I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5535 

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

authorize the Attorney General to provide grants to States and units 

of local government for the video recording of custodial interrogations. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 

Ms. JACKSON LEE 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 the Attorney General to provide 

grants to States and units of local government for the 

video recording of custodial interrogations. 

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 ‘‘Custodial Interroga5 tion Recording Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) According to the National Conference of 

2 Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, research 

3 has demonstrated that video recording of custodial 

4 interrogations furthers three important civic values: 

5 truth-finding, efficient and fair administration of 

6 justice, and protection of constitutional guarantees. 

7 See Richard A. Leo, Police Interrogation and Amer8 ican Justice 296–305 (2008); Thomas P. Sullivan, 

9 Recording Federal Custodial Interviews, 45 Am. 

10 Crim. L. Rev. 1297 (2008). 

11 (2) Video recording of the entire process of cus12 todial interrogation has proven to be a major ad13 vance in law enforcement, improving the ability to 

14 solve crimes and prove cases while lowering the over15 all costs of investigation and litigation. 

16 (3) Video recording of custodial interrogations 

17 promotes truth-finding in several ways, including by 

18 reducing the incentive to fabricate, compensating for 

19 faulty or unreliable recollections of witnesses, deter20 ring problematic interrogation methods, filtering out 

21 weak cases, and enhancing the ability of finders of 

22 fact to assess witness credibility and veracity. 

23 (4) Video recording of custodial interrogations 

24 promotes efficiency in the administration of the 

25 criminal justice system by reducing the number of 


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1 frivolous suppression motions, improving the quality 

2 of police investigations, improving the quality of re3 view and case screening by prosecutors, and reduc4 ing the likelihood of hung juries. 

5 (5) Video recording of custodial interrogations 

6 safeguards constitutional rights and values by mak7 ing it easier for courts to adjudicate motions to sup8 press, by making it easier for prosecutors to pre9 serve and disclose material exculpatory evidence re10 quired under the Supreme Court decision in Brady 

11 v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), by making it easi12 er for superiors to train police officers in how to 

13 comply with constitutional mandates and for the 

14 press, and by making it easier for the press, the ju15 diciary, prosecutors, independent watchdog groups, 

16 and police administrators to identify and correct 

17 misuses of power by law enforcement. 

18 (6) Video recordings of custodial interrogations 

19 make it easier to identify and avoid biases, which 

20 would otherwise be difficult to detect and correct be21 cause such biases are often unconscious, thus oper22 ating outside police awareness. 

23 (7) Video recordings of custodial interrogations 

24 help to improve public confidence in the fairness and 

25 professionalism of policing, which in a democracy 


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1 not only is a good in itself but also a proven means 

2 of reducing crime and enhancing citizen cooperation 

3 in solving crimes. 

4 (8) Video recording of the entire process of cus5 todial interrogation is likely to be a major boon to 

6 law enforcement, improving its ability to prove its 

7 cases while lowering overall costs of investigation 

8 and litigation. Such recording will also, however, im9 prove systemic accuracy, fairness to the accused and 

10 the State alike, protection of constitutional rights, 

11 and public confidence in the justice system. 

12 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT. 

13 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

14 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711) is amended— 

15 (1) in section 1001(a), by adding at the end the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(27) There are authorized to be appropriated 

18 to carry out part LL such sums as may be necessary 

19 for each of the first 5 fiscal years beginning after 

20 the date of the enactment of such part.’’; and 

21 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART LL—CUSTODIAL INTERROGATION VIDEO 

2 RECORDING GRANTS 

3 ‘‘SEC. 3021. CUSTODIAL INTERROGATION VIDEO RECORD4 ING GRANTS. 

5 ‘‘(a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Attorney General shall 

6 make grants to States and units of local government to 

7 take whatever steps the Attorney General determines to 

8 be necessary to achieve the complete and accurate record9 ing, by both audio and video means, of every custodial in10 terrogation occurring within the State or unit of local gov11 ernment. 

12 ‘‘(b) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The portion of the 

13 costs of a program funded by a grant under this section 

14 may not exceed 75 percent. 

15 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF CUSTODIAL INTERROGATION.— 

16 In this section, the term ‘custodial interrogation’ means 

17 questioning or other conduct by a law enforcement officer 

18 which is reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating re19 sponse from an individual and occurs when reasonable in20 dividuals in the same circumstances would consider them21 selves in custody.’’. 

Æ 


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