I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1159 

To require that States and localities receiving grants under the Edward 

Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program require law enforcement officers to undergo training on and thereafter employ de-escalation 

techniques to assist in reducing the need for the use of force by such 

officers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 18, 2021 

Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin (for herself, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. LEE of California, 

Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. PANETTA, and Mr. DEUTCH) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require that States and localities receiving grants under 

the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant 

Program require law enforcement officers to undergo 

training on and thereafter employ de-escalation techniques to assist in reducing the need for the use of 

force by such officers, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preventing Tragedies 

3 Between Police and Communities Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TRAINING ON DE-ESCALATION FOR LAW ENFORCE5 MENT. 

6 (a) TRAINING REQUIREMENT.—For each fiscal year 

7 after the expiration of the period specified in subsection 

8 (d) in which a State or unit of local government receives 

9 a grant under part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con10 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et 

11 seq.), the State or unit of local government shall require 

12 that all individuals enrolled in an academy of a law en13 forcement agency of the State or unit of local government 

14 and all law enforcement officers of the State or unit of 

15 local government fulfill a training session on de-escalation 

16 techniques each fiscal year, including— 

17 (1) the use of alternative non-lethal methods of 

18 applying force and techniques that prevent the offi19 cer from escalating any situation where force is like20 ly to be used; 

21 (2) verbal and physical tactics to minimize the 

22 need for the use of force, with an emphasis on com23 munication, negotiation, de-escalation techniques, 

24 providing the time needed to resolve the incident 

25 safely for everyone; 


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1 (3) the use of the lowest level of force that is 

2 a possible and safe response to an identified threat, 

3 then re-evaluating the threat as it progresses; 

4 (4) techniques that provide all officers with 

5 awareness and recognition of mental health and sub6 stance abuse issues with an emphasis on commu7 nication strategies, training officers simultaneously 

8 in teams on de-escalation and use of force to im9 prove group dynamics and diminish excessive use of 

10 force during critical incidents; 

11 (5) principles of using distance, cover, and time 

12 when approaching and managing critical incidents, 

13 and elimination of the use of concepts like the ‘‘21- 

14 foot rule’’ and ‘‘drawing a line in the sand’’ in favor 

15 of using distance and cover to create a ‘‘reaction 

16 gap’’; 

17 (6) crisis intervention strategies to appro18 priately identify and respond to individuals suffering 

19 from mental health or substance abuse issues, with 

20 an emphasis on de-escalation tactics and promoting 

21 effective communication; and 

22 (7) other evidence-based approaches, found to 

23 be appropriate by the Attorney General, that en24 hance de-escalation skills and tactics, such as the 


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1 Critical Decision-Making Model and scenario-based 

2 trainings. 

3 In the case of individuals attending an academy, such 

4 training session shall be for such an appropriate amount 

5 of time as to ensure academy participants receive effective 

6 training under this subsection and in the case of all other 

7 law enforcement officers, the training session shall be for 

8 an appropriate amount of time as to ensure officers receive 

9 effective training under this subsection. The State or unit 

10 of local government shall certify to the Attorney General 

11 of the United States that such training sessions have been 

12 completed. 

13 (b) SCENARIO-BASED TRAINING.—Training de14 scribed in subsection (a) shall be conducted with an em15 phasis on training that employs theories of de-escalation 

16 techniques and applies them to practical on-the-job sce17 narios that regularly face law enforcement officers. 

18 (c) CROSS-TRAINING.—To the extent practicable, 

19 principles of training as described in subsection (a) shall 

20 be applied to other training conducted at the academy. 

21 (d) COMPLIANCE AND INELIGIBILITY.— 

22 (1) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Beginning not later 

23 than 1 year after the date of this Act, each State 

24 or unit of local government receiving a grant shall 

25 comply with subsection (a), except that the Attorney 


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1 General may grant an additional 6 months to a 

2 State or unit of local government that is making 

3 good faith efforts to comply with such subsection. 

4 (2) INELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDS.—For any fiscal 

5 year after the expiration of the period specified in 

6 paragraph (1), a State or unit of local government 

7 that fails to comply with subsection (a), shall, at the 

8 discretion of the Attorney General, be subject to not 

9 more than a 20-percent reduction of the funds that 

10 would otherwise be allocated for that fiscal year to 

11 the State or unit of local government under subpart 

12 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

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

14 seq.), whether characterized as the Edward Byrne 

15 Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assist16 ance Programs, the Local Government Law Enforce17 ment Block Grants Program, the Edward Byrne Me18 morial Justice Assistance Grant Program, or other19 wise. 

20 (e) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated under a 

21 program referred to in subsection (b)(2) to a State or unit 

22 of local government for failure to fully comply with sub23 section (a) shall be reallocated under that program to 

24 States and units of local government that have not failed 

25 to comply with such subsection. 


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1 (f) EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES.—For purposes of 

2 subsection (a)(4), the Attorney General shall maintain a 

3 list of evidence-based practices it determines is successful 

4 in enhancing de-escalation skills of law enforcement offi5 cers. The Attorney General shall regularly update this list 

6 as needed and shall publish the list to the public on a year7 ly basis. 

8 SEC. 3. DATA COLLECTION. 

9 The Attorney General shall collect data on efforts un10 dertaken by Federal fund recipients to enhance de-esca11 lation training for law enforcement officers. 

12 SEC. 4. AFFIRMATIVE DUTY TO USE DE-ESCALATION TAC13 TICS WHEN AVAILABLE. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a State or unit of 

15 local government that received a grant award under sub16 part 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

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

18 if that State or unit of local government fails by the end 

19 of a fiscal year to enact or have in effect laws, policies, 

20 or procedures that sets forth an affirmative duty on a law 

21 enforcement officer of that State or unit of local govern22 ment, whenever possible, to employ de-escalation tech23 niques in which the officer has received training required 

24 under section 2(a), the Attorney General shall reduce the 

25 amount that would otherwise be awarded to that State or 


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1 unit of local government under such grant program in the 

2 following fiscal year by 15 percent. 

3 (b) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated under a 

4 program referred to in subsection (a) to a State or unit 

5 of local government for failure to be in compliance with 

6 this section shall be reallocated under that program to 

7 States and units of local government that are in compli8 ance with this section. 

9 SEC. 5. ATTORNEY GENERAL GUIDANCE. 

10 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

11 of this Act, the Attorney General shall issue guidance, for 

12 the benefit of States and units of local government, on 

13 compliance with the requirements of this Act. 

Æ 


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