Title: Police Accountability and Community Engagement Act of 2020
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Police Accountability and Community Engagement Act of 2020 or the PAC Act
This bill authorizes the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services within the Department of Justice to make grants that facilitate organized dialogues to build trust, increase accountability, and reduce tension between the community and the police.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7284 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7284

    To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to improve the 
relationship between the police and the communities they serve, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 18, 2020

  Ms. Wasserman Schultz (for herself and Mr. Hastings) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To authorize the Attorney General to make grants to improve the 
relationship between the police and the communities they serve, 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 Accountability and Community 
Engagement Act of 2020'' or the ``PAC Act''.

SEC. 2. POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Authorization.--The Attorney General, acting through the 
Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, is 
authorized to make grants to nonprofit organizations, institutions of 
higher education, community groups, and faith-based organizations to 
facilitate organized dialogues that bring together community members 
and law enforcement officers in order to build trust, increase 
accountability, and reduce tension in relationships between the 
community and the police.
    (b) Uses of Funds.--A recipient of a grant under this section shall 
use such funds for the following:
            (1) Community dialogues, led by a third-party facilitator, 
        that bring together a diverse group of community members, local 
        elected officials, law enforcement leaders and officers, 
        business leaders, and community members to assess the state of 
        police and community relations in the area, which focus on 
        taking a proactive approach and developing concrete action 
        items that will help improve the relationship between the 
        police and the community and further the goal of collective 
        safety.
            (2) Community dialogues that are specifically designed to 
        bring together teenagers with law enforcement officers, which 
        aim to help police and young people honestly discuss their 
        interaction and find common ground, which--
                    (A) are led by a third-party facilitator and held 
                in a neutral space outside of a police station;
                    (B) provide equal participation for local law 
                enforcement officers and youth;
                    (C) include law enforcement officers with a variety 
                of levels of experience;
                    (D) meet at minimum on a monthly basis to engage in 
                these group dialogues;
                    (E) include participants who reflect the 
                demographics of the young people in the community;
                    (F) use facilitators with the appropriate language 
                skills, if the local population includes young people 
                for whom English is not their primary language; and
                    (G) include the development of actionable next 
                steps in order to ensure accountability and a formal 
                action plan.
            (3) Documenting results of the dialogues described in 
        paragraphs (1) and (2), including any practice that changes as 
        a result of the dialogue.
    (c) Application.--An entity seeking a grant under this section 
shall submit to the Attorney General an application at such time, in 
such manner, and containing such information as the Attorney General 
may reasonably require, except that no application shall be considered 
unless plans for community dialogue include, but not be limited to, a 
discussion concerning racism and its effects on police-community 
relations.
    (d) Report.--A recipient of a grant under this section shall submit 
to the Attorney General on a biannual basis the results of the 
dialogues conducted pursuant to a grant under this section, including 
any changes that were made to policing practices, the reason for the 
changes, and the results of the changes.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $10,000,000 to carry out this section.
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