Title: Cost of Police Misconduct Act of 2020
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Cost of Police Misconduct Act of 2020
This bill requires the Department of Justice to collect and make publicly available certain information from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies about allegations of misconduct by law enforcement officers, including the amounts of any relevant settlements. It also directs the Government Accountability Office to study costs and other issues related to such misconduct.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8908 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8908

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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 9, 2020

  Mr. Beyer introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                       Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
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 
2020''.

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 as necessary.
    (b) Reporting Requirement.--Not later than 120 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, a Federal law enforcement agency 
identified under subsection (a)(2) shall report to the Attorney 
General, on a monthly basis and pursuant to guidelines established by 
the Attorney General, for the preceding month and with respect to the 
Federal law enforcement agency, the following information:
            (1) The total number of allegations of misconduct by a 
        Federal law enforcement officer.
            (2) The total number of judgements or settlements with 
        respect to allegations of misconduct by a Federal law 
        enforcement officer.
            (3) For each allegation of misconduct identified in 
        paragraph (1) or a judgement or settlement with respect to 
        allegations of misconduct identified in paragraph (2):
                    (A) The Federal law enforcement agency that 
                employed the officer involved.
                    (B) The race, ethnicity, sex, and age of each 
                officer and civilian involved.
                    (C) The year in which the allegation took place.
                    (D) The year in which the allegation was reported.
                    (E) 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, and wrongful imprisonment.
                    (F) Any personnel action taken by the officer 
                involved, which may include resignation or retirement.
                    (G) Any personnel action taken by the law 
                enforcement agency involved, which may include 
                termination, demotion, or relocation of the officer 
                involved.
                    (H) The amount paid pursuant to a judgement or 
                settlement (and related court fees) with respect to 
                such allegation.
                    (I) The source of money used to pay a judgement or 
                settlement (and related court fees) identified under 
                subparagraph (F), including general operating budget, 
                law enforcement agency budget, or bonds.
            (4) The total amount paid pursuant to such judgements and 
        settlements (and related court fees) by Federal law enforcement 
        agencies.
    (c) Reporting Requirement for State and Local Law Enforcement.--
            (1) Requirement for state and local law enforcement.--For 
        each fiscal year beginning after the expiration of the period 
        specified in paragraph (2)(A) in which a State or unit of local 
        government receives funds under a program referred to in 
        paragraph (2)(B), the State or unit of local government shall 
        submit to the Attorney General, on a monthly basis and pursuant 
        to guidelines established by the Attorney General, for the 
        preceding month and with respect to each law enforcement agency 
        in the State or unit of local government, a report 
        substantially similar to the report under subsection (b).
            (2) Compliance and ineligibility.--
                    (A) Compliance date.--Each State or unit of local 
                government shall have not more than 120 days from the 
                date of the enactment of this Act to comply with the 
                requirement under paragraph (1), except that the 
                Attorney General may grant an additional 120 days to a 
                State or unit of local government that is making good 
                faith efforts to comply with such requirement.
                    (B) Ineligibility for funds.--For any fiscal year 
                beginning after the expiration of the period specified 
                in subparagraph (A), a State or unit of local 
                government that fails to comply with the requirement 
                under paragraph (1), shall be subject to not more than 
                a 10-percent reduction of the funds that would 
                otherwise be allocated for that fiscal year to the 
                State or unit of local government 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.).
            (3) Reallocation.--Amounts not allocated under a program 
        referred to in paragraph (2)(B) to a State or unit of local 
        government for failure to fully comply with paragraph (1) shall 
        be reallocated under that program to States or units of local 
        government that have not failed to comply with such 
        requirement.
            (4) Open-source data.--Not later than 30 days after each 
        date on which the Attorney General receives information 
        reported under paragraph (1) 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) Study.--
                    (A) In general.--Following two years of data 
                collected under subsections (b) and (c), the 
                Comptroller General 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 judgements and settlements (and related 
                        court fees) against Federal, State, and local 
                        law enforcement agencies;
                            (iii) an analysis of any relationship 
                        between the number of judgements and 
                        settlements (and related court fees) and the 
                        actions taken by Federal, State, or local law 
                        enforcement agencies;
                            (iv) recommendations with respect to how a 
                        Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency 
                        may reduce misconduct leading to judgements or 
                        settlements (and related court fees);
                            (v) identification of Federal, State, local 
                        law enforcement agencies that have spent the 
                        most money with respect to judgements and 
                        settlements (and related court fees);
                            (vi) the total amount of money spent by 
                        Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
                        agencies on judgements or settlements (and 
                        related court fees), disaggregated by State; 
                        and
                            (vii) the average amount of money spent on 
                        judgements or settlements (and related court 
                        fees) by--
                                    (I) Federal law enforcement 
                                agencies;
                                    (II) State law enforcement 
                                agencies; and
                                    (III) local law enforcement 
                                agencies.
                    (B) Publication.--The Comptroller General shall 
                make publicly available through the internet website of 
                the Government Accountability Office the findings of 
                the study under subparagraph (A).
            (2) Report and press release.--
                    (A) In general.--Following the completion of the 
                study under paragraph (1), the Attorney General, in 
                consultation with the Comptroller General, shall 
                prepare and submit to Congress a report that contains 
                the findings of such study and release a press release 
                with respect to the study.
                    (B) Press release.--Following the first full year 
                that data is collected under subsections (b) and (c) 
                and in addition to the press release required under 
                subparagraph (A), the Attorney General shall issue an 
                annual 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 one year after the 
                date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 
                shall create and maintain online a searchable database 
                containing all data reported pursuant to subsections 
                (b) and (c), and 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) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Law enforcement agency.--The term ``law enforcement 
        agency'' means an agency with the authority to arrest or detain 
        an individual suspected of violating the law in the United 
        States.
            (2) Allegation of misconduct.--The term ``allegation of 
        misconduct'' means an allegation by a member of the community 
        or other individual that an officer took illegal or 
        inappropriate action in connection with their official duties.
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