I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7252 
To provide for research to examine law enforcement policies and practices, 
including the causes, consequences, and mitigation of excessive use of 
force, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 18, 2020 
Ms. JOHNSON of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the 
Committees on Homeland Security, and the Judiciary, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To provide for research to examine law enforcement policies 
and practices, including the causes, consequences, and 
mitigation of excessive use of force, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Promoting Fair and 
Effective Policing Through Research Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Despite the pivotal role police officers play 
in preventing and controlling crime, there are sig-
nificant gaps in research on the fairness and efficacy 
of policing policies and practices, including those re-
lated to use of force. 
(2) The lack of accurate and comprehensive 
data on police use of force is often cited as one of 
the most significant barriers to identifying and un-
derstanding patterns of police use of excessive force 
against civilians. 
(3) The best available evidence reveals in-
creased likelihood of police use of force against peo-
ple of color, people with disabilities, LGBT people, 
people with mental health conditions, people with 
low incomes, and those at the intersections of these 
groups. 
(4) Biases in advanced policing technologies, in-
cluding biometric identification systems, have the po-
tential to exacerbate such disparities. 
(5) Along with better data, more social and be-
havioral research is needed to improve our under-
standing of the potential factors that influence ex-
cessive use of force as well as the related psycho-
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logical and social effects of such incidents on individ-
uals and communities. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) COMMUNITY-BASED
ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘‘community-based organization’’ means a 
grassroots organization that monitors the issue of 
police misconduct and that has a national presence 
and membership, such as the National Association 
for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 
the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the 
National Council of La Raza, the National Urban 
League, the National Congress of American Indians, 
and the National Asian Pacific Legal Consortium 
(NAPALC). 
(2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 
(3) LAW
ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY.—The term 
‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means any Federal, 
State, or local public agency engaged in the preven-
tion, detection, or investigation of violations of crimi-
nal, immigration, or customs law. 
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(4) NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATION.—The term 
‘‘non-profit organization’’ means an organization de-
scribed in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 
501(a) of such code. 
(5) PROFESSIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ASSO-
CIATION.—The term ‘‘professional law enforcement 
association’’ means a law enforcement membership 
association that works for the needs of Federal, 
State, local, or Indian tribal law enforcement agen-
cies and with the civilian community on matters of 
common interest, such as the Hispanic Police Com-
mand Officers Association (HAPCOA), the National 
Asian Pacific Officers Association (NAPOA), the 
National Black Police Association (NBPA), the Na-
tional Organization of Black Law Enforcement Ex-
ecutives (NOBLE), Women in Law Enforcement, 
the Native American Law Enforcement Association 
(NALEA), the International Association of Chiefs of 
Police (IACP), the National Sheriffs’ Association 
(NFA), the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), and 
the National Association of School Resource Offi-
cers. 
SEC. 4. AGENCY ACTIVITIES. 
(a) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION.— 
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(1) RESEARCH.—The Director of the National 
Science Foundation shall award grants, on a com-
petitive basis, to institutions of higher education or 
nonprofit organizations (or consortia of such institu-
tions or organizations)— 
(A) to support social and behavioral re-
search on— 
(i) policies and practices of law en-
forcement agencies and related outcomes, 
including the use of data and technology 
by law enforcement agencies; 
(ii) the causes and consequences of 
police violence; 
(iii) interventions designed to mitigate 
police use of excessive force, including de- 
escalation training and advanced policing 
technologies; 
(iv) organizational configurations and 
personnel practices in law enforcement 
agencies, such as recruitment, training, 
oversight, performance standards, decision- 
making, methods of supervising officers, 
resource allocation, and the role of police 
leadership; and 
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(v) the role of cooperation among law 
enforcement agencies and the communities 
served by such agencies in reducing crime 
and ensuring community safety; and 
(B) to educate and train the next genera-
tion of researchers in areas of social and behav-
ioral sciences research relevant to policing poli-
cies and practices in democratic societies. 
(2) RESEARCHER-LAW
ENFORCEMENT
PART-
NERSHIPS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Director of the 
National Science Foundation shall carry out a 
program to award grants, on a competitive 
basis, to institutions of higher education or 
nonprofit organizations (or consortia of such in-
stitutions or organizations) to improve the fair-
ness and efficacy of policing policies and prac-
tices, including by reducing the incidence and 
mitigating the negative consequences of exces-
sive and lethal use of force by law enforcement. 
(B) PARTNERSHIPS.—In order to be eligi-
ble to receive a grant under this subsection, an 
institution of higher education or nonprofit or-
ganization (or consortia of such institutions or 
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organizations) shall enter into a partnership 
with— 
(i) one or more law enforcement agen-
cy; 
(ii) one or more community-based or-
ganization; or 
(iii) one or more professional law en-
forcement association. 
(C) ANNUAL MEETING.—The Director of 
the National Science Foundation, in consulta-
tion with the Attorney General of the United 
States, shall convene an annual meeting of the 
partnerships participating under this section to 
foster greater national collaboration. 
(3) NATIONAL ACADEMIES STUDY.—Not later 
than 45 days after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Director shall enter into an agreement with 
the Academies to conduct a study— 
(A) to review the research literature and 
identify research gaps related to policing poli-
cies and practices, including research into the 
causes, consequences, and mitigation of police 
violence; 
(B) to present a compendium of promising 
policing policies and practices, including those 
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shown to reduce the incidence and mitigate the 
negative consequences of police violence; 
(C) identify barriers to widespread and 
sustained implementation of such policies and 
practices; and 
(D) to make recommendations to the 
Foundation, the Department of Justice, law en-
forcement agencies, and other relevant stake-
holders on measures to address such barriers. 
(b) NATIONAL
INSTITUTE
OF
STANDARDS
AND 
TECHNOLOGY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce, 
acting through the Director of the National Institute 
of Standards and Technology, shall establish a pro-
gram to support measurement research to inform 
the development of best practices, benchmarks, 
methodologies, procedures, and voluntary consensus 
standards for biometric identification systems and 
other advanced policing tools to assess and improve 
fairness in such systems. In carrying out such pro-
gram, the Director shall— 
(A) conduct research to support efforts to 
improve biometric identification systems, includ-
ing in areas related to conformity assessment, 
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image interoperability, and capture device cer-
tification; 
(B) establish common definitions and char-
acterizations for biometric identification sys-
tems, including fairness, bias, validation, trans-
parency, safety, privacy, security, robustness, 
and other properties; 
(C) produce data sets that are curated, 
standardized, representative, secure, and pri-
vacy protected for biometric identification tech-
nology research, development, and use; 
(D) provide outreach, coordination, and 
technical support to relevant industry and non- 
industry stakeholders and standards develop-
ment organizations to assist such entities in the 
development of best practices and voluntary 
standards; and 
(E) develop such standard reference mate-
rial as the Director of the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology determines is appro-
priate to further the development of such stand-
ards. 
(2) BIOMETRICS VENDOR TEST PROGRAM.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 
through the Director of the National Institute 
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of Standards and Technology, shall carry out a 
test program to provide biometrics vendors the 
opportunity to test biometric identification tech-
nologies. 
(B) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the pro-
gram under subparagraph (A), the Director 
shall— 
(i) conduct research and testing to im-
prove and benchmark the accuracy, effi-
cacy, and fairness of biometric identifica-
tion systems, including research and test-
ing on demographic variations, capture de-
vices, presentation attack detection, tem-
plate 
protection, 
de-identification, 
and 
comparison of algorithm and human facial 
recognition capability; 
(ii) produce public-facing reports of 
the findings from such testing for a gen-
eral audience; 
(iii) in coordination with the Depart-
ment of Homeland Security, provide guid-
ance to law enforcement agencies to sup-
port decision-making with respect to acqui-
sition and implementation of biometric 
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identification systems and related tech-
nologies; and 
(iv) conduct such other activities as 
the Director of the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology determines ap-
propriate. 
(C) FUNDING.—To carry out this sub-
section, the Director of the National Institute 
of Standards and Technology may enter into 
contracts, including cooperative research and 
development arrangements, grants, cooperative 
agreements, and other transactions as the Di-
rector determines appropriate. 
(D) PARTNERSHIPS
WITH
OTHER
FED-
ERAL AGENCIES.—In addition to such sums as 
may be authorized to be appropriated or other-
wise made available to carry out this section, 
the Director my accept funds from other de-
partments and agencies of the Federal Govern-
ment, and from the State and local govern-
ments, to carry out the program under this sub-
section. 
(c) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 
Security, acting through the Under Secretary for 
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Science and Technology, in consultation with the 
Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, shall 
establish a program with the purpose of reducing ex-
cessive use of force and lethal use of force by law 
enforcement. 
(2) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out such pro-
gram, the Secretary shall— 
(A) support research and data analysis to 
improve training, policies, and practices to sup-
port development of guidelines and best prac-
tices for recruitment and training of law en-
forcement officials to reduce excessive use of 
force and mitigate racial bias in policing; 
(B) develop, test, and evaluate innovative 
tools or technologies to assist in risk assessment 
and provide law enforcement agencies with 
tools, restraints, and maneuvers that are non- 
lethal or less harmful than tools, restraints, and 
maneuvers used by such agencies; 
(C) provide the scientific basis for a na-
tional standard for police use of force contin-
uums; and 
(D) conduct outreach to Federal, State, 
local, and tribal law enforcement agencies, aca-
demia, researchers, practitioners, and trainers 
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to share information and disseminate guidelines 
and best practices. 
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There are authorized to be appropriated for each of 
fiscal years 2021 through 2026 to carry out the activities 
in this Act— 
(1) $10,000,000 to the Director of the National 
Science Foundation; 
(2) $2,000,000 to the Director of the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology; and 
(3) $2,000,000 to the Secretary of Homeland 
Security. 
Æ 
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