Title: Police Training and Independent Review Act of 2017
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Police Training and Independent Review Act of 2017
This bill requires a state that receives funding under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program to train law enforcement officers on diversity and sensitivity. The Department of Justice (DOJ) may reduce by up to 20% the JAG allocation of a state that fails to comply.
Additionally, the bill requires a state or local government that receives JAG funding to have in effect a law requiring the appointment of an independent prosecutor to investigate and prosecute an offense involving the use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer that results in a death or injury. DOJ must reduce by 20% the JAG allocation of a state or local government that fails to comply.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1870 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1870

To require that States receiving Byrne JAG funds to require sensitivity 
training for law enforcement officers of that State and to incentivize 
   States to enact laws requiring the independent investigation and 
prosecution of the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 4, 2017

  Mr. Cohen (for himself, Mr. Brown of Maryland, Ms. Adams, Ms. Bass, 
Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Beyer, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
Butterfield, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Ms. Castor of Florida, 
Ms. Judy Chu of California, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, 
    Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Clay, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Conyers, Mr. 
 Cummings, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Ms. DeLauro, Mrs. Dingell, 
  Mr. Ellison, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Foster, Ms. Fudge, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Al 
Green of Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Hastings, Ms. Jackson 
 Lee, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. 
 Kaptur, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Lewis of 
 Georgia, Mr. Ted Lieu of California, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Lowenthal, Ms. 
 Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McGovern, Mr. 
McNerney, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Meng, Ms. Moore, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Norcross, Ms. 
Norton, Mr. O'Rourke, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Payne, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Pocan, 
  Mr. Quigley, Mr. Richmond, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Rush, Mr. Ryan of 
  Ohio, Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Mr. 
 Scott of Virginia, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Sewell of Alabama, Mr. Sires, Ms. 
Slaughter, Mr. Smith of Washington, Ms. Speier, Mr. Takano, Mr. Tonko, 
Mr. Veasey, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Maxine Waters of California, Mrs. Watson 
Coleman, Mr. Yarmuth, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Evans, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Clyburn, 
  Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Soto, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Barragan, Mr. 
  Polis, Mr. Engel, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Ms. Lee, Mr. Jeffries, Mr. 
Thompson of Mississippi, Mrs. Lawrence, and Mr. Schiff) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require that States receiving Byrne JAG funds to require sensitivity 
training for law enforcement officers of that State and to incentivize 
   States to enact laws requiring the independent investigation and 
prosecution of the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers, 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 ``Police Training and Independent 
Review Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. TRAINING ON DIVERSITY AND SENSITIVITY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Training Requirement.--For each fiscal year after the 
expiration of the period specified in subsection (b)(1) in which a 
State receives funds for a program referred to in subsection (b)(2), 
the State shall require that all individuals enrolled in an academy of 
a law enforcement agency of the State and all law enforcement officers 
of the State fulfill a training session on sensitivity each fiscal 
year, including training on ethnic and racial bias, cultural diversity, 
and police interaction with the disabled, mentally ill, and new 
immigrants. In the case of individuals attending an academy, such 
training session shall be for 8 hours, and in the case of all other law 
enforcement officers, the training session shall be for 4 hours. The 
State shall certify to the Attorney General of the United States that 
such training sessions have been completed.
    (b) Compliance and Ineligibility.--
            (1) Compliance date.--Each State shall have not more than 
        120 days, beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, to 
        comply with subsection (a), except that--
                    (A) the Attorney General may grant an additional 
                120 days to a State that is making good faith efforts 
                to comply with such subsection; and
                    (B) the Attorney General shall waive the 
                requirements of subsection (a) if compliance with such 
                subsection by a State would be unconstitutional under 
                the constitution of such State.
            (2) Ineligibility for funds.--For any fiscal year after the 
        expiration of the period specified in paragraph (1), a State 
        that fails to comply with subsection (a), shall, at the 
        discretion of the Attorney General, be subject to not more than 
        a 20-percent reduction of the funds that would otherwise be 
        allocated for that fiscal year to the State 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.), whether characterized as 
        the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement 
        Assistance Programs, the Local Government Law Enforcement Block 
        Grants Program, the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance 
        Grant Program, or otherwise.
    (c) Reallocation.--Amounts not allocated under a program referred 
to in subsection (b)(2) to a State for failure to fully comply with 
subsection (a) shall be reallocated under that program to States that 
have not failed to comply with such subsection.

SEC. 3. INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF LAW ENFORCEMENT USE OF DEADLY FORCE.

    (a) In General.--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 by the end of a 
fiscal year to enact or have in effect an independent prosecution of 
law enforcement law, the Attorney General shall reduce the amount that 
would otherwise be awarded to that State or unit of local government 
under such grant program in the following fiscal year by 20 percent.
    (b) Reallocation.--Amounts not allocated under a program referred 
to in subsection (a) to a State for failure to be in compliance with 
this section shall be reallocated under that program to States that are 
in compliance with this section.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) The term ``deadly force'' means that force which a 
        reasonable person would consider likely to cause death or 
        serious bodily harm.
            (2) The term ``independent prosecution of law enforcement 
        law'' means a statute requiring the appointment of an 
        independent prosecutor to conduct any criminal investigation 
        and prosecution in which--
                    (A) one or more of the possible defendants is a law 
                enforcement officer;
                    (B) one or more of the alleged offenses involves 
                the law enforcement officer's use of deadly force in 
                the course of carrying out that officer's duty; and
                    (C) the law enforcement officer's use of deadly 
                force resulted in a death or injury.
            (3) The term ``independent prosecutor'' means, with respect 
        to a criminal investigation or prosecution, a prosecutor who--
                    (A) does not live or work in the same county as the 
                county in which the alleged crime was committed; and
                    (B) would not be involved in the prosecution in the 
                ordinary course of that prosecutor's duties.
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