I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8903 

To establish the National Police Misuse of Force Investigation Board, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 8, 2020 

Ms. OMAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation 

and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish the National Police Misuse of Force 

Investigation Board, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Police Misuse 

5 of Force Investigation Board Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GENERAL ORGANIZATION. 

7 (a) ORGANIZATION.—The National Police Misuse of 

8 Force Investigation Board (hereinafter in this Act referred 

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1 to as the ‘‘Board’’) is an independent establishment of the 

2 United States Government. 

3 (b) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—The Board is 

4 composed of 8 members appointed by the President, by 

5 and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Not more 

6 than 4 members may be appointed from the same political 

7 party. At least 4 members shall be appointed on the basis 

8 of technical qualification, professional standing, and dem9 onstrated knowledge in civil rights law, psychology, racial 

10 inequality social theory, socioeconomics, or violent conflict 

11 mitigation. 

12 (c) TERMS OF OFFICE AND REMOVAL.—The term of 

13 office of each member is 6 years. An individual appointed 

14 to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the 

15 term for which the predecessor of that individual was ap16 pointed, is appointed for the remainder of that term. 

17 When the term of office of a member ends, the member 

18 may continue to serve until a successor is appointed and 

19 qualified. The President may remove a member for ineffi20 ciency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office. 

21 (d) CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN.—The Presi22 dent shall designate, by and with the advice and consent 

23 of the Senate, a Chairman of the Board. The President 

24 also shall designate a Vice Chairman of the Board. The 

25 terms of office of both the Chairman and Vice Chairman 

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1 are 2 years. When the Chairman is absent or unable to 

2 serve or when the position of Chairman is vacant, the Vice 

3 Chairman acts as Chairman. 

4 (e) DUTIES AND POWERS OF CHAIRMAN.—The 

5 Chairman is the chief executive and administrative officer 

6 of the Board. Subject to the general policies and decisions 

7 of the Board, the Chairman shall— 

8 (1) appoint and supervise officers and employ9 ees, other than regular and full-time employees in 

10 the immediate offices of another member, necessary 

11 to carry out this Act; 

12 (2) fix the pay of officers and employees nec13 essary to carry out this Act; 

14 (3) distribute business among the officers, em15 ployees, and administrative units of the Board; and 

16 (4) supervise the expenditures of the Board. 

17 (f) QUORUM.—Five members of the Board are a 

18 quorum in carrying out duties and powers of the Board. 

19 (g) OFFICES, BUREAUS, AND DIVISIONS.—The 

20 Board shall establish offices necessary to carry out this 

21 Act, including an office to investigate and report on police 

22 brutality. The Board shall establish distinct and appro23 priately staffed bureaus, divisions, or offices to investigate 

24 and report on incidents involving each of the following: 

25 (1) Deaths occurring in police custody. 

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1 (2) Officer-involved shootings. 

2 (3) Uses of force that result in severe bodily in3 jury in police custody. 

4 (h) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—The Chairman 

5 shall designate an officer or employee of the Board as the 

6 Chief Financial Officer. The Chief Financial Officer 

7 shall— 

8 (1) report directly to the Chairman on financial 

9 management and budget execution; 

10 (2) direct, manage, and provide policy guidance 

11 and oversight on financial management and property 

12 and inventory control; and 

13 (3) review the fees, rents, and other charges im14 posed by the Board for services and things of value 

15 it provides, and suggest appropriate revisions to 

16 those charges to reflect costs incurred by the Board 

17 in providing those services and things of value. 

18 (i) BOARD MEMBER STAFF.—Each member of the 

19 Board shall select and supervise regular and full-time em20 ployees in his or her immediate office as long as any such 

21 employee has been approved for employment by the des22 ignated agency ethics official under the same guidelines 

23 that apply to all employees of the Board. Except for the 

24 Chairman, the appointment authority provided by this 

25 subsection is limited to the number of full-time equivalent 

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1 positions, in addition to 1 senior professional staff at a 

2 level not to exceed the GS–15 level and 1 administrative 

3 staff, allocated to each member through the Board’s an4 nual budget and allocation process. 

5 (j) SEAL.—The Board shall have a seal that shall be 

6 judicially recognized. 

7 (k) CONTENT OF REPORTS.—A report under sub8 section (g) shall include the following information: 

9 (1) The demographic data of the individual 

10 killed or injured by police. 

11 (2) The demographics of the officers involved. 

12 (3) The circumstances (such as date, time, loca13 tion). 

14 (4) The reason for the stop or the initial con15 tact with the subject, the events leading up to the 

16 shooting or use of force (such as search or pursuit). 

17 (5) The outcome (such as the types of force 

18 used, charges filed, death injury). 

19 SEC. 3. SPECIAL BOARDS OF INQUIRY ON POLICE BRU20 TALITY. 

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—If an incident involves a sub22 stantial question history of excessive force use, the influ23 ence of historical racial injustice, or civil rights infringe24 ment within the community, the Board may establish a 

25 special board of inquiry composed of— 

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1 (1) 1 member of the Board acting as chairman; 

2 and 

3 (2) 2 members representing the public, ap4 pointed by the President on notification of the estab5 lishment of the special board of inquiry. 

6 (b) QUALIFICATIONS AND CONFLICTS OF INTER7 EST.—The public members of a special board of inquiry 

8 must be qualified by training and experience to participate 

9 in the inquiry and may not have a pecuniary interest in 

10 an aviation enterprise involved in the incident to be inves11 tigated. 

12 (c) AUTHORITY.—A special board of inquiry has the 

13 same authority that the Board has under this Act. 

14 SEC. 4. ADMINISTRATIVE. 

15 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.— 

16 (1) The Board, and when authorized by it, a 

17 member of the Board, an administrative law judge 

18 employed by or assigned to the Board, or an officer 

19 or employee designated by the Chairman of the 

20 Board, may conduct hearings to carry out this Act, 

21 administer oaths, and require, by subpoena or other22 wise, necessary witnesses and evidence. 

23 (2) A witness or evidence in a hearing under 

24 paragraph (1) of this subsection may be summoned 

25 or required to be produced from any place in the 

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1 United States to the designated place of the hearing. 

2 A witness summoned under this subsection is enti3 tled to the same fee and mileage the witness would 

4 have been paid in a court of the United States. 

5 (3) A subpoena shall be issued under the signa6 ture of the Chairman or the Chairman’s delegate but 

7 may be served by any person designated by the 

8 Chairman. 

9 (4) If a person disobeys a subpoena, order, or 

10 inspection notice of the Board, the Board may bring 

11 a civil action in a district court of the United States 

12 to enforce the subpoena, order, or notice. An action 

13 under this paragraph may be brought in the judicial 

14 district in which the person against whom the action 

15 is brought resides, is found, or does business. The 

16 court may punish a failure to obey an order of the 

17 court to comply with the subpoena, order, or notice 

18 as a contempt of court. 

19 (b) ADDITIONAL POWERS.— 

20 (1) The Board may— 

21 (A) procure the temporary or intermittent 

22 services of experts or consultants under section 

23 3109 of title 5, United States Code; 

24 (B) make agreements and other trans25 actions necessary to carry out this Act without 

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1 regard to section 3709 of the Revised Statutes 

2 (41 U.S.C. 5); 

3 (C) use, when appropriate, available serv4 ices, equipment, personnel, and facilities of a 

5 department, agency, or instrumentality of the 

6 United States Government on a reimbursable or 

7 other basis; 

8 (D) confer with employees and use serv9 ices, records, and facilities of State and local 

10 governmental authorities; 

11 (E) appoint advisory committees composed 

12 of qualified private citizens and officials of the 

13 Government and State and local governments 

14 as appropriate; 

15 (F) accept voluntary and uncompensated 

16 services notwithstanding another law; 

17 (G) accept gifts of money and other prop18 erty; 

19 (H) make contracts with nonprofit entities 

20 to carry out studies related to duties and pow21 ers of the Board; and 

22 (I) negotiate and enter into agreements 

23 with individuals and private entities and depart24 ments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the 

25 Government, State and local governments, and 

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1 governments of foreign countries for the provi2 sion of facilities, incident-related and technical 

3 services or training in police misuse of force in4 vestigation theory and techniques, and require 

5 that such entities provide appropriate consider6 ation for the reasonable costs of any facilities, 

7 goods, services, or training provided by the 

8 Board. 

9 (2) The Board shall deposit in the Treasury 

10 amounts received under paragraph (1)(I) of this 

11 subsection to be credited as offsetting collections to 

12 the appropriation of the Board. The Board shall 

13 maintain an annual record of collections received 

14 under paragraph (1)(I) of this subsection. 

15 (c) SUBMISSION OF CERTAIN COPIES TO CON16 GRESS.—When the Board submits to the President or the 

17 Director of the Office of Management and Budget a budg18 et estimate, budget request, supplemental budget esti19 mate, other budget information, a legislative recommenda20 tion, prepared testimony for congressional hearings, or 

21 comments on legislation, the Board must submit a copy 

22 to Congress at the same time. An officer, department, 

23 agency, or instrumentality of the Government may not re24 quire the Board to submit the estimate, request, informa25 tion, recommendation, testimony, or comments to another 

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1 officer, department, agency, or instrumentality of the Gov2 ernment for approval, comment, or review before being 

3 submitted to Congress. The Board shall develop and ap4 prove a process for the Board’s review and comment or 

5 approval of documents submitted to the President, Direc6 tor of the Office of Management and Budget, or Congress 

7 under this subsection. 

8 (d) LIAISON COMMITTEES.—The Chairman may de9 termine the number of committees that are appropriate 

10 to maintain effective liaison with other departments, agen11 cies, and instrumentalities of the Government, State and 

12 local governmental authorities, and independent standard13 setting authorities that carry out programs and activities 

14 related to misuse of force by law enforcement officers. The 

15 Board may designate representatives to serve on or assist 

16 those committees. 

17 (e) INQUIRIES.—The Board, or an officer or em18 ployee of the Board designated by the Chairman, may con19 duct an inquiry to obtain information related to police mis20 use of force after publishing notice of the inquiry in the 

21 Federal Register. The Board or designated officer or em22 ployee may require by order a department, agency, or in23 strumentality of the Government, a State or local govern24 mental authority, or a person transporting individuals or 

25 property in commerce to submit to the Board a written 

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1 report and answers to requests and questions related to 

2 a duty or power of the Board. The Board may prescribe 

3 the time within which the report and answers must be 

4 given to the Board or to the designated officer or em5 ployee. Copies of the report and answers shall be made 

6 available for public inspection. 

7 (f) REGULATIONS.—The Board may prescribe regula8 tions to carry out this Act. 

9 (g) OVERTIME PAY.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements 

11 of this section and notwithstanding paragraphs (1) 

12 and (2) of section 5542(a) of title 5, for an employee 

13 of the Board whose basic pay is at a rate which 

14 equals or exceeds the minimum rate of basic pay for 

15 GS–10 of the General Schedule, the Board may es16 tablish an overtime hourly rate of pay for the em17 ployee with respect to work performed at the scene 

18 of an incident (including travel to or from the scene) 

19 and other work that is critical to an incident inves20 tigation in an amount equal to one and one-half 

21 times the hourly rate of basic pay of the employee. 

22 All of such amount shall be considered to be pre23 mium pay. 

24 (2) LIMITATION ON OVERTIME PAY TO AN EM25 PLOYEE.—An employee of the Board may not reVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:25 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8903.IH H8903
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1 ceive overtime pay under paragraph (1), for work 

2 performed in a calendar year, in an amount that ex3 ceeds 15 percent of the annual rate of basic pay of 

4 the employee for such calendar year. 

5 (3) LIMITATION ON TOTAL AMOUNT OF OVER6 TIME PAY.—The Board may not make overtime pay7 ments under paragraph (1) for work performed in 

8 any fiscal year in a total amount that exceeds 1.5 

9 percent of the amount appropriated to carry out this 

10 Act for that fiscal year. 

11 (4) BASIC PAY DEFINED.—In this subsection, 

12 the term ‘‘basic pay’’ includes any applicable local13 ity-based comparability payment under section 5304 

14 of title 5 (or similar provision of law) and any spe15 cial rate of pay under section 5305 of title 5 (or 

16 similar provision of law). 

17 (5) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than Sep18 tember 30, 2022, the Board shall submit to the 

19 House Committees on the Judiciary and Oversight 

20 and Reform and Senate Committees on the Judici21 ary and Homeland Security and Government Affairs 

22 a report identifying the total amount of overtime 

23 payments made under this subsection in the pre24 ceding fiscal year, and the number of employees 

25 whose overtime pay under this subsection was limVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:25 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8903.IH H8903
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1 ited in that fiscal year as a result of the 15 percent 

2 limit established by paragraph (2). 

3 (h) INVESTIGATIVE OFFICERS.—The Board shall 

4 maintain at least 1 full-time employee in each State lo5 cated more than 1,000 miles from the nearest Board re6 gional office to provide initial investigative response to in7 cidents the Board is empowered to investigate under this 

8 Act that occur in that State. 

9 SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE, AVAILABILITY, AND USE OF INFORMA10 TION. 

11 (a) GENERAL.— 

12 (1) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Except as provided 

13 in subsections (b), (c), (d), and (f) of this section, 

14 a copy of a record, information, or investigation sub15 mitted or received by the Board, or a member or 

16 employee of the Board, shall be made available to 

17 the public on identifiable request and at reasonable 

18 cost. This subsection does not require the release of 

19 information described by section 552(b) of title 5 or 

20 protected from disclosure by another law of the 

21 United States. 

22 (2) DEPOSIT OF RECEIPTS.—The Board shall 

23 deposit in the Treasury amounts received under 

24 paragraph (1) to be credited to the appropriation of 

25 the Board as offsetting collections. 

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1 (3) PROTECTION OF VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION

2 OF INFORMATION.—Notwithstanding any other pro3 vision of law, neither the Board, nor any agency re4 ceiving information from the Board, shall disclose 

5 voluntarily provided safety-related information if 

6 that information is not related to the exercise of the 

7 Board’s investigation authority under this Act and if 

8 the Board finds that the disclosure of the informa9 tion would inhibit the voluntary provision of that 

10 type of information. 

11 (b) TRAINING OF BOARD EMPLOYEES AND OTH12 ERS.—The Board may conduct training of its employees 

13 in those subjects necessary for the proper performance of 

14 investigations. The Board may also authorize attendance 

15 at courses given under this subsection by other govern16 ment personnel, personnel of foreign governments, and 

17 personnel from industry or otherwise who have a require18 ment for investigation training. The Board may require 

19 non-Board personnel to reimburse some or all of the train20 ing costs, and amounts so reimbursed shall be credited to 

21 the appropriation of the Board as offsetting collections. 

22 SEC. 6. REPORTS AND STUDIES. 

23 (a) PERIODIC REPORTS.—The Board shall report pe24 riodically to Congress, departments, agencies, and instru25 mentalities of the United States Government and State 

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1 and local governmental authorities concerned with the 

2 misuse of force by public safety departments, and other 

3 interested persons. The report shall— 

4 (1) advocate meaningful responses to reduce the 

5 likelihood of incidents similar to those investigated 

6 by the Board; and 

7 (2) propose recommendations for adjudication 

8 to the local, State and Federal Government, as well 

9 as the public. 

10 Additionally, if the Board sees fit, it can make a wide11 range of recommendations for reforms to police proce12 dures, adjustment to local, State or Federal law, or manu13 facturing or acquisition changes related to the weapons 

14 and equipment issued to the police force. 

15 (b) STUDIES, INVESTIGATIONS, AND OTHER RE16 PORTS.—The Board also shall— 

17 (1) carry out special studies and investigations 

18 regarding law enforcement oversight; 

19 (2) examine techniques and methods of police 

20 misuse of force investigation and periodically publish 

21 recommended procedures for investigations; 

22 (3) prescribe requirements for persons reporting 

23 incidents that— 

24 (A) may be investigated by the Board 

25 under this Act; or 

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1 (B) involve public safety departments; 

2 (4) evaluate, examine the effectiveness of, and 

3 publish the findings of the Board about the trans4 portation safety consciousness of other departments, 

5 agencies, and instrumentalities of the Government 

6 and their effectiveness in preventing such incidents; 

7 and 

8 (5) evaluate the adequacy of safeguards and 

9 procedures for the transportation of hazardous ma10 terial and the performance of other departments, 

11 agencies, and instrumentalities of the Government 

12 responsible for the safe transportation of that mate13 rial. 

14 SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT. 

15 The Board shall submit a report to Congress on July 

16 1 of each year. The report shall include— 

17 (1) a statistical and analytical summary of all 

18 investigations conducted and reviewed by the Board 

19 during the prior calendar year; 

20 (2) a survey and summary of the recommenda21 tions made by the Board to reduce together with the 

22 observed response to each recommendation; 

23 (3) a detailed appraisal of the investigation and 

24 excessive force incident prevention activities of other 

25 departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the 

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1 United States Government and State and local gov2 ernmental authorities having responsibility for those 

3 activities under a law of the United States or a 

4 State; and 

5 (4) a list of ongoing investigations that have ex6 ceeded the expected time allotted for completion by 

7 Board order and an explanation for the additional 

8 time required to complete each such investigation. 

9 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro11 priated for the purposes of this Act such sums as may 

12 be necessary. 

13 (b) FEES, REFUNDS, AND REIMBURSEMENTS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Board may impose and 

15 collect such fees, refunds, and reimbursements as it 

16 determines to be appropriate for services provided by 

17 or through the Board. 

18 (2) RECEIPTS CREDITED AS OFFSETTING COL19 LECTIONS.—Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 

20 31, any fee, refund, or reimbursement collected 

21 under this subsection— 

22 (A) shall be credited as offsetting collec23 tions to the account that finances the activities 

24 and services for which the fee is imposed or 

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1 with which the refund or reimbursement is as2 sociated; 

3 (B) shall be available for expenditure only 

4 to pay the costs of activities and services for 

5 which the fee is imposed or with which the re6 fund or reimbursement is associated; and 

7 (C) shall remain available until expended. 

8 (3) REFUNDS.—The Board may refund any fee 

9 paid by mistake or any amount paid in excess of 

10 that required. 

11 SEC. 9. GENERAL AUTHORITY. 

12 The Board shall investigate or have investigated (in 

13 detail the Board prescribes) and establish the facts, cir14 cumstances, and cause or probable cause of— 

15 (1) deaths in police custody; 

16 (2) officer-involved shootings; or 

17 (3) uses of force that result in severe bodily in18 jury in police custody. 

19 SEC. 10. INSPECTIONS AND AUTOPSIES. 

20 (a) ENTRY AND INSPECTION.—An officer or em21 ployee of the Board— 

22 (1) on display of appropriate credentials and 

23 written notice of inspection authority, may enter 

24 property where a incident has occurred or evidence 

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1 from the incident is located and do anything nec2 essary to conduct an investigation; and 

3 (2) during reasonable hours, may inspect any 

4 record, process, control, or facility related to an inci5 dent investigation under this Act. 

6 (b) INSPECTION, TESTING, PRESERVATION, AND

7 MOVING OF INVOLVED WEAPONS.— 

8 (1) In investigating an incident under this Act, 

9 the Board may inspect and test, to the extent nec10 essary, any weapon involved. 

11 (2) Any weapon involved in an incident shall be 

12 preserved, and may be moved, only as provided by 

13 regulations of the Board. 

14 (c) EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY OF BOARD.—Only the 

15 Board has the authority to decide on the way in which 

16 testing under this section will be conducted, including de17 cisions on the person that will conduct the test, the type 

18 of test that will be conducted, and any individual who will 

19 witness the test. Those decisions are committed to the dis20 cretion of the Board. The Board shall make any of those 

21 decisions based on the needs of the investigation being 

22 conducted and, when applicable, subsections (a), (c), and 

23 (e) of this section. 

24 (d) PROMPTNESS OF TESTS AND AVAILABILITY OF

25 RESULTS.—An inspection, examination, or test under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:25 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8903.IH H8903
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1 section (a) or (c) of this section shall be started and com2 pleted promptly, and the results shall be made available. 

3 (e) AUTOPSIES.— 

4 (1) The Board may order an autopsy to be per5 formed and have other tests made when necessary to 

6 investigate an incident under this Act. However, 

7 local law protecting religious beliefs related to autop8 sies shall be observed to the extent consistent with 

9 the needs of the incident investigation. 

10 (2) With or without reimbursement, the Board 

11 may obtain a copy of an autopsy report performed 

12 by a State or local official on an individual who died 

13 because of an incident investigated by the Board 

14 under this Act. 

15 SEC. 11. RESPONSES TO SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS. 

16 (a) GENERAL.—When the Board submits a rec17 ommendation related to law enforcement use of force, the 

18 recipient shall give a formal written response to each rec19 ommendation not later than 90 days after receiving the 

20 recommendation. The response shall indicate whether the 

21 recipient intends— 

22 (1) to carry out procedures to adopt the com23 plete recommendation; 

24 (2) to carry out procedures to adopt a part of 

25 the recommendation; or 

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1 (3) to refuse to carry out procedures to adopt 

2 the recommendation. 

3 (b) TIMETABLE FOR COMPLETING PROCEDURES AND

4 REASONS FOR REFUSALS.—A response under subsection 

5 (a) (1) or (2) of this section shall include a copy of a pro6 posed timetable for completing the procedures. A response 

7 under subsection (a)(2) of this section shall detail the rea8 sons for the refusal to carry out procedures on the remain9 der of the recommendation. A response under subsection 

10 (a)(3) of this section shall detail the reasons for the re11 fusal to carry out procedures. 

12 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Board shall make 

13 a copy of each recommendation and response available to 

14 the public. 

15 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 (1) ANNUAL SECRETARIAL REGULATORY STA17 TUS REPORTS.—On February 1 of each year, the At18 torney General shall submit a report to Congress 

19 and the Board containing the regulatory status of 

20 each recommendation made by the Board that is on 

21 the Board’s ‘‘most wanted list’’. The Attorney Gen22 eral shall continue to report on the status of each 

23 such recommendation in the report due on February 

24 1 of subsequent years. 

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1 (2) FAILURE TO REPORT.—If on March 1 of 

2 each year the Board has not received the Attorney 

3 General’s report required by this subsection, the 

4 Board shall notify the Committee on the Judiciary 

5 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

6 on the Judiciary of the Senate of the Attorney Gen7 eral’s failure to submit the required report. 

8 (3) COMPLIANCE REPORT WITH RECOMMENDA9 TIONS.—Within 90 days after the date on which the 

10 Attorney General submits a report under this sub11 section, the Board shall review the Attorney Gen12 eral’s report and transmit comments on the report 

13 to the Attorney General, the Committee on the Judi14 ciary of the Senate, and the Committee on the Judi15 ciary of the House of Representatives. 

16 SEC. 12. ASSISTANCE TO CIVILIANS AND FAMILIES OF CI17 VILIANS OF INCIDENTS UNDER INVESTIGA18 TION BY THE BOARD. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after being 

20 notified of an incident within the United States involving 

21 the loss of life or serious injury to a civilian resulting from 

22 an interaction with law enforcement officers the Chairman 

23 of the Board shall— 

24 (1) designate and publicize the name and phone 

25 number of a director of family support services who 

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1 shall be an employee of the Board and shall be re2 sponsible for acting as a point of contact within the 

3 Federal Government for civilians and the families of 

4 civilians involved in the incident; and 

5 (2) designate an independent nonprofit organi6 zation, with experience in post trauma communica7 tion with civilians and families, which shall have pri8 mary responsibility for coordinating the emotional 

9 care and support of civilians or the families of civil10 ians involved in the incident. 

11 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF DESIGNATED ORGANIZA12 TION.—The organization designated for an incident under 

13 subsection (a)(2) shall have the following responsibilities 

14 with respect to the civilians and families of civilians in15 volved in the incident: 

16 (1) To provide mental health and counseling 

17 services. 

18 (2) To take such actions as may be necessary 

19 to provide an environment in which the civilians and 

20 families may grieve in private. 

21 (3) To meet with the families who have traveled 

22 to the location of the incident, to contact the fami23 lies unable to travel to such location, and to contact 

24 all affected civilians and families periodically there25 after until such time as the organization, in conVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:25 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8903.IH H8903
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1 sultation with the director of family support services 

2 designated for the incident under subsection (a)(1), 

3 determines that further assistance is no longer need4 ed. 

5 (4) To communicate with the civilians families 

6 as to the roles of the organization, government agen7 cies, and parties involved with respect to the incident 

8 and the post-incident activities. 

9 (c) CONTINUING RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE

10 BOARD.—In the course of its investigation described in 

11 subsection (a), the Board shall, to the maximum extent 

12 practicable, ensure that the families of individuals in13 volved— 

14 (1) are briefed, prior to any public briefing, 

15 about the incident and any other findings from the 

16 investigation; and 

17 (2) are individually informed of and allowed to 

18 attend any public hearings and meetings of the 

19 Board about the incident. 

20 (d) PROHIBITED ACTIONS.— 

21 (1) ACTIONS TO IMPEDE THE BOARD.—No per22 son (including a State or political subdivision) may 

23 impede the ability of the Board (including the direc24 tor of family support services designated for an inci25 dent under subsection (a)(1)), or an organization 

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1 designated for an incident under subsection (a)(2), 

2 to carry out its responsibilities under this section or 

3 the ability of the families of those involved in the ac4 cident to have contact with one another. 

5 (2) PROHIBITION ON ACTIONS TO PREVENT

6 MENTAL HEALTH AND COUNSELING SERVICES.—No 

7 State or political subdivision thereof may prevent the 

8 employees, agents, or volunteers of an organization 

9 designated for an incident under subsection (a)(2) 

10 from providing mental health and counseling services 

11 under subsection (c)(1) in the 30-day period begin12 ning on the date of the incident. The director of 

13 family support services designated for the incident 

14 under subsection (a)(1) may extend such period for 

15 not to exceed an additional 30 days if the director 

16 determines that the extension is necessary to meet 

17 the needs of the families and if State and local au18 thorities are notified of the determination. 

19 (e) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

20 section may be construed as limiting the actions that a 

21 law enforcement department or local unit of government 

22 may take, or the obligations that an such department or 

23 unit of local government may have, in providing assistance 

24 to the civilian who is injured or a family member of civilian 

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1 who is killed resulting from an interaction with law en2 forcement officers. 

3 (f) RELINQUISHMENT OF INVESTIGATIVE PRI4 ORITY.— 

5 (1) GENERAL RULE.—This section (other than 

6 subsection (g)) shall not apply to an incident involv7 ing use of force by a law enforcement officer if the 

8 Board has relinquished investigative priority and the 

9 Federal agency to which the Board relinquished in10 vestigative priority is willing and able to provide as11 sistance to the victims and families involved in the 

12 incident. 

13 (2) BOARD ASSISTANCE.—If this section does 

14 not apply to an incident involving use of force by a 

15 law enforcement officer because the Board has relin16 quished investigative priority with respect to the ac17 cident, the Board shall assist, to the maximum ex18 tent possible, the agency to which the Board has re19 linquished investigative priority in assisting families 

20 with respect to the accident. 

21 SEC. 13. AUTHORITY OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the De23 partment of Justice, in accordance with the mission of the 

24 Inspector General to prevent and detect fraud and abuse, 

25 shall have authority to review only the financial manageVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:25 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8903.IH H8903
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1 ment, property management, and business operations of 

2 the Board, including internal accounting and administra3 tive control systems, to determine compliance with applica4 ble Federal laws, rules, and regulations. 

5 (b) DUTIES.—In carrying out this section, the In6 spector General shall— 

7 (1) keep the Chairman of the Board and Con8 gress fully and currently informed about problems 

9 relating to administration of the internal accounting 

10 and administrative control systems of the Board; 

11 (2) issue findings and recommendations for ac12 tions to address such problems; and 

13 (3) report periodically to Congress on any 

14 progress made in implementing actions to address 

15 such problems. 

16 (c) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—In carrying out this 

17 section, the Inspector General may exercise authorities 

18 granted to the Inspector General under subsections (a) 

19 and (b) of section 6 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 

20 (5 U.S.C. App.). 

21 (d) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 (1) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be ap23 propriated to the Attorney General for use by the 

24 Inspector General of the Department of Justice such 

25 sums as may be necessary to cover expenses associVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:25 Jan 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8903.IH H8903
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1 ated with activities pursuant to the authority exer2 cised under this section. 

3 (2) REIMBURSABLE AGREEMENT.—In the ab4 sence of an appropriation under this subsection for 

5 an expense referred to in paragraph (1), the Inspec6 tor General and the Board shall have a reimbursable 

7 agreement to cover such expense. 

8 SEC. 14. EVALUATION AND AUDIT OF BOARD. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—To promote economy, efficiency, 

10 and effectiveness in the administration of the programs, 

11 operations, and activities of the Board, the Comptroller 

12 General of the United States shall evaluate and audit the 

13 programs and expenditures of the Board. Such evaluation 

14 and audit shall be conducted at least annually, but may 

15 be conducted as determined necessary by the Comptroller 

16 General or the appropriate congressional committees. 

17 (b) RESPONSIBILITY OF COMPTROLLER GENERAL.— 

18 The Comptroller General shall evaluate and audit Board 

19 programs, operations, and activities, including— 

20 (1) information management and security, in21 cluding privacy protection of personally identifiable 

22 information; 

23 (2) resource management; 

24 (3) workforce development; 

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1 (4) procurement and contracting planning, 

2 practices and policies; 

3 (5) the extent to which the Board follows lead4 ing practices in selected management areas; and 

5 (6) the extent to which the Board addresses 

6 management challenges in completing incident inves7 tigations. 

8 (c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.— 

9 For purposes of this section the term ‘‘appropriate con10 gressional committees’’ means the Committee on the Judi11 ciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary 

12 of the House of Representatives. 

13 SEC. 15. DISCOVERY AND USE OF RECORDINGS AND TRAN14 SCRIPTS. 

15 (a) TRANSCRIPTS AND RECORDINGS.— 

16 (1) Except as provided by this subsection, a 

17 party in a judicial proceeding may not use discovery 

18 to obtain any part of a recording from a body cam19 era used by a law enforcement officer or a vehicle20 mounted camera. 

21 (2)(A) Except as otherwise provided in this sub22 section, a court may allow discovery by a party of 

23 a recording if the court determines that discovery of 

24 the recording is necessary to provide the party with 

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1 sufficient information for the party to receive a fair 

2 trial. 

3 (B) A court may allow discovery, or require 

4 production for an in camera review, of a transcript 

5 of a recording only if the recording is not available. 

6 (3)(A) When a court allows discovery in a judi7 cial proceeding of a part of a transcript or recording 

8 not otherwise made available to the public the court 

9 shall issue a protective order— 

10 (i) to limit the use of the part of the tran11 script or the recording to the judicial pro12 ceeding; and 

13 (ii) to prohibit dissemination of the part of 

14 the transcript or the recording to any person 

15 that does not need access to the part of the 

16 transcript or the recording for the proceeding. 

17 (B) A court may allow a part of a transcript or 

18 recording to be admitted into evidence in a judicial 

19 proceeding, only if the court places the part of the 

20 transcript or the recording under seal to prevent the 

21 use of the part of the transcript or the recording for 

22 purposes other than for the proceeding. 

23 (4) This subsection does not prevent the Board 

24 from referring at any time to a recording in making 

25 safety recommendations. 

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1 (5) In this subsection: 

2 (A) RECORDER.—The term ‘‘recorder’’ 

3 means a voice or video recorder. 

4 (B) TRANSCRIPT.—The term ‘‘transcript’’ 

5 includes any written depiction of visual infor6 mation obtained from a video recorder. 

7 (b) REPORTS.—No part of a report of the Board, re8 lated to an incident or an investigation of an incident, may 

9 be admitted into evidence or used in a civil action for dam10 ages resulting from a matter mentioned in the report. 

11 SEC. 16. ENFORCEMENT. 

12 At any time, the Department of Justice Civil Rights 

13 Divisions can open a Pattern-or-Practice Investigation, 

14 citing the lack of progress on the implementation of rec15 ommendations by a recipient as possible evidence of a sys16 tematic pattern of abuse, and take direct enforcement ac17 tion if needed. 

18 SEC. 17. GRANT ELIGIBILITY. 

19 (a) GENERAL REQUIREMENTS.—For each fiscal year 

20 after the expiration of the period specified in subsection 

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

22 a grant under part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con23 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et 

24 seq.), the State or unit of local government shall conform 

25 their laws as follows: 

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1 (1) Any findings or recommendations issued by 

2 the Board will be admissible in criminal or civil 

3 court procedures regarding an incident of violence by 

4 a law enforcement officer. 

5 (2) If prosecution or a civil case moves forward 

6 against the police officer or officers in question, the 

7 findings of the Board may be presented to the jury. 

8 (3) Additionally, any police department, locality 

9 or state government that has received reform rec10 ommendations from the Board shall submit a report 

11 to the Board and to Congress one calendar year 

12 later detailing the actions it has taken on the mat13 ter, and will continue to report yearly so long as any 

14 recommendations remain open. 

15 (b) COMPLIANCE AND INELIGIBILITY.— 

16 (1) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Beginning on the first 

17 full fiscal year after the date of enactment of this 

18 Act, each State or unit of local government referred 

19 to in subsection (a) receiving a grant shall comply 

20 with subsection (a), except that the Attorney Gen21 eral may grant an additional 60 days to a State or 

22 unit of local government that is making good faith 

23 efforts to comply with such subsection. 

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

25 year after the expiration of the period specified in 

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

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

3 discretion of the Attorney General, be subject to a 

4 reduction of the funds that would otherwise be allo5 cated for that fiscal year to the State under subpart 

6 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

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

8 seq.), whether characterized as the Edward Byrne 

9 Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assist10 ance Programs, the Local Government Law Enforce11 ment Block Grants Program, the Edward Byrne Me12 morial Justice Assistance Grant Program, or other13 wise of not less than 1 percent and not more than 

14 10 percent. 

15 (c) REALLOCATION.—Amounts not allocated under a 

16 program referred to in subsection (b)(2) to a State for 

17 failure to fully comply with subsection (a) shall be reallo18 cated under that program to States that have not failed 

19 to comply with such subsection. 

Æ