I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1338 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 

authorize a grant program to assist State and local law enforcement 

agencies in purchasing body-worn cameras and securely storing and 

maintaining recorded data for law enforcement officers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

Mr. COHEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 

Act of 1968 to authorize a grant program to assist 

State and local law enforcement agencies in purchasing 

body-worn cameras and securely storing and maintaining 

recorded data for law enforcement officers. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Police Creating Ac5 countability by Making Effective Recording Available Act 

6 of 2021’’ or the ‘‘Police CAMERA Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR LAW ENFORCE2 MENT BODY-WORN CAMERAS. 

3 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

4 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘PART MM—MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR 

7 LAW ENFORCEMENT BODY-WORN CAMERAS 

8 AND RECORDED DATA 

9 ‘‘SEC. 3031. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau of 

11 Justice Assistance (in this section referred to as the ‘Di12 rector’) may make grants to States, units of local govern13 ment, and Indian tribes to purchase or lease body-worn 

14 cameras for use by State, local, and tribal law enforcement 

15 officers (as defined in section 2503) and expenses related 

16 to the implementation of a body-worn camera program in 

17 order to deter excessive force, improve accountability and 

18 transparency of use of force by law enforcement officers, 

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

21 ‘‘(b) DURATION OF GRANTS.— 

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

23 part shall be 2 years in duration. 

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

25 disbursing a grant awarded to an entity under this 

26 section— 


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

3 total grant amount to the entity; and 

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

5 completion of the requirements in subsection 

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

8 entity. 

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

10 section shall be— 

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

12 local government, or Indian tribe; and 

13 ‘‘(2) used for— 

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

15 cameras for law enforcement officers on patrol 

16 in the jurisdiction of the grantee; 

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

19 law enforcement officer training or the storage, 

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

22 ‘‘(C) implementing policies or procedures 

23 to comply with the requirements described in 

24 subsection (d). 

25 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS.— 


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

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

4 commits to— 

5 ‘‘(A) establishing policies and procedures 

6 in accordance with the requirements described 

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

9 ‘‘(B) adopting recorded data collection and 

10 retention protocols as described in paragraph 

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

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

15 to the public; and 

16 ‘‘(D) complying with the requirements for 

17 use of recorded data under paragraph (5). 

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

19 An entity receiving a grant under this section 

20 shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) develop with community input and 

22 publish for public view policies and protocols 

23 for— 

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


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

2 destruction of recorded data collected by 

3 body-worn cameras; 

4 ‘‘(iii) protecting the privacy rights of 

5 any individual who may be recorded by a 

6 body-worn camera; 

7 ‘‘(iv) protecting the constitutional 

8 rights of any individual on whom facial 

9 recognition technology is used; 

10 ‘‘(v) limitations on the use of body11 worn cameras in conjunction with facial 

12 recognition technology for instances, in13 cluding— 

14 ‘‘(I) the use of facial recognition 

15 technology only with judicial author16 ization; 

17 ‘‘(II) the use of facial recognition 

18 technology only for imminent threats 

19 or serious crimes; and 

20 ‘‘(III) the use of facial recogni21 tion technology with double 

22 verification of identified faces; 

23 ‘‘(vi) the release of any recorded data 

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1 ance with the open records laws, if any, of 

2 the State; and 

3 ‘‘(vii) making recorded data available 

4 to prosecutors, defense attorneys, and 

5 other officers of the court in accordance 

6 with paragraph (5); and 

7 ‘‘(B) conduct periodic evaluations of the 

8 security of the storage and handling of the 

9 body-worn camera data. 

10 ‘‘(3) RECORDED DATA COLLECTION AND RE11 TENTION PROTOCOL.—The recorded data collection 

12 and retention protocol described in this paragraph is 

13 a protocol that— 

14 ‘‘(A) requires— 

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

16 wearing a body-mounted camera to provide 

17 an explanation if an activity that is re18 quired to be recorded by the body-mounted 

19 camera is not recorded; 

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

21 wearing a body-mounted camera to obtain 

22 consent to be recorded from a crime victim 

23 or witness before interviewing the victim or 

24 witness; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the collection of recorded data 

2 unrelated to a legitimate law enforcement 

3 purpose be minimized to the greatest ex4 tent practicable; 

5 ‘‘(iv) the system used to store re6 corded data collected by body-worn cam7 eras shall log all viewing, modification, or 

8 deletion of stored recorded data and shall 

9 prevent, to the greatest extent practicable, 

10 the unauthorized access or disclosure of 

11 stored recorded data; 

12 ‘‘(v) any law enforcement officer be 

13 prohibited from accessing the stored data 

14 without an authorized purpose; and 

15 ‘‘(vi) the law enforcement agency to 

16 collect and report statistical data on— 

17 ‘‘(I) incidences of use of force, 

18 disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gen19 der, and age of the victim; 

20 ‘‘(II) the number of complaints 

21 filed against law enforcement officers; 

22 ‘‘(III) the disposition of com23 plaints filed against law enforcement 

24 officers; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) the number of times cam2 era footage is used for evidence collec3 tion in investigations of crimes; and 

4 ‘‘(V) any other additional statis5 tical data that the Director deter6 mines should be collected and re7 ported; 

8 ‘‘(B) allows an individual to file a com9 plaint with a law enforcement agency relating 

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

11 ‘‘(C) complies with any other requirements 

12 established by the Director. 

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

14 be collected under paragraph (3)(A)(vi) shall be re15 ported to the Director, who shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) establish a standardized reporting 

17 system for statistical data collected under this 

18 program; and 

19 ‘‘(B) establish a national database of sta20 tistical data recorded under this program. 

21 ‘‘(5) USE OR TRANSFER OF RECORDED DATA.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Recorded data col23 lected by an entity receiving a grant under this 

24 section from a body-mounted camera shall be 

25 used only in internal and external investigations 


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1 of misconduct by a law enforcement agency or 

2 officer, if there is reasonable suspicion that a 

3 recording contains evidence of a crime, or for 

4 limited training purposes. The Director shall es5 tablish rules to ensure that the recorded data is 

6 used only for the purposes described in this 

7 subparagraph. 

8 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER.—Ex9 cept as provided in subparagraph (C), an entity 

10 receiving a grant under this section may not 

11 transfer any recorded data collected by the enti12 ty from a body-mounted camera to another law 

13 enforcement or intelligence agency. 

14 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(i) CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION.—An 

16 entity receiving a grant under this section 

17 may transfer recorded data collected by the 

18 entity from a body-mounted camera to an19 other law enforcement agency or intel20 ligence agency for use in a criminal inves21 tigation if the requesting law enforcement 

22 or intelligence agency has reasonable sus23 picion that the requested data contains evi24 dence relating to the crime being inves25 tigated. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) CIVIL RIGHTS CLAIMS.—An enti2 ty receiving a grant under this section may 

3 transfer recorded data collected by the law 

4 enforcement agency from a body-mounted 

5 camera to another law enforcement agency 

6 for use in an investigation of any right, 

7 privilege, or immunity secured or protected 

8 by the Constitution or laws of the United 

9 States. 

10 ‘‘(e) MATCHING FUNDS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para12 graph (3), the Federal share of the cost of a pro13 gram carried out using a grant under this part may 

14 not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the pro15 gram. 

16 ‘‘(2) INDIAN ASSISTANCE.—Any funds appro17 priated by Congress for the activities of any agency 

18 of an Indian tribal government or the Bureau of In19 dian Affairs performing law enforcement functions 

20 on any Indian lands may be used to provide the non21 Federal share of the matching requirement described 

22 in paragraph (1). 

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

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1 scribed in paragraph (1) in the case of fiscal hard2 ship, as determined by the Director. 

3 ‘‘(f) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—For fiscal years 2021 

4 and 2023, of the amounts appropriated to the Bureau of 

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

6 this part. 

7 ‘‘(g) AUDIT AND ASSESSMENT.— 

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

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

10 of the Office of Audit, Assessment, and Management 

11 shall perform an assessment of the grant program 

12 and the policies and protocols of the grantees. 

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

14 each year, beginning 2 years after the date of enact15 ment of this part, each recipient of a grant under 

16 this part shall submit to the Director of the Office 

17 of Audit, Assessment, and Management a report 

18 that— 

19 ‘‘(A) describes the progress of the body20 worn camera program; and 

21 ‘‘(B) contains recommendations on ways in 

22 which the Federal Government, States, and 

23 units of local government can further support 

24 the implementation of the program. 


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

2 Audit, Assessment, and Management shall evaluate 

3 the policies and protocols of the grantees and take 

4 such steps as the Director of the Office of Audit, As5 sessment, and Management determines necessary to 

6 ensure compliance with the program. 

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

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

9 maintain a toolkit for law enforcement agencies, academia, 

10 and other relevant entities to provide training and tech11 nical assistance, including best practices for implementa12 tion, model policies and procedures, and research mate13 rials. 

14 ‘‘(b) MECHANISM.—In establishing the toolkit re15 quired to under subsection (a), the Director may consoli16 date research, practices, templates, and tools that been de17 veloped by expert and law enforcement agencies across the 

18 country. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 3033. APPLICATIONS. 

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

21 part, the chief executive of a State, unit of local govern22 ment, or Indian tribe shall submit an application to the 

23 Director in a form and containing information as the Di24 rector may reasonably require. 


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

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

3 promulgate regulations to implement this part, including 

4 the information that shall be included and the require5 ments that the States, units of local government, and In6 dian tribes must meet in submitting the applications re7 quired under this section. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 3034. STUDY. 

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

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

11 Director shall conduct a study on— 

12 ‘‘(1) the efficacy of body-worn cameras in deter13 ring excessive force by law enforcement officers; 

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

15 accountability and transparency of the use of force 

16 by law enforcement officers; 

17 ‘‘(3) the impact of body-worn cameras on re18 sponses to and adjudications of complaints of exces19 sive force; 

20 ‘‘(4) the effect of the use of body-worn cameras 

21 on the safety of law enforcement officers on patrol; 

22 ‘‘(5) the effect of the use of body-worn cameras 

23 on public safety; 

24 ‘‘(6) the impact of body-worn cameras on evi25 dence collection for criminal investigations; 


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1 ‘‘(7) issues relating to the secure storage and 

2 handling of recorded data from the body-worn cam3 eras; 

4 ‘‘(8) issues relating to the privacy of citizens 

5 and officers recorded on body-worn cameras; 

6 ‘‘(9) issues relating to the constitutional rights 

7 of individuals on whom facial recognition technology 

8 is used; 

9 ‘‘(10) issues relating to limitations on the use 

10 of facial recognition technology; 

11 ‘‘(11) issues relating to the public’s access to 

12 body-worn camera footage; 

13 ‘‘(12) the need for proper training of law en14 forcement officers that use body-worn cameras; 

15 ‘‘(13) best practices in the development of pro16 tocols for the safe and effective use of body-worn 

17 cameras; 

18 ‘‘(14) a review of law enforcement agencies that 

19 found body-worn cameras to be unhelpful in the op20 erations of the agencies; and 

21 ‘‘(15) any other factors that the Director deter22 mines are relevant in evaluating the efficacy of body23 worn cameras. 

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

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


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1 completed, the Director shall submit to Congress a report 

2 on the study, which shall include any policy recommenda3 tions that the Director considers appropriate.’’. 

Æ 


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