tion with law enforcement accreditation organiza-
tions and the mental health experts at such facility. 
(4) PLAN
ON
COMMUNITY
PARTNERSHIPS.— 
The Secretary shall ensure that each police force of 
a facility of the Department develops a plan to enter 
into partnerships with— 
(A) local community mental health organi-
zations and experts, local community veterans 
organizations, and local community criminal 
justice organizations and experts; and 
(B) local police departments, including by 
facilitating the sharing of training resources 
with crisis intervention teams of the local police 
departments. 
(5) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 
of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 
report on the improved training under paragraph 
(1), including— 
(A) a description of the curriculum of such 
training; 
(B) with respect to the year preceding the 
date of the report— 
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(i) the number of facilities of the De-
partment that conducted such training; 
(ii) the number of Department police 
officers who received such training; and 
(iii) any barriers to ensuring that 
each Department police officer receives 
such training; 
(C) any recommendations to address the 
barriers identified under subparagraph (B)(iii); 
and 
(D) the number of facilities of the Depart-
ment that have established partnerships under 
paragraph (3). 
(c) USE OF BODY CAMERAS BY DEPARTMENT PO-
LICE OFFICERS.— 
(1) REQUIREMENT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Department police offi-
cers shall wear a body camera that— 
(i) has a field of view at least as 
broad as the officer’s vision; and 
(ii) is worn in a manner that maxi-
mizes the camera’s ability to capture video 
footage of the officer’s activities. 
(B) ACTIVATION.—Both the video and 
audio recording functions of the body camera 
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shall be activated whenever a Department police 
officer is responding to a call for service or at 
the initiation of any other law enforcement or 
investigative stop between a Department police 
officer and a member of the public, except that 
when an immediate threat to the officer’s life or 
safety makes activating the camera impossible 
or dangerous, or in instances relating to health 
care privacy pursuant to paragraph (2)(C)(iv), 
the officer shall activate the camera at the first 
reasonable opportunity to do so. 
(C) EXCEPTION.—The body camera shall 
not be deactivated until the stop has fully con-
cluded and the Department police officer leaves 
the scene. 
(D) LAW
ENFORCEMENT
OR
INVESTIGA-
TIVE STOP DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the 
term ‘‘law enforcement or investigative stop’’ 
means an action by a Department police officer 
in relation to enforcement and investigation du-
ties, including traffic stops, pedestrian stops, 
abandoned vehicle contacts, requests for identi-
fication, or responses to requests for emergency 
assistance. 
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(2) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall issue, and 
make publicly available, guidance on the use of body 
cameras by Department police officers. The Sec-
retary shall ensure that such guidance— 
(A) requires that Department police offi-
cers wear and use body cameras pursuant to 
paragraph (1); 
(B) is consistent with upholding the civil 
rights and the privacy of patients of medical fa-
cilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 
the public, and employees of the Department; 
and 
(C) describes the policies and procedures of 
the Department with respect to such use of 
body cameras, including with respect to— 
(i) the safe and effective use of body 
cameras and the resulting imagery, includ-
ing operational issues such as when a body 
camera is activated and deactivated; 
(ii) the secure storage, handling, and 
destruction of recorded data collected by a 
body camera; 
(iii) the retention of recorded data col-
lected by a body camera; 
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(iv) protecting the privacy rights of an 
individual who may be recorded by a body 
camera, including with respect to instances 
of an individual being treated in a medical 
facility of the Department or in other in-
stances requiring health care privacy; 
(v) release of, and access to, any re-
corded data collected by a body camera, in 
accordance with relevant open-records laws 
of the State in which the body camera is 
used; and 
(vi) making recorded data collected by 
a body camera available to prosecutors, de-
fense attorneys, and other officers of a 
court. 
(3) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall issue 
the guidance under paragraph (2) in consultation 
with veterans service organizations, civil rights orga-
nizations, law enforcement organizations, law en-
forcement accreditation organizations, privacy rights 
organizations, and other relevant organizations or 
experts. 
(4) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 
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of the House of Representatives and the Senate a 
report containing the following: 
(A) A review of past and current use of 
body cameras by Department police officers. 
(B) A description of the implementation of 
this subsection. 
(C) The guidance issued under paragraph 
(2). 
(D) A review of the use of security cam-
eras at facilities of the Department, including 
an analysis of— 
(i) the number of such cameras that 
are operational and the number that are 
not operational; 
(ii) the number of employees and con-
tractors of the Department who operate 
and maintain the security of such cameras; 
and 
(iii) the number of such employees 
and contractors that is necessary to ensure 
that such cameras are properly operated 
and maintained to ensure that such facili-
ties are observed. 
(d) REPORT ON STAFFING, TRAINING, AND DATA 
SYSTEMS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
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lice units, such as police units at medical facili-
ties and other police units in the region. 
(2) A discussion with respect to developing a 
plan for improving police data systems and Depart-
ment-wide systems for tracking and analyzing inci-
dents, arrests, ticketing, prosecutions, and occur-
rences of the use of force. 
(e) DEPARTMENT POLICE OFFICER DEFINED.—In 
this section, the term ‘‘Department police officer’’ means 
an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs de-
scribed in section 902(a) of title 38, United States Code. 
Æ 
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