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. 
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 ‘‘Custodial Interroga-
tion Recording Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) According to the National Conference of 
Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, research 
has demonstrated that video recording of custodial 
interrogations furthers three important civic values: 
truth-finding, efficient and fair administration of 
justice, and protection of constitutional guarantees. 
See Richard A. Leo, Police Interrogation and Amer-
ican Justice 296–305 (2008); Thomas P. Sullivan, 
Recording Federal Custodial Interviews, 45 Am. 
Crim. L. Rev. 1297 (2008). 
(2) Video recording of the entire process of cus-
todial interrogation has proven to be a major ad-
vance in law enforcement, improving the ability to 
solve crimes and prove cases while lowering the over-
all costs of investigation and litigation. 
(3) Video recording of custodial interrogations 
promotes truth-finding in several ways, including by 
reducing the incentive to fabricate, compensating for 
faulty or unreliable recollections of witnesses, deter-
ring problematic interrogation methods, filtering out 
weak cases, and enhancing the ability of finders of 
fact to assess witness credibility and veracity. 
(4) Video recording of custodial interrogations 
promotes efficiency in the administration of the 
criminal justice system by reducing the number of 
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frivolous suppression motions, improving the quality 
of police investigations, improving the quality of re-
view and case screening by prosecutors, and reduc-
ing the likelihood of hung juries. 
(5) Video recording of custodial interrogations 
safeguards constitutional rights and values by mak-
ing it easier for courts to adjudicate motions to sup-
press, by making it easier for prosecutors to pre-
serve and disclose material exculpatory evidence re-
quired under the Supreme Court decision in Brady 
v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), by making it easi-
er for superiors to train police officers in how to 
comply with constitutional mandates and for the 
press, and by making it easier for the press, the ju-
diciary, prosecutors, independent watchdog groups, 
and police administrators to identify and correct 
misuses of power by law enforcement. 
(6) Video recordings of custodial interrogations 
make it easier to identify and avoid biases, which 
would otherwise be difficult to detect and correct be-
cause such biases are often unconscious, thus oper-
ating outside police awareness. 
(7) Video recordings of custodial interrogations 
help to improve public confidence in the fairness and 
professionalism of policing, which in a democracy 
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not only is a good in itself but also a proven means 
of reducing crime and enhancing citizen cooperation 
in solving crimes. 
(8) Video recording of the entire process of cus-
todial interrogation is likely to be a major boon to 
law enforcement, improving its ability to prove its 
cases while lowering overall costs of investigation 
and litigation. Such recording will also, however, im-
prove systemic accuracy, fairness to the accused and 
the State alike, protection of constitutional rights, 
and public confidence in the justice system. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENT. 
Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3711) is amended— 
(1) in section 1001(a), by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(27) There are authorized to be appropriated 
to carry out part LL such sums as may be necessary 
for each of the first 5 fiscal years beginning after 
the date of the enactment of such part.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘PART LL—CUSTODIAL INTERROGATION VIDEO 
RECORDING GRANTS 
‘‘SEC. 3021. CUSTODIAL INTERROGATION VIDEO RECORD-
ING GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Attorney General shall 
make grants to States and units of local government to 
take whatever steps the Attorney General determines to 
be necessary to achieve the complete and accurate record-
ing, by both audio and video means, of every custodial in-
terrogation occurring within the State or unit of local gov-
ernment. 
‘‘(b) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The portion of the 
costs of a program funded by a grant under this section 
may not exceed 75 percent. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF CUSTODIAL INTERROGATION.— 
In this section, the term ‘custodial interrogation’ means 
questioning or other conduct by a law enforcement officer 
which is reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating re-
sponse from an individual and occurs when reasonable in-
dividuals in the same circumstances would consider them-
selves in custody.’’. 
Æ 
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