I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1787 

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

impose certain additional requirements on applicants for COPS grants, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 14, 2019 

Mr. HASTINGS (for himself, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. FRANKEL, and Mr. DEUTCH) 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 impose certain additional requirements 

on applicants for COPS grants, 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 ‘‘Corey Jones Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) Corey Jones of Lake Worth, Florida, was 

8 shot and killed by a plainclothes law enforcement ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:56 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1787.IH H1787

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1 ficer operating an unmarked vehicle on October 18, 

2 2015. 

3 (2) Mr. Jones was legally and peacefully pulled 

4 to the side of the road while he awaited roadside as5 sistance at approximately 3 a.m. in the morning be6 cause his car had broken down. 

7 (3) While Mr. Jones awaited roadside assist8 ance, he was approached by a law enforcement offi9 cer driving an unmarked van and dressed in plain10 clothes. 

11 (4) Mr. Jones would not have had any reason12 able reason to believe that the person in plainclothes 

13 driving the unmarked vehicle was a law enforcement 

14 officer. 

15 (5) Any confusion as to the nature of the law 

16 enforcement officer’s interaction with Mr. Jones 

17 could likely have been avoided had a uniformed offi18 cer in a marked vehicle been called to the scene. 

19 (6) Tragic incidents like the death of Mr. Jones 

20 can easily be avoided by prohibiting law enforcement 

21 officers in plainclothes or law enforcement officers in 

22 plainclothes and unmarked vehicles from engaging in 

23 routine traffic stops. 


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1 SEC. 3. ENSURING THE SAFETY OF THE PUBLIC AND LAW 

2 ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS DURING ROUTINE 

3 TRAFFIC STOPS INVOLVING UNMARKED VE4 HICLES AND PLAINCLOTHES OFFICERS. 

5 (a) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Section 1702 of the 

6 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 

7 U.S.C. 3796dd–1) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (c)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (10), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

10 at the end; 

11 (B) in paragraph (11), by striking the pe12 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’ at the end; and 

13 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(12) certify that no law enforcement agency 

15 that will receive grant funds from the applicant al16 lows law enforcement officers to engage in routine 

17 traffic stops while in plainclothes or while in plain18 clothes and in a police vehicle that is unmarked or 

19 that otherwise is not clearly identified as a police ve20 hicle.’’; and 

21 (2) in subsection (d)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting after ‘‘1 

23 or more of the requirements of subsection (c)’’ 

24 the following ‘‘(other than paragraph (12)’’; 

25 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting after ‘‘1 

26 or more of the requirements of subsection (c)’’ 


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1 the following ‘‘(other than paragraph (12)’’; 

2 and 

3 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(3) NO WAIVER OF PLAINCLOTHES CERTIFI5 CATION.—The Attorney General may not waive the 

6 requirement under subsection (c)(12).’’. 

7 (b) CIVIL ACTION.—If the Attorney General deter8 mines, as a result of the reviews required by section 1705 

9 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

10 1968, that a law enforcement officer has engaged in con11 duct that violates a certification under section 1702(c)(12) 

12 of such Act applicable to that law enforcement officer, and 

13 such conduct has resulted in serious injury or death to 

14 any person, that person may bring a civil action against 

15 that law enforcement officer and any grantee under part 

16 Q of title I of such Act that is a grantee that is a State, 

17 unit of local government, Indian tribal government, or 

18 other entity with direct authority over that law enforce19 ment officer. 

20 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

21 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General of 

22 the United States shall submit to Congress a report that 

23 includes data relating to the number and nature of 

24 incidences where a law enforcement officer dressed in 

25 plainclothes or dressed in plainclothes and operating an 


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1 unmarked vehicle, engaged in a routine traffic stop that 

2 resulted in injury or death. 

Æ 


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