I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1188 
To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to 
authorize a grant program to assist State and local law enforcement 
agencies in purchasing body-worn cameras and securely storing and 
maintaining recorded data for law enforcement officers. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 11, 2025 
Mr. COHEN 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 authorize a grant program to assist 
State and local law enforcement agencies in purchasing 
body-worn cameras and securely storing and maintaining 
recorded data for 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 ‘‘Police Creating Ac-
countability by Making Effective Recording Available Act 
of 2025’’ or the ‘‘Police CAMERA Act of 2025’’. 
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SEC. 2. MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR LAW ENFORCE-
MENT BODY-WORN CAMERAS. 
Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘PART MM—MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR 
LAW ENFORCEMENT BODY-WORN CAMERAS 
AND RECORDED DATA 
‘‘SEC. 3031. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Bureau of 
Justice Assistance (in this section referred to as the ‘Di-
rector’) may make grants to States, units of local govern-
ment, and Indian Tribes to purchase or lease body-worn 
cameras for use by State, local, and Tribal law enforce-
ment officers (as defined in section 2503) and expenses 
related to the implementation of a body-worn camera pro-
gram in order to deter excessive force, improve account-
ability and transparency of use of force by law enforce-
ment officers, assist in responding to complaints against 
law enforcement officers, and improve evidence collection. 
‘‘(b) DURATION OF GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Grants awarded under this 
part shall be 2 years in duration. 
‘‘(2) DISBURSEMENT OF GRANT AMOUNT.—In 
disbursing a grant awarded to an entity under this 
section— 
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‘‘(A) upon awarding the grant to the enti-
ty, the Director shall disburse 50 percent of the 
total grant amount to the entity; and 
‘‘(B) upon demonstration by the entity of 
completion of the requirements in subsection 
(d)(1), the Director shall disburse the remain-
ing 50 percent of the total grant amount to the 
entity. 
‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under this 
section shall be— 
‘‘(1) distributed directly to the State, unit of 
local government, or Indian Tribe; and 
‘‘(2) used for— 
‘‘(A) the purchase or lease of body-worn 
cameras for law enforcement officers on patrol 
in the jurisdiction of the grantee; 
‘‘(B) any costs relating to the implementa-
tion of a body-worn camera program, including 
law enforcement officer training or the storage, 
maintenance, or security of recorded data col-
lected under a body-worn camera program; or 
‘‘(C) implementing policies or procedures 
to comply with the requirements described in 
subsection (d). 
‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall award a 
grant under this section to a State, unit of local gov-
ernment, or Indian Tribe requesting the grant that 
commits to— 
‘‘(A) establishing policies and procedures 
in accordance with the requirements described 
in paragraph (2) before law enforcement offi-
cers use of body-worn cameras; 
‘‘(B) adopting recorded data collection and 
retention protocols as described in paragraph 
(3) before law enforcement officers use of body- 
worn cameras; 
‘‘(C) making the policies and protocols de-
scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) available 
to the public; and 
‘‘(D) complying with the requirements for 
use of recorded data under paragraph (5). 
‘‘(2) REQUIRED POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.— 
An entity receiving a grant under this section 
shall— 
‘‘(A) develop with community input and 
publish for public view policies and protocols 
for— 
‘‘(i) the safe and effective use of body- 
worn cameras; 
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‘‘(ii) the secure storage, handling, and 
destruction of recorded data collected by 
body-worn cameras; 
‘‘(iii) protecting the privacy rights of 
any individual who may be recorded by a 
body-worn camera; 
‘‘(iv) protecting the constitutional 
rights of any individual on whom facial 
recognition technology is used; 
‘‘(v) limitations on the use of body- 
worn cameras in conjunction with facial 
recognition technology for instances, in-
cluding— 
‘‘(I) the use of facial recognition 
technology only with judicial author-
ization; 
‘‘(II) the use of facial recognition 
technology only for imminent threats 
or serious crimes; and 
‘‘(III) the use of facial recogni-
tion 
technology 
with 
double 
verification of identified faces; 
‘‘(vi) the release of any recorded data 
collected by a body-worn camera in accord-
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ance with the open records laws, if any, of 
the State; and 
‘‘(vii) making recorded data available 
to prosecutors, defense attorneys, and 
other officers of the court in accordance 
with paragraph (5); and 
‘‘(B) conduct periodic evaluations of the 
security of the storage and handling of the 
body-worn camera data. 
‘‘(3) RECORDED
DATA
COLLECTION
AND
RE-
TENTION PROTOCOL.—The recorded data collection 
and retention protocol described in this paragraph is 
a protocol that— 
‘‘(A) requires— 
‘‘(i) a law enforcement officer who is 
wearing a body-mounted camera to provide 
an explanation if an activity that is re-
quired to be recorded by the body-mounted 
camera is not recorded; 
‘‘(ii) a law enforcement officer who is 
wearing a body-mounted camera to obtain 
consent to be recorded from a crime victim 
or witness before interviewing the victim or 
witness; 
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