II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 877 

To establish a pilot grant program to assist State and local law enforcement 

agencies in purchasing body-worn cameras for law enforcement officers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2015 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself and Mr. PAUL) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To establish a pilot grant program to assist State and local 

law enforcement agencies in purchasing body-worn cameras for law enforcement officers. 

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 ‘‘Police Creating Ac5 countability by Making Effective Recording Available Act 

6 of 2015’’ or the ‘‘Police CAMERA Act’’. 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 877 IS

1 SEC. 2. MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR LAW ENFORCE2 MENT BODY-WORN CAMERAS. 

3 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

4 Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended 

5 by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘PART LL—MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR 

7 LAW ENFORCEMENT BODY-WORN CAMERAS 

8 ‘‘SEC. 3021. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Attorney General 

10 for the Office of Justice Programs (in this section referred 

11 to as the ‘Assistant Attorney General’) may make grants 

12 to States, units of local government, and Indian tribes to 

13 purchase or lease body-worn cameras for use by State, 

14 local, and tribal law enforcement officers (as defined in 

15 section 2503) and expenses related to the implementation 

16 of a body-worn camera program in order to deter excessive 

17 force, improve accountability and transparency of use of 

18 force by law enforcement officers, assist in responding to 

19 complaints against law enforcement officers, and improve 

20 evidence collection. 

21 ‘‘(b) DURATION OF GRANTS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded under this 

23 part shall be 2 years in duration. 

24 ‘‘(2) DISBURSEMENT OF GRANT AMOUNT.—In 

25 disbursing a grant awarded to an entity under this 

26 section— 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 877 IS

1 ‘‘(A) upon awarding the grant to the enti2 ty, the Assistant Attorney General shall dis3 burse 50 percent of the total grant amount to 

4 the entity; and 

5 ‘‘(B) upon demonstration by the entity of 

6 completion of the requirements in subsection 

7 (d)(1), the Assistant Attorney General shall dis8 burse the remaining 50 percent of the total 

9 grant amount to the entity. 

10 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this 

11 section shall be— 

12 ‘‘(1) distributed directly to the State, unit of 

13 local government, or Indian tribe; and 

14 ‘‘(2) used for— 

15 ‘‘(A) the purchase or lease of body-worn 

16 cameras for law enforcement officers on patrol 

17 in the jurisdiction of the grantee; 

18 ‘‘(B) any costs relating to the implementa19 tion of a body-worn camera program, including 

20 law enforcement officer training or the storage 

21 or maintenance of data collected under a body22 worn camera program; or 

23 ‘‘(C) implementing policies or procedures 

24 to comply with the requirements described in 

25 subsection (d). 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 877 IS

1 ‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Attorney 

3 General shall award a grant under this section to a 

4 State, unit of local government, or Indian tribe re5 questing the grant that commits to— 

6 ‘‘(A) establishing policies and procedures 

7 in accordance with the requirements described 

8 in paragraph (2) before law enforcement offi9 cers use of body-worn cameras; 

10 ‘‘(B) adopting data collection and retention 

11 protocols as described in paragraph (3) before 

12 law enforcement officers use of body-worn cam13 eras; 

14 ‘‘(C) making the policies and protocols de15 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) available 

16 to the public; and 

17 ‘‘(D) complying with the requirements for 

18 use of data under paragraph (4). 

19 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.— 

20 An entity receiving a grant under this section 

21 shall— 

22 ‘‘(A) develop with community input and 

23 publish for public view policies and protocols 

24 for— 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 877 IS

1 ‘‘(i) the safe and effective use of body2 worn cameras; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the secure storage, handling, and 

4 destruction of data collected by body-worn 

5 cameras; 

6 ‘‘(iii) protecting the privacy rights of 

7 any individual who may be recorded by a 

8 body-worn camera; and 

9 ‘‘(iv) the release of any data collected 

10 by a body-worn camera in accordance with 

11 the open records laws, if any, of the State; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(B) conduct periodic evaluations of the 

14 security of the storage and handling of the 

15 body-worn camera data. 

16 ‘‘(3) DATA COLLECTION AND RETENTION PRO17 TOCOL.—The data collection and retention protocol 

18 described in this paragraph is a protocol that— 

19 ‘‘(A) requires— 

20 ‘‘(i) a law enforcement officer who is 

21 wearing a body-mounted camera to provide 

22 an explanation if an activity that is re23 quired to be recorded by the body-mounted 

24 camera is not recorded; 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 877 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) a law enforcement officer who is 

2 wearing a body-mounted camera to obtain 

3 consent to be recorded from a crime victim 

4 or witness before interviewing the victim or 

5 witness; 

6 ‘‘(iii) the collection of data unrelated 

7 to a legitimate law enforcement purpose be 

8 minimized to the greatest extent prac9 ticable; 

10 ‘‘(iv) the system used to store data 

11 collected by body-worn cameras shall log 

12 all viewing, modification, or deletion of 

13 stored data and shall prevent, to the great14 est extent practicable, the unauthorized ac15 cess or disclosure of stored data; 

16 ‘‘(v) any law enforcement officer be 

17 prohibited from accessing the stored data 

18 without an authorized purpose; and 

19 ‘‘(vi) the law enforcement agency to 

20 collect and report data on— 

21 ‘‘(I) incidences of use of force, 

22 disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gen23 der, and age of the victim; 

24 ‘‘(II) the number of complaints 

25 filed against law enforcement officers; 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 877 IS

1 ‘‘(III) the disposition of com2 plaints filed against law enforcement 

3 officers; and 

4 ‘‘(IV) the number of times cam5 era footage is used for evidence collec6 tion in investigations of crimes; 

7 ‘‘(B) allows an individual to file a com8 plaint with a law enforcement agency relating 

9 to the improper use of body-worn cameras; and 

10 ‘‘(C) complies with any other requirements 

11 established by the Assistant Attorney General. 

12 ‘‘(4) USE OR TRANSFER OF DATA.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Data collected by an 

14 entity receiving a grant under this section from 

15 a body-mounted camera shall be used only in 

16 internal and external investigations of mis17 conduct by a law enforcement agency or officer, 

18 if there is reasonable suspicion that a recording 

19 contains evidence of a crime, or for limited 

20 training purposes. The Assistant Attorney Gen21 eral shall establish rules to ensure that the data 

22 is used only for the purposes described in this 

23 subparagraph. 

24 ‘‘(B) PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER.—Ex25 cept as provided in subparagraph (B), an entity 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 877 IS

1 receiving a grant under this section may not 

2 transfer any data collected by the entity from 

3 a body-mounted camera to another law enforce4 ment or intelligence agency. 

5 ‘‘(C) EXCEPTIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(i) CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION.—An 

7 entity receiving a grant under this section 

8 may transfer data collected by the entity 

9 from a body-mounted camera to another 

10 law enforcement agency or intelligence 

11 agency for use in a criminal investigation 

12 if the requesting law enforcement or intel13 ligence agency has reasonable suspicion 

14 that the requested data contains evidence 

15 relating to the crime being investigated. 

16 ‘‘(ii) CIVIL RIGHTS CLAIMS.—An enti17 ty receiving a grant under this section may 

18 transfer data collected by the law enforce19 ment agency from a body-mounted camera 

20 to another law enforcement agency for use 

21 in an investigation of any right, privilege, 

22 or immunity secured or protected by the 

23 Constitution or laws of the United States. 

24 ‘‘(e) MATCHING FUNDS.— 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 877 IS

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (3), the Federal share of the cost of a pro3 gram carried out using a grant under this part may 

4 not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the pro5 gram. 

6 ‘‘(2) INDIAN ASSISTANCE.—Any funds appro7 priated by Congress for the activities of any agency 

8 of an Indian tribal government or the Bureau of In9 dian Affairs performing law enforcement functions 

10 on any Indian lands may be used to provide the non11 Federal share of the matching requirement described 

12 in paragraph (1). 

13 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.—The Assistant Attorney General 

14 may waive, in whole or in part, the matching re15 quirement described in paragraph (1) in the case of 

16 fiscal hardship, as determined by the Assistant At17 torney General. 

18 ‘‘(f) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—For fiscal years 2015 

19 and 2016, of the amounts appropriated to the Office of 

20 Justice Programs, $10,000,000 shall be used to carry out 

21 this part. 

22 ‘‘SEC. 3022. APPLICATIONS. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To request a grant under this 

24 part, the chief executive of a State, unit of local govern25 ment, or Indian tribe shall submit an application to the 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 877 IS

1 Assistant Attorney General in such form and containing 

2 such information as the Assistant Attorney General may 

3 reasonably require. 

4 ‘‘(b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after 

5 the date of the enactment of this part, the Assistant Attor6 ney General shall promulgate regulations to implement 

7 this part, including the information that shall be included 

8 and the requirements that the States, units of local gov9 ernment, and Indian tribes must meet in submitting the 

10 applications required under this section. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 3023. STUDY. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

13 date on which all grants are awarded under this part, the 

14 Assistant Attorney General shall conduct a study on— 

15 ‘‘(1) the efficacy of body-worn cameras in deter16 ring excessive force by law enforcement officers; 

17 ‘‘(2) the impact of body-worn cameras on the 

18 accountability and transparency of the use of force 

19 by law enforcement officers; 

20 ‘‘(3) the impact of body-worn cameras on re21 sponses to and adjudications of complaints of exces22 sive force; 

23 ‘‘(4) the effect of the use of body-worn cameras 

24 on the safety of law enforcement officers on patrol; 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 877 IS

1 ‘‘(5) the effect of the use of body-worn cameras 

2 on public safety; 

3 ‘‘(6) the impact of body-worn cameras on evi4 dence collection for criminal investigations; 

5 ‘‘(7) issues relating to the secure storage and 

6 handling of data from the body-worn cameras; 

7 ‘‘(8) issues relating to the privacy of citizens 

8 and officers recorded on body-worn cameras; 

9 ‘‘(9) issues relating to the public’s access to 

10 body-worn camera footage; 

11 ‘‘(10) the need for proper training of law en12 forcement officers that use body-worn cameras; 

13 ‘‘(11) best practices in the development of pro14 tocols for the safe and effective use of body-worn 

15 cameras; and 

16 ‘‘(12) any other factors that the Assistant At17 torney General determines are relevant in evaluating 

18 the efficacy of body-worn cameras. 

19 ‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 

20 date on which the study required under subsection (a) is 

21 completed, the Assistant Attorney General shall submit to 

22 Congress a report on the study.’’. 

Æ 


asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with BILLS