I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3248 

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

establish a body-worn camera partnership grant program, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2021 

Mr. GUEST 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 establish a body-worn camera partnership 

grant program, 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 ‘‘American Body-worn 

5 Camera Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘ABC Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BODY-WORN CAMERA PARTNERSHIP GRANT PRO2 GRAM. 

3 Subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime 

4 Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 

5 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 509. BODY-WORN CAMERA PARTNERSHIP GRANT 

7 PROGRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered government’ means a 

10 State or unit of local government; and 

11 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Director’ means the Director of 

12 the Bureau of Justice Assistance. 

13 ‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION OF GRANTS.—The Director 

14 may make grants to eligible covered governments for use 

15 by the covered government for— 

16 ‘‘(1) the purchase of body-worn cameras or 

17 other audio-video technology that is utilized to 

18 record interactions between law enforcement and the 

19 public; 

20 ‘‘(2) necessary initial supportive technological 

21 infrastructure for body-worn cameras or other tech22 nologies for law enforcement officers in the jurisdic23 tion of the grantee; 

24 ‘‘(3) the development of policies and procedures 

25 relating to the use of body-worn cameras or other 

26 technologies; 


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1 ‘‘(4) training on the use of body-worn cameras 

2 or other technologies; and 

3 ‘‘(5) the storage, retention, viewing, auditing, 

4 and release of footage from body-worn cameras or 

5 other technologies. 

6 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.— 

7 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—For a covered government 

8 to be eligible to receive a grant under this section, 

9 the chief executive officer of the covered government 

10 shall submit to the Director an application in such 

11 form and containing such information as the Direc12 tor may require. 

13 ‘‘(2) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ASSUR14 ANCES.—The application under paragraph (1) shall, 

15 as required by the Director, provide assurances that 

16 the covered government will establish policies and 

17 procedures in accordance with subsection (d). 

18 ‘‘(d) REQUIRED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered government re20 ceiving a grant under this section shall develop poli21 cies and procedures related to the use of body-worn 

22 cameras or other technologies that— 

23 ‘‘(A) are developed with input from law en24 forcement officers who are not supervisors, or 

25 the representatives of such officers; 


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1 ‘‘(B) are developed with community input, 

2 including from prosecutors and organizations 

3 representing crime victims, in accordance with 

4 recognized best practices; 

5 ‘‘(C) require that a body-worn camera or 

6 other technologies be activated when a law en7 forcement officer arrests or detains any person 

8 in the course of the official duties of the officer, 

9 with consideration to sensitive cases; 

10 ‘‘(D) apply discipline to any law enforce11 ment officer who intentionally fails to ensure 

12 that a body-worn camera or other technology is 

13 engaged, functional, and properly secured at all 

14 times during which the camera is required to be 

15 worn; 

16 ‘‘(E) require training for— 

17 ‘‘(i) the proper use of body-worn cam18 eras or other technologies; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) the handling and use of the ob20 tained video and audio recordings; 

21 ‘‘(F) provide clear standards for privacy, 

22 data retention, and use for evidentiary purposes 

23 in a criminal proceeding, including in the case 

24 of an assault on a law enforcement officer; and 


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1 ‘‘(G) make footage available to the public 

2 in response to a valid request under an applica3 ble freedom of information law if the footage 

4 can be made available— 

5 ‘‘(i) without compromising an ongoing 

6 investigation or revealing the identity of 

7 third parties, including victims, inform8 ants, or witnesses; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) with consideration given to the 

10 rights of victims and surviving family 

11 members. 

12 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—A covered government re13 ceiving a grant under this section shall make all 

14 policies and procedures regarding body-worn cam15 eras or other technologies available on a public 

16 website. 

17 ‘‘(3) GUIDANCE.—The Director shall issue 

18 guidance to covered governments related to the re19 quirements under paragraph (1). 

20 ‘‘(e) GRANT AMOUNTS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) MINIMUM AMOUNT.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each fiscal year, un23 less the Director has awarded a fully funded 

24 grant for each eligible application submitted by 

25 a State and any units of local government withVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Jun 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3248.IH H3248

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1 in the State under this section for the fiscal 

2 year, the Director shall allocate to the State 

3 and units of local government within the State 

4 for grants under this section an aggregate 

5 amount that is not less than 0.5 percent of the 

6 total amount appropriated for the fiscal year 

7 for grants under this section. 

8 ‘‘(B) CERTAIN TERRITORIES.—For pur9 poses of the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, 

10 Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, sub11 paragraph (A) shall be applied by substituting 

12 ‘0.25 percent’ for ‘0.5 percent’. 

13 ‘‘(2) AGGREGATE AMOUNT PER STATE.—A 

14 State and each covered government within the State 

15 may not receive grants under this section for a fiscal 

16 year in an aggregate amount that is more than 10 

17 percent of the total amount appropriated for grants 

18 under this section for the fiscal year. 

19 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

21 subparagraph (B), of funds available in any fis22 cal year— 

23 ‘‘(i) not more than 40 percent shall be 

24 allocated for grants pursuant to applica25 tions submitted by a covered government 


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1 having jurisdiction over areas with popu2 lations exceeding 150,000; 

3 ‘‘(ii) not more than 30 percent shall 

4 be allocated for grants pursuant to applica5 tions submitted by a covered government 

6 having jurisdiction over areas with popu7 lations of 150,000 or less, but exceeding 

8 50,000; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) not more than 30 percent shall 

10 be allocated for grants pursuant to applica11 tions submitted by a covered government 

12 having jurisdiction over areas with popu13 lations of 50,000 or less. 

14 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—In the case that all eli15 gible grant applications have been funded for a 

16 fiscal in an allocation category under clauses (i) 

17 through (iii) of subparagraph (A) and there are 

18 funds remaining under that allocation category, 

19 the Director may make such funds available to 

20 applicants described in the remaining allocation 

21 categories. 

22 ‘‘(f) MATCHING FUNDS.—The portion of the costs of 

23 a body-worn camera program provided by a grant under 

24 this section may not exceed 75 percent. 


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1 ‘‘(g) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds made 

2 available under this section shall not be used to supplant 

3 covered government funds, but shall be used to increase 

4 the amount of funds that would, in the absence of Federal 

5 funds, be made available from covered government sources 

6 for the purposes of this section. 

7 ‘‘(h) REPORTS TO THE DIRECTOR.—A covered gov8 ernment that receives a grant under this section shall sub9 mit to the Director, for each year in which funds from 

10 a grant received under this section are expended, a report 

11 at such time and in such manner as the Director may rea12 sonably require, that contains— 

13 ‘‘(1) a summary of the activities carried out 

14 under the grant and an assessment of whether the 

15 activities are meeting the needs identified in the 

16 grant application; and 

17 ‘‘(2) such other information as the Director 

18 may require. 

19 ‘‘(i) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 

20 days after the end of a fiscal year for which grants are 

21 made under this section, the Director shall submit to Con22 gress a report that includes— 

23 ‘‘(1) the aggregate amount of grants made 

24 under this section to each covered government for 

25 the fiscal year; 


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1 ‘‘(2) a summary of the information provided by 

2 covered governments receiving grants under this sec3 tion; and 

4 ‘‘(3) a description of the priorities and plan for 

5 awarding grants among eligible covered govern6 ments, and how the plan will ensure the effective use 

7 of body-worn cameras to protect public safety. 

8 ‘‘(j) DIRECT APPROPRIATIONS.—For the purpose of 

9 making grants under this section there is authorized to 

10 be appropriated, and there is appropriated, out of amounts 

11 in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to remain 

12 available until expended— 

13 ‘‘(1) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

14 ‘‘(2) $45,0000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

15 ‘‘(3) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 

16 ‘‘(4) $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 

17 ‘‘(5) $60,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.’’. 

Æ 


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