Cost of Police Misconduct Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.1481 | Sponsor: Rep. Beyer, Donald S., Jr. (D-VA)
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Cost of Police Misconduct Act of 2021
This bill establishes a framework to collect and publish data on allegations of misconduct by law enforcement officers at the federal, state, and local levels.
Specifically, the bill requires federal law enforcement agencies to report data to the Department of Justice (DOJ) about allegations of misconduct by federal law enforcement officers and amounts paid as judgments or settlements with respect to the allegations. State and local law enforcement agencies must report substantially similar data to DOJ to receive a full allocation of funds under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program.
The bill directs DOJ to release annual summaries of the data and create and maintain an online database with the reported data. The bill also directs the Government Accountability Office to report on costs and other issues related to law enforcement misconduct.

To require Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies to report 
  information related to allegations of misconduct of law enforcement 
       officers to the Attorney General, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Cost of Police Misconduct Act of 
2021''.

SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

    (a) Identification Requirement.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall 
        identify--
                    (A) the total number of Federal law enforcement 
                agencies in the Federal Government; and
                    (B) the name of each Federal law enforcement agency 
                in the Federal Government.
            (2) Publication.--The Attorney General shall make publicly 
        available on the internet website of the Department of Justice 
        the information under paragraph (1), and update such 
        identification information on an annual basis.
    (b) Federal Law Enforcement Requirements.--
            (1) Data collection.--On and after the date that is 120 
        days after the date of the enactment of this Act, a Federal law 
        enforcement agency identified under subsection (a)(1) shall 
        collect the information described in paragraph (3) of this 
        subsection relating to allegations of misconduct by any Federal 
        law enforcement officer employed by the agency and any 
        judgments or settlements with respect to such allegations of 
        misconduct.
            (2) Data reporting.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the 
                last day of each year that begins after the date of the 
                enactment of this Act, a Federal law enforcement agency 
                identified under subsection (a)(1) shall report to the 
                Attorney General, pursuant to guidelines established by 
                the Attorney General, for the preceding year and with 
                respect to the Federal law enforcement agency, the 
                information described in paragraph (3).
                    (B) Extension.--The Attorney General may extend the 
                deadline under subparagraph (A) by 60 days for a 
                Federal law enforcement agency that is making good 
                faith efforts to comply with the requirement under that 
                subparagraph.
                    (C) Scope of initial report.--The first report 
                submitted by a Federal law enforcement agency under 
                subparagraph (A) shall include data collected prior to 
                the year covered by the report, if the data collection 
                requirement under paragraph (1) applies to any period 
                prior to that year.
            (3) Information required.--The information described in 
        this paragraph, for a particular year and with respect to a 
        Federal law enforcement agency, is the following:
                    (A) The total number of allegations of misconduct 
                by a Federal law enforcement officer made during the 
                year.
                    (B) The total number of judgments entered or 
                settlements entered into during the year with respect 
                to allegations of misconduct by a Federal law 
                enforcement officer.
                    (C) For each allegation of misconduct identified in 
                subparagraph (A) or judgment or settlement with respect 
                to allegations of misconduct identified in subparagraph 
                (B):
                            (i) The race, ethnicity, sex, and age of 
                        each officer and civilian involved.
                            (ii) The year in which the alleged 
                        misconduct took place.
                            (iii) The year in which the allegation was 
                        reported.
                            (iv) The type of allegation, which may 
                        include a body camera violation (whether a 
                        failure to wear or record), use of force 
                        (including the type of force), a collision, 
                        racial profiling, negligence, property damage, 
                        sexual harassment or assault, false testimony, 
                        wrongful death, failure of a duty to intervene, 
                        or wrongful imprisonment.
                            (v) Any personnel action taken by the 
                        officer involved, which may include resignation 
                        or retirement.
                            (vi) Any personnel action taken by the 
                        Federal law enforcement agency involved, which 
                        may include termination, demotion, or 
                        relocation of the officer involved.
                            (vii) In the case of a judgment or 
                        settlement, the total amount paid to satisfy 
                        the judgment or settlement (and related court 
                        fees), regardless of the source of the payment.
                            (viii) In the case of a judgment or 
                        settlement, the source of money used to pay the 
                        judgment or settlement (and related court 
                        fees), including whether the money came from 
                        amounts appropriated under section 1304 of 
                        title 31, United States Code (commonly known as 
                        the ``Judgment Fund''), amounts appropriated to 
                        the Federal law enforcement agency, or another 
                        source.
                    (D) The total amount paid pursuant to such 
                judgments and settlements (and related court fees) by 
                the Federal law enforcement agency.
    (c) State and Local Law Enforcement Requirements.--
            (1) Definition.--In this subsection, the term ``Byrne JAG 
        program'' means any grant program under 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.).
            (2) Requirements.--
                    (A) Data collection.--On and after the date that is 
                120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, a 
                State or unit of local government that receives funds 
                under the Byrne JAG program shall collect information 
                relating to allegations of misconduct by any law 
                enforcement officer employed by a law enforcement 
                agency of the State or unit of local government, 
                respectively, and any judgments or settlements with 
                respect to such allegations of misconduct that is 
                substantially similar to the information described in 
                subsection (b)(3).
                    (B) Data reporting.--
                            (i) In general.--Not later than 60 days 
                        after the last day of each year that begins 
                        after the date of the enactment of this Act, a 
                        State or unit of local government that receives 
                        funds under the Byrne JAG program shall submit 
                        to the Attorney General, pursuant to guidelines 
                        established by the Attorney General, for the 
                        preceding year and with respect to each law 
                        enforcement agency of the State or unit of 
                        local government, respectively, the information 
                        collected under subparagraph (A).
                            (ii) Extension.--The Attorney General may 
                        extend the deadline under clause (i) by 60 days 
                        for a State or local government that is making 
                        good faith efforts to comply with the 
                        requirement under that clause.
                            (iii) Source of money for judgments and 
                        settlements.--For purposes of clause (i), in 
                        reporting the source of money used to pay a 
                        judgment or settlement (and related court 
                        fees), as described in subsection 
                        (b)(3)(C)(viii), a State or unit of local 
                        government shall disclose whether the money 
                        came from a general operating budget, State or 
                        local law enforcement agency budget, bonds, 
                        liability insurance, a central risk management 
                        fund or pool, or other source.
                            (iv) Scope of initial report.--The first 
                        report submitted by a State or local government 
                        under clause (i) shall include data collected 
                        prior to the year covered by the report, if the 
                        data collection requirement under subparagraph 
                        (A) applies to any period prior to that year.
            (3) Ineligibility for funds.--
                    (A) In general.--A State or unit of local 
                government that fails to comply with the requirements 
                under paragraph (2) shall be subject to not more than a 
                10-percent reduction of the funds that would otherwise 
                be allocated to the State or unit of local government 
                under the Byrne JAG program for--
                            (i) the fiscal year in which the failure to 
                        comply occurs; or
                            (ii) the subsequent fiscal year.
                    (B) Reallocation.--Amounts not allocated under the 
                Byrne JAG program to a State or unit of local 
                government for failure to fully comply with paragraph 
                (2) shall be reallocated under that program to States 
                or units of local government that have complied with 
                such paragraph.
            (4) Open-source data.--Not later than 30 days after each 
        date on which the Attorney General receives information 
        reported under paragraph (2) from a State or unit of local 
        government, the Attorney General shall verify such information 
        reported using open-source data, as practicable, including 
        using data from newspaper and court records.
    (d) Study and Reports Required.--
            (1) GAO study and report.--
                    (A) Study.--After data has been collected under 
                subsections (b) and (c) for 2 full years, the 
                Comptroller General of the United States shall carry 
                out a study on such data, including--
                            (i) the number of Federal, State, and local 
                        law enforcement agencies reporting such data to 
                        the Attorney General;
                            (ii) a determination of the leading cause 
                        of judgments and settlements against Federal, 
                        State, and local law enforcement agencies;
                            (iii) an analysis of any relationship 
                        between the number of judgments and settlements 
                        and the actions taken by Federal, State, or 
                        local law enforcement agencies, including the 
                        agency's process of enforcing the law, such 
                        agency's culture, and any new programs 
                        established by the agency to enforce the law;
                            (iv) recommendations with respect to how a 
                        Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency 
                        may reduce misconduct leading to judgments or 
                        settlements;
                            (v) identification of Federal, State, local 
                        law enforcement agencies that have spent the 
                        most money with respect to judgments and 
                        settlements (and related court fees);
                            (vi) the total amount of money spent by 
                        Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
                        agencies on judgments or settlements (and 
                        related court fees), disaggregated by State; 
                        and
                            (vii) the average amount of money spent on 
                        judgments or settlements (and related court 
                        fees) by--
                                    (I) Federal law enforcement 
                                agencies;
                                    (II) State law enforcement 
                                agencies; and
                                    (III) local law enforcement 
                                agencies.
                    (B) Report and press release.--Not later than 120 
                days after the last day of the third year that begins 
                after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
                Comptroller General, in consultation with the Attorney 
                General, shall--
                            (i) prepare and submit to Congress a report 
                        that contains the findings of the study under 
                        subparagraph (A);
                            (ii) make the report described in clause 
                        (i) publicly available through the internet 
                        website of the Government Accountability 
                        Office; and
                            (iii) release a press release with respect 
                        to the study under paragraph (A).
            (2) DOJ press release.--Not later than 180 days after the 
        last day of the first year that begins after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney 
        General shall issue a press release summarizing the data 
        collected under subsections (b) and (c) for the year prior to 
        the release of such press release.
            (3) Database.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the 
                date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 
                shall create and maintain online a public, searchable 
                database containing all data reported under subsections 
                (b) and (c), subject to any otherwise applicable 
                confidentiality requirements. Such publication shall 
                not include any personally identifiable information of 
                any law enforcement officer.
                    (B) Database updates.--The Attorney General shall 
                update the database created under subparagraph (A) on 
                an annual basis with data reported under subsections 
                (b) and (c).
    (e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to supersede the requirements or limitations under section 
552a of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Privacy 
Act of 1974'').
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Allegation of misconduct.--The term ``allegation of 
        misconduct'' means an allegation by a member of the community 
        or other individual that a law enforcement officer took 
        illegal, tortious, or otherwise inappropriate action in 
        connection with the official duties of the officer.
            (2) Judgment.--The term ``judgment'' means the final court 
        order in a civil action that resolves all issues in dispute and 
        settles the parties' rights with respect to those issues.
            (3) Law enforcement agency.--The term ``law enforcement 
        agency'' means a Federal, State, or local agency engaged in the 
        prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution, or 
        adjudication of violations of the law in the United States.
            (4) Settlement.--The term ``settlement'' means an agreement 
        that resolves--
                    (A) a civil action prior to the entry of judgment; 
                or
                    (B) a legal dispute prior to the filing of a 
                complaint or petition.
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