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. 
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 ‘‘American Body-worn 
Camera Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘ABC Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. BODY-WORN CAMERA PARTNERSHIP GRANT PRO-
GRAM. 
Subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 509. BODY-WORN CAMERA PARTNERSHIP GRANT 
PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘covered government’ means a 
State or unit of local government; and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘Director’ means the Director of 
the Bureau of Justice Assistance. 
‘‘(b) AUTHORIZATION
OF GRANTS.—The Director 
may make grants to eligible covered governments for use 
by the covered government for— 
‘‘(1) the purchase of body-worn cameras or 
other audio-video technology that is utilized to 
record interactions between law enforcement and the 
public; 
‘‘(2) necessary initial supportive technological 
infrastructure for body-worn cameras or other tech-
nologies for law enforcement officers in the jurisdic-
tion of the grantee; 
‘‘(3) the development of policies and procedures 
relating to the use of body-worn cameras or other 
technologies; 
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‘‘(4) training on the use of body-worn cameras 
or other technologies; and 
‘‘(5) the storage, retention, viewing, auditing, 
and release of footage from body-worn cameras or 
other technologies. 
‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.— 
‘‘(1) APPLICATION.—For a covered government 
to be eligible to receive a grant under this section, 
the chief executive officer of the covered government 
shall submit to the Director an application in such 
form and containing such information as the Direc-
tor may require. 
‘‘(2) 
POLICIES
AND
PROCEDURES
ASSUR-
ANCES.—The application under paragraph (1) shall, 
as required by the Director, provide assurances that 
the covered government will establish policies and 
procedures in accordance with subsection (d). 
‘‘(d) REQUIRED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A covered government re-
ceiving a grant under this section shall develop poli-
cies and procedures related to the use of body-worn 
cameras or other technologies that— 
‘‘(A) are developed with input from law en-
forcement officers who are not supervisors, or 
the representatives of such officers; 
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‘‘(B) are developed with community input, 
including from prosecutors and organizations 
representing crime victims, in accordance with 
recognized best practices; 
‘‘(C) require that a body-worn camera or 
other technologies be activated when a law en-
forcement officer arrests or detains any person 
in the course of the official duties of the officer, 
with consideration to sensitive cases; 
‘‘(D) apply discipline to any law enforce-
ment officer who intentionally fails to ensure 
that a body-worn camera or other technology is 
engaged, functional, and properly secured at all 
times during which the camera is required to be 
worn; 
‘‘(E) require training for— 
‘‘(i) the proper use of body-worn cam-
eras or other technologies; and 
‘‘(ii) the handling and use of the ob-
tained video and audio recordings; 
‘‘(F) provide clear standards for privacy, 
data retention, and use for evidentiary purposes 
in a criminal proceeding, including in the case 
of an assault on a law enforcement officer; and 
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‘‘(G) make footage available to the public 
in response to a valid request under an applica-
ble freedom of information law if the footage 
can be made available— 
‘‘(i) without compromising an ongoing 
investigation or revealing the identity of 
third parties, including victims, inform-
ants, or witnesses; and 
‘‘(ii) with consideration given to the 
rights of victims and surviving family 
members. 
‘‘(2) PUBLICATION.—A covered government re-
ceiving a grant under this section shall make all 
policies and procedures regarding body-worn cam-
eras or other technologies available on a public 
website. 
‘‘(3) GUIDANCE.—The Director shall issue 
guidance to covered governments related to the re-
quirements under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(e) GRANT AMOUNTS.— 
‘‘(1) MINIMUM AMOUNT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each fiscal year, un-
less the Director has awarded a fully funded 
grant for each eligible application submitted by 
a State and any units of local government with-
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in the State under this section for the fiscal 
year, the Director shall allocate to the State 
and units of local government within the State 
for grants under this section an aggregate 
amount that is not less than 0.5 percent of the 
total amount appropriated for the fiscal year 
for grants under this section. 
‘‘(B) CERTAIN
TERRITORIES.—For pur-
poses of the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, 
Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands, sub-
paragraph (A) shall be applied by substituting 
‘0.25 percent’ for ‘0.5 percent’. 
‘‘(2) AGGREGATE
AMOUNT
PER
STATE.—A 
State and each covered government within the State 
may not receive grants under this section for a fiscal 
year in an aggregate amount that is more than 10 
percent of the total amount appropriated for grants 
under this section for the fiscal year. 
‘‘(3) ALLOCATION.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), of funds available in any fis-
cal year— 
‘‘(i) not more than 40 percent shall be 
allocated for grants pursuant to applica-
tions submitted by a covered government 
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having jurisdiction over areas with popu-
lations exceeding 150,000; 
‘‘(ii) not more than 30 percent shall 
be allocated for grants pursuant to applica-
tions submitted by a covered government 
having jurisdiction over areas with popu-
lations of 150,000 or less, but exceeding 
50,000; and 
‘‘(iii) not more than 30 percent shall 
be allocated for grants pursuant to applica-
tions submitted by a covered government 
having jurisdiction over areas with popu-
lations of 50,000 or less. 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—In the case that all eli-
gible grant applications have been funded for a 
fiscal in an allocation category under clauses (i) 
through (iii) of subparagraph (A) and there are 
funds remaining under that allocation category, 
the Director may make such funds available to 
applicants described in the remaining allocation 
categories. 
‘‘(f) MATCHING FUNDS.—The portion of the costs of 
a body-worn camera program provided by a grant under 
this section may not exceed 75 percent. 
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