I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5221 

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 

MAY 12, 2016 

Ms. MOORE 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Between Police and Communities Act of 2016’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. TRAINING ON DE-ESCALATION FOR LAW ENFORCE2 MENT. 

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

4 after the expiration of the period specified in subsection 

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

6 a grant under part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Con7 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et 

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

9 that all individuals enrolled in an academy of a law en10 forcement agency of the State or unit of local government 

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

12 local government fulfill a training session on de-escalation 

13 techniques each fiscal year, including— 

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

15 applying force and techniques that prevent the offi16 cer from escalating any situation where force is like17 ly to be used; 

18 (2) verbal and physical tactics to minimize the 

19 need for the use of force, with an emphasis on com20 munication, negotiation, de-escalation techniques, 

21 providing the time needed to resolve the incident 

22 safely for everyone; 

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

24 a possible and safe response to an identified threat, 

25 then re-evaluating the threat as it progresses; 

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1 (4) techniques that provide all officers with 

2 awareness and recognition of mental health and sub3 stance abuse issues with an emphasis on commu4 nication strategies, training officers simultaneously 

5 in teams on de-escalation and use of force to im6 prove group dynamics and diminish excessive use of 

7 force during critical incidents; 

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

9 when approaching and managing critical incidents, 

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

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

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

13 gap’’; 

14 (6) crisis intervention strategies to appro15 priately identify and respond to individuals suffering 

16 from mental health or substance abuse issues, with 

17 an emphasis on de-escalation tactics and promoting 

18 effective communication; and 

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

20 be appropriate by the Attorney General, that en21 hance de-escalation skills and tactics, such as the 

22 Critical Decision-Making Model and scenario based 

23 trainings. 

24 In the case of individuals attending an academy, such 

25 training session shall be for such an appropriate amount 

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1 of time as to ensure academy participants receive effective 

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

3 law enforcement officers, the training session shall be for 

4 an appropriate amount of time as to ensure officers receive 

5 effective training under this subsection. The State or unit 

6 of local government shall certify to the Attorney General 

7 of the United States that such training sessions have been 

8 completed. 

9 (b) SCENARIO-BASED TRAINING.—Training de10 scribed in subsection (a) shall be conducted with an em11 phasis on training that employs theories of de-escalation 

12 techniques and applies them to practical on-the-job sce13 narios that regularly face law enforcement officers. 

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

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

16 be applied to other training conducted at the academy. 

17 (d) COMPLIANCE AND INELIGIBILITY.— 

18 (1) COMPLIANCE DATE.—Beginning not later 

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

20 or unit of local government receiving a grant shall 

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

22 General may grant an additional 6 months to a 

23 State or unit of local government that is making 

24 good faith efforts to comply with such subsection. 

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

2 year after the expiration of the period specified in 

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

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

5 discretion of the Attorney General, be subject to not 

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

7 would otherwise be allocated for that fiscal year to 

8 the State or unit of local government under subpart 

9 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

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

11 seq.), whether characterized as the Edward Byrne 

12 Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assist13 ance Programs, the Local Government Law Enforce14 ment Block Grants Program, the Edward Byrne Me15 morial Justice Assistance Grant Program, or other16 wise. 

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

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

19 of local government for failure to fully comply with sub20 section (a) shall be reallocated under that program to 

21 States and units of local government that have not failed 

22 to comply with such subsection. 

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

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

25 list of evidence-based practices it determines is successful 

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1 in enhancing de-escalation skills of law enforcement offi2 cers. The Attorney General shall regularly update this list 

3 as needed and shall publish the list to the public on a year4 ly basis. 

5 SEC. 3. DATA COLLECTION. 

6 The Attorney General shall collect data on efforts un7 dertaken by Federal fund recipients to enhance de-esca8 lation training for law enforcement officers. 

9 SEC. 4. AFFIRMATIVE DUTY TO USE DE-ESCALATION TAC10 TICS WHEN AVAILABLE. 

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

12 local government that received a grant award under sub13 part 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

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

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

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

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

18 enforcement officer of that State or unit of local govern19 ment, whenever possible, to employ de-escalation tech20 niques in which the officer has received training required 

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

22 amount that would otherwise be awarded to that State or 

23 unit of local government under such grant program in the 

24 following fiscal year by 15 percent. 

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

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

3 of local government for failure to be in compliance with 

4 this section shall be reallocated under that program to 

5 States and units of local government that are in compli6 ance with this section. 

7 SEC. 5. ATTORNEY GENERAL GUIDANCE. 

8 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

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

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

11 compliance with the requirements of this Act. 

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