Title: Safer Officers and Safer Citizens Act of 2017
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Safer Officers and Safer Citizens Act of 2017
This bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance to award matching grants to states, local governments, and Indian tribes to purchase body-worn cameras.
The Bureau of Justice Assistance must give preference to grant applications from jurisdictions that: (1) have comprehensive policies and procedures related to implementation of a body-worn camera program, (2) have high percentages of officers without access to body-worn cameras, (3) have violent crime rates above the national average, and (4) agree to submit metrics on the use of body-worn cameras.
As an offset, the bill allows the General Services Administration to identify and dispose of (i.e., sell or demolish) excess federal property.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1280 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1280

 To help keep law enforcement officers and communities safer by making 
   grants to purchase body worn cameras for use by State, local, and 
                    tribal law enforcement officers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 25, 2017

 Mr. Scott (for himself and Mr. Booker) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To help keep law enforcement officers and communities safer by making 
   grants to purchase body worn cameras for use by State, local, and 
                    tribal law enforcement officers.

    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 ``Safer Officers and Safer Citizens 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) While police body worn cameras are not a panacea, they 
        do contribute to keeping both law enforcement officers and 
        citizens safer.
            (2) Increasing the use of body worn cameras by law 
        enforcement officers has been shown by multiple studies to 
        significantly reduce the number of use of force incidents and 
        the number of citizen complaints.
            (3) Increased accountability and transparency in policing 
        activities will benefit all our citizens, including our law 
        enforcement officers.

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.

    Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 
(42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

  ``PART MM--GRANT PROGRAM FOR BODY WORN CAMERAS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT 
                                OFFICERS

``SEC. 3031. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    ``(a) In General.--The Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance 
is authorized to make grants to States, units of local government, and 
Indian tribes to purchase body worn cameras for use by State, local, 
and tribal law enforcement officers.
    ``(b) Uses 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 the purchase of--
                    ``(A) body worn cameras for law enforcement 
                officers; and
                    ``(B) necessary initial supportive technological 
                infrastructure for body worn cameras for law 
                enforcement officers in the jurisdiction of the 
                grantee.
    ``(c) Preferential Consideration.--In awarding grants under this 
part, the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance shall give 
preferential consideration, if feasible, to an application from a 
jurisdiction that--
            ``(1) has in place a comprehensive policy that is--
                    ``(A) developed in consultation with a broad group 
                of criminal justice experts and community members, and 
                that contains policies and procedures addressing 
                deployment, video capture, privacy protections, 
                viewing, use, release, storage, retention, the effect 
                on community-police interactions, and audits and 
                controls;
                    ``(B) supported by a comprehensive communication 
                and education campaign that involves interested parties 
                in law enforcement, courts, prosecution, the defense 
                bar, civic leadership, labor organizations, victim and 
                juvenile advocacy, the media, and the public; and
                    ``(C) informed by the best practices on body worn 
                cameras developed by the Department of Justice;
            ``(2) has the greatest need for body worn cameras based on 
        the percentage of law enforcement officers in the department 
        who do not have access to a body worn camera;
            ``(3) has a violent crime rate at or above the national 
        average as determined by the Bureau of Justice Statistics; and
            ``(4) commits to submitting such metrics on the usage of 
        body worn cameras, in such a format and at such a time as the 
        Department of Justice shall reasonably specify, for the 
        purposes of collecting and studying data on the effectiveness 
        of body worn cameras to increase safety for both law 
        enforcement officers and citizens.
    ``(d) Matching Funds.--The portion of the costs of a program 
provided by a grant under subsection (a) may not exceed 75 percent. Any 
funds appropriated by Congress for the activities of any agency of an 
Indian tribal government or the Bureau of Indian Affairs performing law 
enforcement functions on any Indian lands may be used to provide the 
non-Federal share of a matching requirement funded under this 
subsection.

``SEC. 3032. APPLICATIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--To request a grant under this part, the chief 
executive of a State, unit of local government, or Indian tribe shall 
submit an application to the Director of the Bureau of Justice 
Assistance in such form and containing such information as the Director 
may reasonably require.
    ``(b) Regulations.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this part, the Director of the Bureau of Justice 
Assistance shall promulgate regulations to implement this section, 
including the information that must be included and the requirements 
that the States, units of local government, and Indian tribes must meet 
in submitting the applications required under this section.

``SEC. 3033. DEFINITIONS.

    ``For purposes of this part--
            ``(1) the term `Indian tribe' has the same meaning as in 
        section 4(e) of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
        Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b(e));
            ``(2) the term `law enforcement officer' means any officer, 
        agent, or employee of a State, unit of local government, or 
        Indian tribe authorized by law or by a government agency to 
        engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, or 
        investigation of any violation of criminal law, or authorized 
        by law to supervise sentenced criminal offenders;
            ``(3) the term `State' means each of the 50 States, the 
        District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the 
        Northern Mariana Islands; and
            ``(4) the term `unit of local government' means a county, 
        municipality, town, township, village, parish, borough, or 
        other unit of general government below the State level.

``SEC. 3034. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out this part, $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022.
    ``(b) Remaining Funds.--Any amounts made available to carry out 
this part that are unobligated at the end of each fiscal year, shall be 
returned to the general fund of the Treasury for debt reduction.''.

SEC. 4. OFFSET.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) In 2010, the most current year for which figures are 
        available, the Federal Government spent $1,670,000,000 
        operating and maintaining unutilized and underutilized 
        buildings.
            (2) Federal agencies have consistently indicated that the 
        disposal efforts of the agencies are often hampered by 
        statutory requirements.
    (b) Offset.--Notwithstanding subtitle I of title 40, United States 
Code, or any other provision of law, the Administrator of General 
Services, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management 
and Budget, may immediately identify and dispose of, through sale at 
fair market value or demolition if unsuitable for sale, the most 
financially burdensome excess Federal property, so as to generate not 
more than $500,000,000 in savings by the end of fiscal year 2022.
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