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Union Calendar No. 109

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1659

[Report No. 106–190]

To reinforce police training and reestablish police and community relations,

and to create a commission to study and report on the policies and

practices that govern the training, recruitment, and oversight of police

officers, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 4, 1999

Mr. SERRANO (for himself and Mr. HYDE) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

JUNE 18, 1999

Additional sponsors: Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Ms. CARSON, Ms. NORTON, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. MEEKS of New York,

Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. WALSH, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. CLAY, Mr.

DIXON, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. WYNN, Mr.

HUTCHINSON, Mr. GEKAS, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr.

WATT of North Carolina, and Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas

JUNE 18, 1999

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 4, 1999]

A BILL

To reinforce police training and reestablish police and community relations, and to create a commission to study
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and report on the policies and practices that govern

the training, recruitment, and oversight of police 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 ‘‘National Police Train5 ing Commission Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT.

7 There is established, subject to the availability of ap8 propriations, a commission to be known as the ‘‘National

9 Police Training Commission’’ (hereinafter in this Act re10 ferred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).

11 SEC. 3. MEMBERSHIP.

12 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission

13 shall be composed of 5 members appointed as follows:

14 (1) The majority and minority leaders of the

15 Senate shall each appoint 1 member.

16 (2) The Speaker of the House of Representatives

17 and the minority leader of the House shall each ap18 point 1 member.

19 (3) The 4 members appointed under paragraphs

20 (1) and (2) shall then select 1 member.

21 (b) ELIGIBILITY AND QUALIFICATIONS.—

22 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—The members of the Commis23 sion shall be individuals who have knowledge or ex-
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1 pertise, whether by experience or training, in matters

2 to be studied by the Commission under this Act. The

3 members may be from the public or private sector,

4 and may include Federal, State, or local officers or

5 employees (other than those holding elective office),

6 members of academia, non-profit organizations, or

7 other interested individuals.

8 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—The members of the Com9 mission shall be individuals who possess relevant

10 backgrounds, credentials, and experience in some or

11 all of the following:

12 (A) Civil and criminal litigation.

13 (B) Administrative and management func14 tions of law enforcement in major cities and

15 smaller communities.

16 (C) Community relations.

17 (c) TERM.—Each member shall be appointed for the

18 life of the Commission.

19 (d) LENGTH OF COMMISSION.—The Commission shall

20 cease to exist 1 year after the initial appointment of the

21 4 members described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of sub22 section (a). The initial appointment of the 4 members so

23 described shall not take effect until the later of October 1,

24 1999 or the date on which appropriations are made avail25 able for the expenses of the Commission.
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1 (e) VACANCIES.—Except as otherwise provided in this

2 subsection, a vacancy in the Commission shall be filled in

3 the manner in which the original appointment was made,

4 and shall not affect the power of the remaining members

5 to execute the duties of the Commission. If any of the origi6 nal appointments are not made by the day that is 30 days

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, any members

8 already appointed shall fill any vacancy existing on that

9 date.

10 (f) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at the call

11 of the Chairperson.

12 (g) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the Commis13 sion shall be elected by the members.

14 SEC. 4. FUNCTIONS.

15 (a) STUDY.—The Commission shall conduct a study

16 of the effectiveness of training, recruiting, hiring, oversight,

17 and funding policies and practices in law enforcement, in18 cluding the following:

19 (1) Training: policies, practices, and organiza20 tional strategies of law enforcement, and training and

21 instruction in the use of force, the use of non lethal

22 force, tactical and defensive tactical; arrests, searches

23 and handcuffing; verbal communication; vehicle use;

24 initial and continuing cultural diversity training;

25 community relations and sensitivity training of law
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1 enforcement vis a vis the community and the commu2 nity vis a vis law enforcement.

3 (2) Recruitment and Hiring: policies and prac4 tices in hiring and recruiting law enforcement officers

5 and identifying and setting standards for hiring re6 garding educational and psychological backgrounds;

7 diversity; lengths of probationary periods.

8 (3) Oversight: complaint procedures regarding

9 police officers, including screening, organization, and

10 training of investigatory staff; the availability and

11 fairness of due process requirements for members of

12 the public and law enforcement officers, and obstacles

13 to ensuring objective and timely investigations; dis14 crimination and harassment, including the relation15 ship between police and prosecutors; perjury, includ16 ing the ‘‘code of silence’’.

17 (4) Funding: the effectiveness of the use of fund18 ing for programs relating to matters described in

19 paragraphs (1) through (3) of this subsection, whether

20 derived from the Violent Crime Control and Law En21 forcement Act of 1994 or otherwise, by cities listed in

22 section 210501 of such Act.’’.

23 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the initial

24 appointment of the 4 members described in paragraphs (1)

25 and (2) of section 3(a), the Commission shall submit a re-
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1 port to Congress of the results of its study, including any

2 recommendations the Commission may make with regard

3 to the matters studied including best practices.

4 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.

5 (a) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The

6 Commission may secure directly from any Federal depart7 ment or agency such information as the Commission con8 siders necessary to carry out its duties under section 4.

9 Upon the request of the Commission, the head of such de10 partment or agency may furnish such information to the

11 Commission.

12 (b) SERVICE NOT COMPENSATED.—Each member of

13 the Commission shall serve without compensation, and

14 members who are officers or employees of the United States

15 shall serve without compensation in addition to that re16 ceived for their services as officers or employees of the

17 United States.

18 (c) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—The members of the Commis19 sion shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem

20 in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of

21 agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United

22 States Code, while away from their homes or regular places

23 of business in the performance of service for the Commis24 sion.

25 (d) STAFF.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Chairman of the Com2 mission may, without regard to the civil service laws

3 and regulations, appoint and terminate an executive

4 director and such other additional personnel as may

5 be necessary to enable the Commission to perform its

6 duties. The employment and termination of an execu7 tive director shall be subject to confirmation by a ma8 jority of the members of the Commission.

9 (2) COMPENSATION.—The executive director shall

10 be compensated at a rate not to exceed the rate pay11 able for level V of the Executive Schedule under sec12 tion 5316 of title 5, United States Code. The Chair13 man may fix the compensation of other personnel

14 without regard to the provisions of chapter 51 and

15 subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5, United States

16 Code, relating to classification of positions and Gen17 eral Schedule pay rates, except that the rate of pay

18 for such personnel may not exceed the rate payable for

19 level V of the Executive Schedule under section 5316

20 of such title.

21 (3) DETAIL OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.—Any

22 Federal Government employee, with the approval of

23 the head of the appropriate Federal agency, may be

24 detailed to the Commission without reimbursement,
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1 and such detail shall be without interruption or loss

2 of civil service status, benefits, or privilege.

3 (e) PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT4 TENT SERVICES.—The Chairman of the Commission may

5 procure temporary and intermittent services under section

6 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code, at rates for individ7 uals not to exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate

8 of basic pay prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule

9 under section 5316 of such title.

10 (f) MEETINGS.—The Commission shall meet at the call

11 of the Chairman.

12 (g) QUORUM; VOTING; RULES.—Two members of the

13 Commission shall constitute a quorum to conduct business.

14 Each member of the Commission shall have one vote, and

15 the vote of each member shall be accorded the same weight.

16 The Commission may establish by vote of a majority of its

17 members any other rules for the conduct of the Commis18 sion’s business, if such rules are not inconsistent with this

19 Act or other applicable law.

20 (h) USE OF INFORMATION ACQUIRED BY THE COMMIS21 SION.—Information acquired by the Commission for its

22 study shall be used only for research, statistical, and report23 ing purposes.

24 (i) INFORMATION TO BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL.—Infor25 mation the Commission determines is confidential, includ-
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1 ing the identity of law enforcement officers and members

2 of the public, shall not be disclosed to the public, nor made

3 a part of any public findings, nor made a part of any re4 port published by the Commission.

5 (j) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL TORT CLAIMS PROVI6 SIONS.—For purposes of sections 1346(b) and 2401(b) and

7 chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, the Commission

8 is a Federal agency and each of the members and personnel

9 of the Commission is an employee of the Government. This

10 subsection shall not be construed to imply that any commis11 sion is not a Federal agency or that any of the members

12 or personnel of a commission is not an employee of the Gov13 ernment for purposes of sections 1346(b) and 2401(b) and

14 chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code.

15 (k) HEARINGS.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission may hold

17 such hearings, sit and act at such times and places,

18 administer such oaths, take such testimony, and re19 ceive such evidence as the Commission considers ad20 visable to carry out its duties under section 4.

21 (2) WITNESS EXPENSES.—Witnesses requested to

22 appear before the Commission shall be paid the same

23 fees as are paid to witnesses under section 1821 of

24 title 28, United States Code. The per diem and mile-
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1 age allowances for witnesses shall be paid from funds

2 appropriated to the Commission.

3 SEC. 6. TRAINING.

4 Section 210501 of the Violent Crime Control and Law

5 Enforcement Act of 1994 is amended—

6 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by inserting ‘‘, and

7 provide, under paragraph (4), training, recruitment,

8 hiring, and oversight assistance’’ before the semicolon;

9 and

10 (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the

11 following:

12 ‘‘(4) The training, recruitment, hiring, and over13 sight assistance under paragraph (1)(A) shall be

14 given to the following cities: New York, New York,

15 Chicago, Illinois, Los Angeles, California, Wash16 ington, District of Columbia, and Charlotte, North

17 Carolina, and to one police department from each of

18 the 4 geographical regions of the country (northeast,

19 south, midwest, and west) 2 of which have less than

20 100 police officers and 2 of which have less than 300

21 police officers, as determined by the National Police

22 Training Commission The assistance may include

23 funding for equipment, not to exceed 10 percent of the

24 amount of the grant made to each city. The money

25 appropriated for such assistance shall be distributed
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1 to those locations in proportion to the size of their po2 lice departments and upon receipt of written assur3 ances from the police department that the department

4 will provide access to its operations to the Commis5 sion. There are authorized to be appropriated for fis6 cal year 2000 for the purposes of such assistance the

7 sum of $3,000,000.’’.

8 SEC. 7. DATA ON DEATHS WHILE IN CUSTODY.

9 Section 20101(b) of the Violent Crime Control and

10 Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is amended—

11 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (6) through (9)

12 as paragraphs (7) through (10), respectively; and

13 (2) by inserting after paragraph (5) the fol14 lowing:

15 ‘‘(6) assurances that the State will follow the

16 guidelines established by the Attorney General in re17 porting, on a quarterly basis, information regarding

18 death of any person who is in the process of arrest,

19 has been incarcerated or is en route to be incarcerated

20 at any municipal or county jail, State prison, or

21 other local or State correctional facility (including

22 any juvenile facility) that, at a minimum, includes—

23 ‘‘(A) the name, gender, ethnicity, and age of

24 the deceased;
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1 ‘‘(B) the date, time, and location of death;

2 and

3 ‘‘(C) a brief description of the circumstances

4 surrounding the death.’’.
Union Calendar No. 109

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1659

[Report No. 106–190]

A BILL

To reinforce police training and reestablish police

purposes.and oversight of police officers, and for otherpractices that govern the training, recruitment,mission to study and report on the policies andand community relations, and to create a comJUNE 18, 1999

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union and ordered to be printed