ means a Special Weapons and Tactics team or 

14 other specialized tactical team composed of sworn law en15 forcement officers. 

16 (b) COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA.—The At17 torney General shall collect and analyze data on the use 

18 of SWAT teams by Federal, State, local, and tribal law 

19 enforcement agencies. 

20 (c) TYPE OF DATA.—The data collected and analyzed 

21 by the Attorney General under subsection (b) shall in22 clude— 

23 (1) the number of deployments of SWAT 

24 teams; 


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1 (2) the reason for each deployment of a SWAT 

2 team; 

3 (3) the composition of each SWAT team, in4 cluding, at minimum, the number of members on 

5 each SWAT team; 

6 (4) the number of law enforcement agencies 

7 with SWAT teams, categorized by the overall size of 

8 the law enforcement agencies; 

9 (5) the number of SWAT teams composed of 

10 officers from multiple law enforcement agencies; 

11 (6) the amount of initial training and ongoing 

12 training of SWAT teams being conducted; 

13 (7) the community outreach undertaken to ex14 plain and publicize SWAT team deployment policies; 

15 (8) information on the deployment of SWAT 

16 teams in low-income neighborhoods; and 

17 (9) any other information that the Attorney 

18 General determines to be relevant. 

19 (d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—Not less fre20 quently than once every 6 months, the Attorney General 

21 shall publish the data collected under subsection (b). 

22 (e) REPORT.—Not less frequently than once every 5 

23 years, the Attorney General shall publish a report that 

24 contains the analysis conducted under subsection (b). 


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1 SEC. 9. FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING CENTER 

2 CERTIFICATION OF INSTRUCTORS IN TRAIN3 ING ON USE OF FORCE AND SPECIAL EQUIP4 MENT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title XX of the 

6 Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 603 et seq.), 

7 as amended by this Act, is amended by adding at the end 

8 the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 2010. CERTIFICATION OF INSTRUCTORS IN TRAINING 

10 ON USE OF FORCE AND SPECIAL EQUIPMENT. 

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

12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘eligible defense item’ has the 

13 meaning given the term in section 2576a(w) of title 

14 10, United States Code; 

15 ‘‘(2) the terms ‘law enforcement agency’, ‘re16 stricted item’, and ‘SWAT team’ have the meanings 

17 given those terms in section 2009(a); and 

18 ‘‘(3) the term ‘special justice item’ has the 

19 meaning given the term in section 509(a) of the Om20 nibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. 

21 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION OF INSTRUCTORS.—On and 

22 after the date that is 3 years after the date of enactment 

23 of the Protecting Communities and Police Act of 2015, 

24 the Secretary shall, through the Federal Law Enforcement 

25 Training Center, conduct programs to certify instructors 


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1 to conduct training courses on law enforcement tactics for 

2 State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies. 

3 ‘‘(c) ELEMENTS.—The programs conducted under 

4 this section shall include instruction in training on the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(1) The use of force by State, local, and tribal 

7 law enforcement officers in the ordinary course of 

8 their duties. 

9 ‘‘(2) The use of restricted items, eligible defense 

10 items, and special justice items by State, local, and 

11 tribal law enforcement officers in the ordinary 

12 course of their duties. 

13 ‘‘(3) The use of restricted items, eligible defense 

14 items, and special justice items by SWAT teams. 

15 ‘‘(4) The appropriate deployment of SWAT 

16 teams. 

17 ‘‘(5) Any other matters on the training of 

18 State, local, and tribal law enforcement officers that 

19 the Secretary considers appropriate. 

20 ‘‘(d) LIST OF CERTIFIED INSTRUCTORS.—The Sec21 retary shall maintain and publish a list of instructors who 

22 are certified pursuant to a program conducted under this 

23 section. 


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1 ‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATION OF STATE PROGRAMS.—The 

2 Federal Law Enforcement Training Center may enter into 

3 an agreement with a State to— 

4 ‘‘(1) manage or implement the State’s program 

5 for law enforcement instructor certification described 

6 in— 

7 ‘‘(A) section 2009(d)(1)(A) of this Act; 

8 ‘‘(B) section 2576a(o)(1) of title 10, 

9 United States Code; or 

10 ‘‘(C) section 509(d)(1)(A) of the Omnibus 

11 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968; or 

12 ‘‘(2) provide certified instructors for a program 

13 described in paragraph (1).’’. 

14 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

15 The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Se16 curity Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–96; 116 Stat. 2135), 

17 as amended by this Act, is amended by inserting after the 

18 item relating to section 2009 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 2010. Certification of instructors in training on use of force and special 

equipment.’’. 

Æ 


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