I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5768 
To direct the Attorney General to establish a grant program to establish, 
create, and administer the violent incident clearance and technology in-
vestigative method, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 28, 2021 
Mrs. DEMINGS (for herself, Mrs. AXNE, Mr. EVANS, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, 
Mrs. MCBATH, and Mr. O’HALLERAN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To direct the Attorney General to establish a grant program 
to establish, create, and administer the violent incident 
clearance and technology investigative method, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Violent Incident Clear-
ance and Technological Investigative Methods Act of 
2021’’ or the ‘‘VICTIM Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Research indicates that law enforcement 
agencies can impact clearance rates by improving in-
vestigative processes, detective effort, and organiza-
tional oversight and supervision of investigations. 
(2) Law enforcement agencies that demonstrate 
higher rates of clearance for homicides and non-fatal 
shootings— 
(A) have more structured oversight and 
formal interactions between investigative units 
and agency leadership; 
(B) are more likely to have investigative 
units that have good relationships with other 
units and that share information well with 
other units; 
(C) have investigative units that have spe-
cific goals and performance metrics for both the 
unit and for investigators within that unit; tend 
to assign most, if not all, serious crimes to an 
investigator, at least for preliminary review; 
(D) have investigators who more frequently 
respond to the initial crime scene shortly after 
crimes have been reported; 
(E) have investigators who either have (or 
are required to have) specialized experience be-
fore joining investigative units or are expected 
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to be trained on specific skills once they join 
those units; 
(F) often have standard operating proce-
dures for investigations, where cases are man-
aged carefully and have requirements for com-
pletion; 
(G) tend to support their investigative 
units, both in terms of resources, as well as 
symbolically; and 
(H) have better relationships with their 
community, even if no specific community-ori-
ented campaign or initiative exists between in-
vestigative units and community groups. 
(3) Criminal justice agencies should collaborate 
among each other and share best practices for solv-
ing homicides and non-fatal shootings. 
(4) A comprehensive community engagement 
strategy concerning gun violence is essential to im-
prove clearance rates for homicides and non-fatal 
shootings. 
SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM WITH RESPECT TO VIOLENT INCI-
DENT CLEARANCE AND TECHNOLOGICAL IN-
VESTIGATIVE METHODS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 
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shall establish a grant program (in this Act referred to 
as the ‘‘Program’’) within the Office of Justice Programs 
to establish, implement, and administer violent incident 
clearance and technological investigative methods. 
(b) GRANT AUTHORITY.—In carrying out the Pro-
gram, the Attorney General may award a grant to an eligi-
ble recipient that submits an application for the Program. 
(c) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—Grants awarded under 
the Program shall be awarded to a State, Tribal, or local 
law enforcement agency or prosecuting office, or a group 
of agencies or offices, and may be used for an eligible 
project under subsection (e). 
(d) APPLICATIONS.—A law enforcement agency ap-
plying to receive a grant under the Program shall submit 
to the Attorney General an application at such time, in 
such manner, and containing or accompanied by such in-
formation as the Attorney General may reasonably re-
quire. 
(e) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—Grant funds awarded 
under the Program shall be used to improve clearance 
rates for homicides and non-fatal shootings by— 
(1) ensuring the retention of detectives cur-
rently assigned to investigate homicides and non- 
fatal shootings; 
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(2) hiring additional detectives to investigate 
homicides and non-fatal shootings; 
(3) training detectives in policies and proce-
dures determined to improve detectives’ ability to ef-
fectively investigate and solve homicides and non- 
fatal shootings; 
(4) training police personnel to address the 
needs of victims and family members from homicides 
and non-fatal shootings; 
(5) hiring additional patrol officers to replace 
officers who have been transferred to detective; 
(6) acquiring, upgrading, or replacing investiga-
tive or evidence processing technology or equipment; 
(7) hiring additional evidence processing per-
sonnel; 
(8) ensuring personnel responsible for evidence 
processing have sufficient resources and training; 
(9) hiring and training of personnel to analyze 
violent crime, specifically with regards to the use of 
intelligence information of criminal networks and the 
potential for retaliation among gangs or groups, and 
the geographic trends among homicides and shoot-
ings; 
(10) ensuring victim services and personnel are 
sufficiently funded, staffed, and trained; 
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(11) ensuring victims and family members of 
homicides and non-fatal shootings have access to re-
sources, including— 
(A) convenient mental health treatment 
and grief counseling; 
(B) funeral and burial expenses; 
(C) relocation expenses; 
(D) emergency shelter; 
(E) emergency transportation; and 
(F) lost wage assistance; 
(12) developing competitive and evidence-based 
programs to improve homicide and non-fatal shoot-
ing clearance rates; or 
(13) developing best practices for improving ac-
cess to and acceptance of victim services, including 
those that promote medical and psychological 
wellness, ongoing counseling, legal advice, and finan-
cial compensation. 
(f) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 
of a project assisted with a grant under the Program shall 
not exceed 100 percent if the grant is awarded on or be-
fore the date of December 31, 2032. The Federal share 
of the cost of a project assisted with a grant under the 
Program shall not exceed 50 percent if such grant is 
awarded after December 31, 2032. 
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(g) REPORT BY ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—Not later 
than 365 days after receiving a grant under the Program, 
an eligible recipient shall submit to the Attorney General 
a report on the Program, including— 
(1) the number of homicide and non-fatal 
shooting detectives hired by the grantee; 
(2) the number of evidence processing personnel 
hired by the grantee; 
(3) any training provided to existing or newly 
hired homicide and non-fatal shooting detectives de-
signed to assist in the solving of crimes and improve 
clearance rates; 
(4) any new evidence processing technology or 
equipment or any upgrades to existing evidence tech-
nology or equipment; 
(5) any training provided to evidence processing 
personnel to improve outcomes and capacity; and 
(6) data regarding clearance rates for homicides 
and non-fatal shootings and crime trends from with-
in each jurisdiction in which grant funds were pro-
vided. 
(h) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE EVALUATION 
AND REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 
(1) EVALUATION.—Not later than two years 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 
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every two years thereafter, the National Institute of 
Justice shall conduct an evaluation of the practices 
deployed by grant recipients to identify policies and 
procedures that have successfully improved clearance 
rates for homicides and non-fatal shootings. 
(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 
days after completion of the evaluation under para-
graph (1), the Attorney General shall submit to Con-
gress a report including— 
(A) the results of the evaluation conducted 
by the National Institute of Justice; and 
(B) information reported by each eligible 
entity under subsection (i). 
(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated 
to 
carry 
out 
this 
Program 
$100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 
2032. 
(2) PERCENT FOR CERTAIN ELIGIBLE RECIPI-
ENTS.—10 percent of each appropriation made 
under paragraph (1) shall be awarded to a Tribal 
law enforcement agency or prosecuting office, or a 
group of such agencies or offices. 
(j) LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY DEFINED.—In this 
section, the term ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means a pub-
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lic agency charged with policing functions, including any 
of its component bureaus (such as governmental victim 
services programs or Village Public Safety Officers), in-
cluding those referred to in subparagraphs (B) and (C) 
of section 2(10) of the Indian Law Enforcement Reform 
Act (25 U.S.C. 2801(10)(B)(C)), as amended by section 
203(b) of the Indian Arts and Crafts Amendments (Public 
Law 111–211). 
Æ 
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