I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3732 

To reform pattern or practice investigations conducted by the Department 

of Justice, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 4, 2021 

Ms. STRICKLAND (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. COOPER, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. 

JACOBS of California, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. JONES, Mr. CROW, Mr. TORRES

of New York, Mr. CARSON, and Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New 

York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To reform pattern or practice investigations conducted by 

the Department of Justice, 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 ‘‘Enhancing Oversight 

5 To End Discrimination in Policing Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONSENT DECREE PROCEDURES. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, acting 

8 through the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights 

9 Division of the Department of Justice, shall— 


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1 (1) modify the procedures for civil consent de2 crees and consent agreements in civil litigation with 

3 State and local governmental entities arising from 

4 pattern or practice investigations under section 

5 210401 of the Violent Crime Control and Law En6 forcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601) to ensure 

7 that— 

8 (A) the use of consent decrees and consent 

9 agreements foster the creation and use of rem10 edies that are not limited to law enforcement 

11 reforms, such as mental health support or com12 munity-based restorative justice mechanisms; 

13 and 

14 (B) community oversight requirements, 

15 such as a community oversight body described 

16 in subsection (b), are incorporated, when pos17 sible, into the terms of consent decrees and con18 sent agreements; and 

19 (2) in carrying out paragraph (1)(A), request 

20 guidance from the heads of other relevant agencies, 

21 such as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel22 opment and the Secretary of Health and Human 

23 Services, on the efficacy of the alternative remedies 

24 described in paragraph (1)(A). 


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1 (b) COMMUNITY OVERSIGHT BODY DESCRIBED.—A 

2 community oversight body described in this subsection is 

3 an oversight entity that— 

4 (1) is comprised of individuals who— 

5 (A) represent the communities and organi6 zations within the State or unit of local govern7 ment to which the consent decree or consent 

8 agreement applies; and 

9 (B) do not work, or have not previously 

10 worked, in a law enforcement capacity; 

11 (2) has a role of— 

12 (A) ensuring compliance with the provi13 sions of the consent decree or consent agree14 ment; and 

15 (B) fostering transparency in the adminis16 tration and personnel of the law enforcement 

17 agency; and 

18 (3) has the authority to— 

19 (A) ask questions of the law enforcement 

20 agency; 

21 (B) obtain documents, data, and informa22 tion from the law enforcement agency; and 

23 (C) make recommendations— 


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1 (i) for modifications to the provisions 

2 of the consent decree or consent agree3 ment, as necessary; and 

4 (ii) to the law enforcement agency or 

5 governmental officials overseeing the agen6 cy about changes in policing services. 

7 SEC. 3. FUNDING FOR PATTERN OR PRACTICE INVESTIGA8 TIONS. 

9 (a) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.—There are authorized to 

10 be appropriated, in addition to any other amounts author11 ized, $445,000,000 to the Civil Rights Division of the De12 partment of Justice for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

13 2030, of which not less than $100,000,000 shall be made 

14 available each fiscal year for enforcement and technical 

15 assistance under section 210401 of the Violent Crime Con16 trol and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 

17 12601). 

18 (b) UNLAWFUL CONDUCT.—Section 210401(a) of 

19 the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 

20 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601(a)) is amended by inserting ‘‘in21 cluding a prosecutor, court, or other agency involved in 

22 the administration of justice,’’ before ‘‘to engage’’. 

23 (c) AUTHORITY FOR STATE INVESTIGATIONS.—Sec24 tion 210401(b) of the Violent Crime Control and Law EnVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:44 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3732.IH H3732

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1 forcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601(b)) is amend2 ed— 

3 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1) FEDERAL ENFORCE4 MENT.—’’ before ‘‘Whenever’’; 

5 (2) in paragraph (1), as so designated, by strik6 ing ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)’’; 

7 and 

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

9 ‘‘(2) STATE ENFORCEMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Whenever an attorney 

11 general of a State has reasonable cause to be12 lieve that a violation of subsection (a) has oc13 curred by a governmental authority, or agent 

14 thereof, of the State, including a prosecutor or 

15 other agency involved in the administration of 

16 justice, the attorney general, or another official 

17 or agency designated by a State, may in a civil 

18 action brought in any appropriate district court 

19 of the United States obtain appropriate equi20 table and declaratory relief to eliminate the pat21 tern or practice. 

22 ‘‘(B) PREVENTION OF CONFLICTS OF IN23 TEREST.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—No official or 

2 agency may be designated under subpara3 graph (A) if— 

4 ‘‘(I) upon such designation, the 

5 Attorney General determines there is 

6 reason to believe— 

7 ‘‘(aa) the official or agency 

8 would be unable to conduct an 

9 independent investigation; or 

10 ‘‘(bb) a conflict of interest 

11 between the official or agency 

12 and the jurisdiction under inves13 tigation exists; or 

14 ‘‘(II) the official is employed by 

15 or the agency is within, as the case 

16 may be, the jurisdiction under inves17 tigation. 

18 ‘‘(ii) INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATION

19 REQUIRED.—In the case of a jurisdiction 

20 under investigation that is a State-wide of21 fice, an independent organization that is 

22 unaffiliated with State or local government 

23 shall be designated under subparagraph 

24 (A). 


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1 ‘‘(C) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The At2 torney General shall provide technical assist3 ance and training to States and units of local 

4 government to assist States and units of local 

5 governments in carrying out pattern or practice 

6 investigations and cases. 

7 ‘‘(D) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

8 in this paragraph shall be construed to preclude 

9 a Federal investigation or other enforcement 

10 under this section during the course of a State11 led investigation or claim.’’. 

12 (d) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

13 (1) STATE DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 

14 term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several States, the 

15 District of Columbia, and each commonwealth, terri16 tory, or possession of the United States. 

17 (2) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General 

18 may award grants to States to assist such States in 

19 pursuing pattern or practice investigations and cases 

20 under section 210401 of the Violent Crime Control 

21 and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 

22 12601). 

23 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant awarded under 

24 this subsection may be used by a State to— 


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1 (A) conduct pattern or practice investiga2 tions and cases under section 210401 of the 

3 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement 

4 Act of 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601); 

5 (B) implement and enforce law enforce6 ment reforms to address patterns and practices 

7 identified under such section 210401; and 

8 (C) develop non-law enforcement programs 

9 that reduce dependence on law enforcement 

10 agencies, such as funding social workers or be11 havioral health crisis experts. 

12 (4) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

13 grant under this subsection, a State shall submit an 

14 application to the Attorney General that— 

15 (A) contains clearly defined and measur16 able objectives for the grant funds; 

17 (B) describes how the State intends to use 

18 the grant funds to pursue, implement, and en19 force pattern or practice investigations and 

20 cases under section 210401 of the Violent 

21 Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 

22 1994 (34 U.S.C. 12601); 

23 (C) outlines the qualifications and training 

24 of the attorneys, staff, and other personnel who 

25 are, or who may be, assigned to lead or assist 


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1 pattern or practice investigations and cases; 

2 and 

3 (D) demonstrates how the State will rem4 edy patterns or practices of unlawful law en5 forcement conduct through the creation of com6 munity-based programs designed to address un7 derlying challenges leading to law enforcement 

8 interaction. 

9 (5) REQUIRED REPORTING.— 

10 (A) GRANTEE REPORTING.—In each fiscal 

11 year a State receives a grant under this sub12 section, the State shall submit to the Attorney 

13 General a report detailing— 

14 (i) how the grant funds were used; 

15 and 

16 (ii) the progress made towards ad17 dressing patterns and practices identified 

18 under section 210401 of the Violent Crime 

19 Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 

20 (34 U.S.C. 12601). 

21 (B) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

22 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

23 Act, and once each year thereafter, the Attor24 ney General shall submit to the Committee on 

25 the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee 


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1 on the Judiciary of the House of Representa2 tives a report on the grant program established 

3 under this subsection, which shall include— 

4 (i) a detailed summary of how grant 

5 funds awarded under the grant program 

6 were used; and 

7 (ii) recommendations, if any, for im8 provements needed for the grant program. 

9 (6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 There are authorized to be appropriated to the At11 torney General $150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

12 2021 through 2030 to carry out this subsection. 

Æ 


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