Title: VICTIM Act of 2022
Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement

Summary:
Violent Incident Clearance and Technological Investigative Methods Act of 2021 or the VICTIM Act of 2021
This bill directs the Department of Justice to establish a grant program for state, tribal, or local law enforcement agencies or prosecuting offices (or groups of agencies or offices) to establish, implement, and administer violent incident clearance and technological investigative methods.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5768 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5768

    To direct the Attorney General to establish a grant program to 
 establish, create, and administer the violent incident clearance and 
        technology investigative method, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 28, 2021

Mrs. Demings (for herself, Mrs. Axne, Mr. Evans, Ms. Kelly of Illinois, 
 Mrs. McBath, and Mr. O'Halleran) introduced the following bill; which 
             was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To direct the Attorney General to establish a grant program to 
 establish, create, and administer the violent incident clearance and 
        technology investigative method, 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 ``Violent Incident Clearance and 
Technological Investigative Methods Act of 2021'' or the ``VICTIM Act 
of 2021''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Research indicates that law enforcement agencies can 
        impact clearance rates by improving investigative processes, 
        detective effort, and organizational oversight and supervision 
        of investigations.
            (2) Law enforcement agencies that demonstrate higher rates 
        of clearance for homicides and non-fatal shootings--
                    (A) have more structured oversight and formal 
                interactions between investigative units and agency 
                leadership;
                    (B) are more likely to have investigative units 
                that have good relationships with other units and that 
                share information well with other units;
                    (C) have investigative units that have specific 
                goals and performance metrics for both the unit and for 
                investigators within that unit; tend to assign most, if 
                not all, serious crimes to an investigator, at least 
                for preliminary review;
                    (D) have investigators who more frequently respond 
                to the initial crime scene shortly after crimes have 
                been reported;
                    (E) have investigators who either have (or are 
                required to have) specialized experience before joining 
                investigative units or are expected to be trained on 
                specific skills once they join those units;
                    (F) often have standard operating procedures for 
                investigations, where cases are managed carefully and 
                have requirements for completion;
                    (G) tend to support their investigative units, both 
                in terms of resources, as well as symbolically; and
                    (H) have better relationships with their community, 
                even if no specific community-oriented campaign or 
                initiative exists between investigative units and 
                community groups.
            (3) Criminal justice agencies should collaborate among each 
        other and share best practices for solving homicides and non-
        fatal shootings.
            (4) A comprehensive community engagement strategy 
        concerning gun violence is essential to improve clearance rates 
        for homicides and non-fatal shootings.

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM WITH RESPECT TO VIOLENT INCIDENT CLEARANCE AND 
              TECHNOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIVE METHODS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish a grant 
program (in this Act referred to as the ``Program'') within the Office 
of Justice Programs to establish, implement, and administer violent 
incident clearance and technological investigative methods.
    (b) Grant Authority.--In carrying out the Program, the Attorney 
General may award a grant to an eligible recipient that submits an 
application for the Program.
    (c) Eligible Recipient.--Grants awarded under the Program shall be 
awarded to a State, Tribal, or local law enforcement agency or 
prosecuting office, or a group of agencies or offices, and may be used 
for an eligible project under subsection (e).
    (d) Applications.--A law enforcement agency applying to receive a 
grant under the Program shall submit to the Attorney General an 
application at such time, in such manner, and containing or accompanied 
by such information as the Attorney General may reasonably require.
    (e) Eligible Projects.--Grant funds awarded under the Program shall 
be used to improve clearance rates for homicides and non-fatal 
shootings by--
            (1) ensuring the retention of detectives currently assigned 
        to investigate homicides and non-fatal shootings;
            (2) hiring additional detectives to investigate homicides 
        and non-fatal shootings;
            (3) training detectives in policies and procedures 
        determined to improve detectives' ability to effectively 
        investigate and solve homicides and non-fatal shootings;
            (4) training police personnel to address the needs of 
        victims and family members from homicides and non-fatal 
        shootings;
            (5) hiring additional patrol officers to replace officers 
        who have been transferred to detective;
            (6) acquiring, upgrading, or replacing investigative or 
        evidence processing technology or equipment;
            (7) hiring additional evidence processing personnel;
            (8) ensuring personnel responsible for evidence processing 
        have sufficient resources and training;
            (9) hiring and training of personnel to analyze violent 
        crime, specifically with regards to the use of intelligence 
        information of criminal networks and the potential for 
        retaliation among gangs or groups, and the geographic trends 
        among homicides and shootings;
            (10) ensuring victim services and personnel are 
        sufficiently funded, staffed, and trained;
            (11) ensuring victims and family members of homicides and 
        non-fatal shootings have access to resources, including--
                    (A) convenient mental health treatment and grief 
                counseling;
                    (B) funeral and burial expenses;
                    (C) relocation expenses;
                    (D) emergency shelter;
                    (E) emergency transportation; and
                    (F) lost wage assistance;
            (12) developing competitive and evidence-based programs to 
        improve homicide and non-fatal shooting clearance rates; or
            (13) developing best practices for improving access to and 
        acceptance of victim services, including those that promote 
        medical and psychological wellness, ongoing counseling, legal 
        advice, and financial compensation.
    (f) Federal Share.--The Federal share of the cost of a project 
assisted with a grant under the Program shall not exceed 100 percent if 
the grant is awarded on or before the date of December 31, 2032. The 
Federal share of the cost of a project assisted with a grant under the 
Program shall not exceed 50 percent if such grant is awarded after 
December 31, 2032.
    (g) Report by Eligible Recipient.--Not later than 365 days after 
receiving a grant under the Program, an eligible recipient shall submit 
to the Attorney General a report on the Program, including--
            (1) the number of homicide and non-fatal shooting 
        detectives hired by the grantee;
            (2) the number of evidence processing personnel hired by 
        the grantee;
            (3) any training provided to existing or newly hired 
        homicide and non-fatal shooting detectives designed to assist 
        in the solving of crimes and improve clearance rates;
            (4) any new evidence processing technology or equipment or 
        any upgrades to existing evidence technology or equipment;
            (5) any training provided to evidence processing personnel 
        to improve outcomes and capacity; and
            (6) data regarding clearance rates for homicides and non-
        fatal shootings and crime trends from within each jurisdiction 
        in which grant funds were provided.
    (h) National Institute of Justice Evaluation and Report to 
Congress.--
            (1) Evaluation.--Not later than two years after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, and every two years thereafter, the 
        National Institute of Justice shall conduct an evaluation of 
        the practices deployed by grant recipients to identify policies 
        and procedures that have successfully improved clearance rates 
        for homicides and non-fatal shootings.
            (2) Report to congress.--Not later than 30 days after 
        completion of the evaluation under paragraph (1), the Attorney 
        General shall submit to Congress a report including--
                    (A) the results of the evaluation conducted by the 
                National Institute of Justice; and
                    (B) information reported by each eligible entity 
                under subsection (i).
    (i) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to 
        carry out this Program $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
        2023 through 2032.
            (2) Percent for certain eligible recipients.--10 percent of 
        each appropriation made under paragraph (1) shall be awarded to 
        a Tribal law enforcement agency or prosecuting office, or a 
        group of such agencies or offices.
    (j) Law Enforcement Agency Defined.--In this section, the term 
``law enforcement agency'' means a public agency charged with policing 
functions, including any of its component bureaus (such as governmental 
victim services programs or Village Public Safety Officers), including 
those referred to in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of section 2(10) of the 
Indian Law Enforcement Reform Act (25 U.S.C. 2801(10)(B)(C)), as 
amended by section 203(b) of the Indian Arts and Crafts Amendments 
(Public Law 111-211).
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