I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 306 
To require the Attorney General to issue rules pertaining to the collection 
and compilation of data on the use of deadly force by law enforcement 
officers. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 13, 2015 
Mr. COHEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To require the Attorney General to issue rules pertaining 
to the collection and compilation of data on the use 
of deadly force by law enforcement officers. 
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 ‘‘National Statistics on 
Deadly Force Transparency Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. ATTORNEY GENERAL TO ISSUE REGULATIONS. 
(a) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 6 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, 
in consultation with stakeholders, including Federal, 
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State, and local law enforcement agencies and community, 
professional, research, and civil rights organizations, shall 
issue regulations for the collection and compilation of data 
pertaining to the use of deadly force by Federal, State, 
or local law enforcement officers. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations issued under 
subsection (a) shall— 
(1) require the collection of data on all in-
stances wherein deadly force was used by a Federal, 
State, or local law enforcement officer; 
(2) require that the data collected shall— 
(A) include identifying characteristics of 
the person who was the target of the use of 
deadly force and the officer who used deadly 
force, including— 
(i) race or ethnicity; 
(ii) gender; 
(iii) approximate age; and 
(iv) the actual or perceived religious 
affiliation; 
(B) include the date, time, and location of 
such use of deadly force; 
(C) include the alleged criminal activity of 
the person who was the target of the use of 
deadly force; 
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(D) include the nature of the deadly force 
used, including the use of a firearm; 
(E) include an explanation, if any, from 
the relevant law enforcement agency on why 
deadly force was used; 
(F) include a copy of any use of deadly 
force guidelines in effect at the relevant law en-
forcement agency at the time deadly force was 
used; 
(G) include a description of any non-lethal 
efforts employed to apprehend or subdue the 
person who was the target of the use of deadly 
force before deadly force was used; and 
(H) not include personally identifiable in-
formation described in section 4; 
(3) provide that a standardized form shall be 
made available to law enforcement agencies for the 
submission of data collected pursuant to this Act to 
the Department of Justice; 
(4) require that law enforcement agencies com-
pile data using the standardized form made available 
under paragraph (3), and submit the form to the 
Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics 
and any other component of the Department of Jus-
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tice that the Attorney General determines appro-
priate; and 
(5) require that law enforcement agencies shall 
maintain all data collected under this Act for not 
less than 4 years. 
SEC. 3. DUTIES OF THE BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS. 
The Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statis-
tics shall provide to Congress and make available to the 
public the data collected pursuant to this Act, excluding 
any personally identifiable information described in section 
4. 
SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS ON PUBLICATION OF DATA. 
The name or identifying information of a law enforce-
ment officer, person who was the target of the use of dead-
ly force, or any other individual involved in any activity 
for which data is collected and compiled under this Act 
shall not be— 
(1) released to the public; 
(2) disclosed to any person, except for— 
(A) such disclosures as are necessary to 
comply with this Act; 
(B) disclosures of information regarding a 
particular person to that person; or 
(C) disclosures pursuant to litigation; or 
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(3) subject to disclosure under section 552 of 
title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 
Freedom of Information Act), except for disclosures 
of information regarding a particular person to that 
person. 
SEC. 5. BYRNE JAG GRANT REDUCED FOR FAILURE TO RE-
PORT. 
In the case of a State or unit of local government 
that received a grant award under subpart 1 of part E 
of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.), if that State or 
unit of local government fails substantially to comply with 
the requirement under section 2 for a fiscal year, the At-
torney General shall reduce the amount that would other-
wise be awarded to that State or unit of local government 
under such grant program in the following fiscal year by 
10 percent. 
Æ 
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