I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9628 
To prohibit a Federal law enforcement officer from using lethal force or 
less lethal force unless such force is necessary, to encourage States 
to adopt similar laws or policies, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 20, 2022 
Mr. KHANNA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To prohibit a Federal law enforcement officer from using 
lethal force or less lethal force unless such force is nec-
essary, to encourage States to adopt similar laws or 
policies, 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 ‘‘Police Exercising Ab-
solute Care with Everyone Act of 2022’’ or the ‘‘PEACE 
Act of 2022’’. 
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SEC. 2. USE OF FORCE BY FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT 
OFFICERS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) 
DEESCALATION
TACTICS
AND
TECH-
NIQUES.—The term ‘‘deescalation tactics and tech-
niques’’ means proactive actions and approaches 
used by a Federal law enforcement officer to sta-
bilize a situation, taking as much time as appro-
priate, without using physical force or the threat of 
physical force, so that more options and resources 
are available to gain the voluntary compliance of an 
individual and reduce or eliminate the need to use 
force, including verbal persuasion, warnings, tactical 
techniques, slowing down the pace of an incident, 
waiting out a subject, creating distance between the 
officer and the threat, and requesting additional re-
sources to resolve an incident. 
(2) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.— 
The term ‘‘Federal law enforcement officer’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 115 of title 18, 
United States Code. 
(3) IMMINENT THREAT.—The term ‘‘imminent 
threat’’— 
(A) means— 
(i) an individual creating a risk of 
harm to others with the present ability, op-
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the benefit to be gained through achieving the direct 
and legitimate law enforcement objective. 
(7) REASONABLE
ALTERNATIVES.—The term 
‘‘reasonable alternatives’’ means tactics and methods 
used by a Federal law enforcement officer to effec-
tuate an arrest that do not unreasonably increase 
the risk posed to the law enforcement officer or an-
other individual, including verbal communication, 
distance, warnings, deescalation tactics and tech-
niques, tactical repositioning, and other tactics and 
techniques intended to stabilize a situation and re-
duce the immediacy of a risk so that more time, op-
tions, and resources can be called upon to resolve a 
situation without the use of force. 
(8) TOTALITY OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES.—The 
term ‘‘totality of the circumstances’’ means all cred-
ible facts known to the Federal law enforcement offi-
cer leading up to and at the time of the use of force, 
including the actions of the individual against whom 
the Federal law enforcement officer uses such force 
and the actions of the Federal law enforcement offi-
cer. 
(b) PROHIBITION ON LESS LETHAL FORCE.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—A Federal law enforcement 
officer may not use any less lethal force unless such 
force— 
(A) is the least amount of force that is 
necessary and proportional— 
(i) in order to prevent an imminent 
threat of physical injury to the Federal law 
enforcement officer or another individual; 
or 
(ii) to effectuate an arrest of an indi-
vidual whom the Federal law enforcement 
officer has probable cause to believe has 
committed a criminal offense; and 
(B) is used only after available and reason-
able alternatives to the use of less lethal force 
have been exhausted. 
(2) REQUIREMENT TO REDUCE AND CEASE THE 
USE OF FORCE.—With respect to the use of any less 
lethal force, a Federal law enforcement officer 
shall— 
(A) immediately reduce such force as the 
threat diminishes; and 
(B) cease the use of such force as soon 
as— 
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(i) the individual on whom the force is 
used is under the control of the Federal 
law enforcement officer or no longer poses 
a threat of physical injury to another indi-
vidual; or 
(ii) the Federal law enforcement offi-
cer determines that force will no longer ac-
complish, or is no longer necessary to ac-
complish, a legitimate law enforcement ob-
jective. 
(c) PROHIBITION ON USE OF LETHAL FORCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A Federal law enforcement 
officer may not use lethal force against an individual 
unless— 
(A) such force is necessary and propor-
tional as a last resort to prevent imminent and 
serious bodily injury or death to the Federal 
law enforcement officer or another individual; 
(B) the use of such force creates no sub-
stantial risk of injury to a third person; and 
(C) the available and reasonable alter-
natives to the use of such force have been ex-
hausted. 
(2) CLARIFICATION.—A Federal law enforce-
ment officer may not use lethal force against an in-
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dividual who poses a danger only to himself or her-
self. 
(d) REQUIREMENT TO GIVE VERBAL WARNING.— 
When feasible, prior to using force against an individual, 
a Federal law enforcement officer shall identify himself or 
herself as a Federal law enforcement officer and issue a 
verbal warning to the individual that the Federal law en-
forcement officer seeks to apprehend, which shall— 
(1) include a request that the individual sur-
render to the law enforcement officer; and 
(2) notify the individual that the law enforce-
ment officer may use force against the individual if 
the individual resists arrest or flees. 
(e) GUIDANCE ON USE OF FORCE.—Not later than 
120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the At-
torney General, in consultation with impacted individuals, 
communities, and organizations, including representatives 
of civil and human rights organizations, victims of law en-
forcement officer use of force, and representatives of law 
enforcement associations, shall provide guidance to Fed-
eral law enforcement agencies— 
(1) on the types of less lethal force and lethal 
force that are prohibited under subsections (b) and 
(c); 
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(2) on how a Federal law enforcement officer 
can assess whether the use of force is appropriate 
and necessary; and 
(3) which shall account for special consideration 
when interacting with— 
(A) pregnant individuals; 
(B) children and youth under 21 years of 
age; 
(C) elderly individuals; 
(D) physically frail individuals; 
(E) individuals with mental, behavioral, or 
physical disabilities or impairments; 
(F) individuals experiencing perceptual or 
cognitive impairments due to use of alcohol, 
narcotics, hallucinogens, or other drugs; 
(G) individuals suffering from a serious 
medical condition; and 
(H) individuals with limited English pro-
ficiency. 
(f) LIMITATION ON JUSTIFICATION DEFENSE.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Chapter 51 of title 18, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
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‘‘§ 1123. Limitation on justification defense for Fed-
eral law enforcement officers. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.— 
The term ‘Federal law enforcement officer’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 115. 
‘‘(2) LESS LETHAL FORCE.—The term ‘less le-
thal force’ means any force that is less than lethal 
force. 
‘‘(3) LETHAL FORCE.—The term ‘lethal force’ 
means any force that creates a substantial risk of 
causing death or serious bodily injury, including— 
‘‘(A) the discharge of a firearm; 
‘‘(B) a maneuver that restricts blood or ox-
ygen flow to the brain, including chokeholds, 
strangleholds, neck restraints, neck-holds, and 
carotid artery restraints; and 
‘‘(C) the use of a weapon of less lethal 
force in a manner that creates a substantial 
risk of death or serious bodily injury, including 
repeated or prolonged discharges of an elec-
tronic control weapon and firing a kinetic im-
pact projectile weapon at the head of an indi-
vidual. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FORCE.—It is not a defense to an of-
fense under section 1111 or 1112 that the use of less le-
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