H.R. 2893 (117^th): National Police Misuse of Force Investigation Board Act of 2021

appoint and supervise officers and employees, other than regular and full-time employees in the immediate offices of another member, necessary to carry out this Act;

fix the pay of officers and employees necessary to carry out this Act;

distribute business among the officers, employees, and administrative units of the Board; and

supervise the expenditures of the Board.

Deaths occurring in police custody.

Officer-involved shootings.

Uses of force that result in severe bodily injury in police custody.

report directly to the Chairman on financial management and budget execution;

direct, manage, and provide policy guidance and oversight on financial management and property and inventory control; and

review the fees, rents, and other charges imposed by the Board for services and things of value it provides, and suggest appropriate revisions to those charges to reflect costs incurred by the Board in providing those services and things of value.

The demographic data of the individual killed or injured by police.

The demographics of the officers involved.

The circumstances (such as date, time, location).

The reason for the stop or the initial contact with the subject, the events leading up to the shooting or use of force (such as search or pursuit).

The outcome (such as the types of force used, charges filed, death injury).

one member of the Board acting as chairman; and

2 members representing the public, appointed by the President on notification of the establishment of the special board of inquiry.

The Board, and when authorized by it, a member of the Board, an administrative law judge employed by or assigned to the Board, or an officer or employee designated by the Chairman of the Board, may conduct hearings to carry out this Act, administer oaths, and require, by subpoena or otherwise, necessary witnesses and evidence.

A witness or evidence in a hearing under paragraph (1) of this subsection may be summoned or required to be produced from any place in the United States to the designated place of the hearing. A witness summoned under this subsection is entitled to the same fee and mileage the witness would have been paid in a court of the United States.

A subpoena shall be issued under the signature of the Chairman or the Chairman’s delegate but may be served by any person designated by the Chairman.

If a person disobeys a subpoena, order, or inspection notice of the Board, the Board may bring a civil action in a district court of the United States to enforce the subpoena, order, or notice. An action under this paragraph may be brought in the judicial district in which the person against whom the action is brought resides, is found, or does business. The court may punish a failure to obey an order of the court to comply with the subpoena, order, or notice as a contempt of court.

The Board may—

The Board shall deposit in the Treasury amounts received under paragraph (1)(I) of this subsection to be credited as offsetting collections to the appropriation of the Board. The Board shall maintain an annual record of collections received under paragraph (1)(I) of this subsection.

In general

Subject to the requirements of this section and notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 5542(a) of title 5, for an employee of the Board whose basic pay is at a rate which equals or exceeds the minimum rate of basic pay for GS–10 of the General Schedule, the Board may establish an overtime hourly rate of pay for the employee with respect to work performed at the scene of an incident (including travel to or from the scene) and other work that is critical to an incident investigation in an amount equal to one and one-half times the hourly rate of basic pay of the employee. All of such amount shall be considered to be premium pay.

Limitation on overtime pay to an employee

An employee of the Board may not receive overtime pay under paragraph (1), for work performed in a calendar year, in an amount that exceeds 15 percent of the annual rate of basic pay of the employee for such calendar year.

Limitation on total amount of overtime pay

The Board may not make overtime payments under paragraph (1) for work performed in any fiscal year in a total amount that exceeds 1.5 percent of the amount appropriated to carry out this Act for that fiscal year.

Basic pay defined

In this subsection, the term basic pay includes any applicable locality-based comparability payment under section 5304 of title 5 (or similar provision of law) and any special rate of pay under section 5305 of title 5 (or similar provision of law).

Annual report

Not later than Sept 30, 2022, the Board shall submit to the House Committees on the Judiciary and Oversight & Reform and Senate Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security & Government Affairs a report identifying the total amount of overtime payments made under this subsection in the preceding fiscal year, and the number of employees whose overtime pay under this subsection was limited in that fiscal year as a result of the 15 percent limit established by paragraph (2).

Public availability

Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), (d), and (f) of this section, a copy of a record, information, or investigation submitted or received by the Board, or a member or employee of the Board, shall be made available to the public on identifiable request and at reasonable cost. This subsection does not require the release of information described by section 552(b) of title 5 or protected from disclosure by another law of the United States.

Deposit of receipts

The Board shall deposit in the Treasury amounts received under paragraph (1) to be credited to the appropriation of the Board as offsetting collections.

Protection of voluntary submission of information

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, neither the Board, nor any agency receiving information from the Board, shall disclose voluntarily provided safety-related information if that information is not related to the exercise of the Board’s investigation authority under this Act and if the Board finds that the disclosure of the information would inhibit the voluntary provision of that type of information.

advocate meaningful responses to reduce the likelihood of incidents similar to those investigated by the Board; and

propose recommendations for adjudication to the local, state and Federal government, as well as the public.

carry out special studies and investigations regarding law enforcement oversight;

examine techniques and methods of police misuse of force investigation and periodically publish recommended procedures for investigations;

prescribe requirements for persons reporting incidents that—

evaluate, examine the effectiveness of, and publish the findings of the Board about the transportation safety consciousness of other departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Government and their effectiveness in preventing such incidents; and

evaluate the adequacy of safeguards and procedures for the transportation of hazardous material and the performance of other departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Government responsible for the safe transportation of that material.

In general

The Board may impose and collect such fees, refunds, and reimbursements as it determines to be appropriate for services provided by or through the Board.

Receipts credited as offsetting collections

Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 31, any fee, refund, or reimbursement collected under this subsection—

Refunds

The Board may refund any fee paid by mistake or any amount paid in excess of that required.

on display of appropriate credentials and written notice of inspection authority, may enter property where a incident has occurred or evidence from the incident is located and do anything necessary to conduct an investigation; and

during reasonable hours, may inspect any record, process, control, or facility related to an incident investigation under this Act.

In investigating an incident under this Act, the Board may inspect and test, to the extent necessary, any weapon involved.

Any weapon involved in an incident shall be preserved, and may be moved, only as provided by regulations of the Board.

The Board may order an autopsy to be performed and have other tests made when necessary to investigate an incident under this Act. However, local law protecting religious beliefs related to autopsies shall be observed to the extent consistent with the needs of the incident investigation.

With or without reimbursement, the Board may obtain a copy of an autopsy report performed by a State or local official on an individual who died because of an incident investigated by the Board under this Act.

to carry out procedures to adopt the complete recommendation;

to carry out procedures to adopt a part of the recommendation; or

to refuse to carry out procedures to adopt the recommendation.

Annual secretarial regulatory status reports

On February 1 of each year, the Attorney General shall submit a report to Congress and the Board containing the regulatory status of each recommendation made by the Board that is on the Board’s most wanted list. The Attorney General shall continue to report on the status of each such recommendation in the report due on February 1 of subsequent years.

Failure to report

If on March 1 of each year the Board has not received the Attorney General’s report required by this subsection, the Board shall notify the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate of the Attorney General’s failure to submit the required report.

Compliance report with recommendations

Within 90 days after the date on which the Attorney General submits a report under this subsection, the Board shall review the Attorney General’s report and transmit comments on the report to the Attorney General, the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.

designate and publicize the name and phone number of a director of family support services who shall be an employee of the Board and shall be responsible for acting as a point of contact within the Federal Government for civilians and the families of civilians involved in the incident; and

designate an independent nonprofit organization, with experience in post trauma communication with civilians and families, which shall have primary responsibility for coordinating the emotional care and support of civilians or the families of civilians involved in the incident.

To provide mental health and counseling services.

To take such actions as may be necessary to provide an environment in which the civilians and families may grieve in private.

To meet with the families who have traveled to the location of the incident, to contact the families unable to travel to such location, and to contact all affected civilians and families periodically thereafter until such time as the organization, in consultation with the director of family support services designated for the incident under subsection (a)(1), determines that further assistance is no longer needed.

To communicate with the civilians families as to the roles of the organization, government agencies, and parties involved with respect to the incident and the post-incident activities.

are briefed, prior to any public briefing, about the incident and any other findings from the investigation; and

are individually informed of and allowed to attend any public hearings and meetings of the Board about the incident.

Actions to impede the board

No person (including a State or political subdivision) may impede the ability of the Board (including the director of family support services designated for an incident under subsection (a)(1)), or an organization designated for an incident under subsection (a)(2), to carry out its responsibilities under this section or the ability of the families of those involved in the accident to have contact with one another.

Prohibition on actions to prevent mental health and counseling services

No State or political subdivision thereof may prevent the employees, agents, or volunteers of an organization designated for an incident under subsection (a)(2) from providing mental health and counseling services under subsection (c)(1) in the 30-day period beginning on the date of the incident. The director of family support services designated for the incident under subsection (a)(1) may extend such period for not to exceed an additional 30 days if the director determines that the extension is necessary to meet the needs of the families and if State and local authorities are notified of the determination.

General rule

This section (other than subsection (g)) shall not apply to an incident involving use of force by a law enforcement officer if the Board has relinquished investigative priority and the Federal agency to which the Board relinquished investigative priority is willing and able to provide assistance to the victims and families involved in the incident.

Board assistance

If this section does not apply to an incident involving use of force by a law enforcement officer because the Board has relinquished investigative priority with respect to the accident, the Board shall assist, to the maximum extent possible, the agency to which the Board has relinquished investigative priority in assisting families with respect to the accident.

keep the Chairman of the Board and Congress fully and currently informed about problems relating to administration of the internal accounting and administrative control systems of the Board;

issue findings and recommendations for actions to address such problems; and

report periodically to Congress on any progress made in implementing actions to address such problems.

Funding

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General for use by the Inspector General of the Department of Justice such sums as may be necessary to cover expenses associated with activities pursuant to the authority exercised under this section.

Reimbursable agreement

In the absence of an appropriation under this subsection for an expense referred to in paragraph (1), the Inspector General and the Board shall have a reimbursable agreement to cover such expense.

information management and security, including privacy protection of personally identifiable information;

resource management;

workforce development;

procurement and contracting planning, practices and policies;

the extent to which the Board follows leading practices in selected management areas; and

the extent to which the Board addresses management challenges in completing incident investigations.

Except as provided by this subsection, a party in a judicial proceeding may not use discovery to obtain any part of a recording from a body camera used by a law enforcement officer or a vehicle-mounted camera.

This subsection does not prevent the Board from referring at any time to a recording in making safety recommendations.

In this subsection:

Any findings or recommendations issued by the Board will be admissible in criminal or civil court procedures regarding an incident of violence by a law enforcement officer.

If prosecution or a civil case moves forward against the police officer or officers in question, the findings of the Board may be presented to the jury.

Additionally, any police department, locality or state government that has received reform recommendations from the Board shall submit a report to the Board and to Congress one calendar year later detailing the actions it has taken on the matter, and will continue to report yearly so long as any recommendations remain open.

Compliance date

Beginning on the first full fiscal year after the date of enactment of this Act, each State or unit of local government referred to in subsection (a) receiving a grant shall comply with subsection (a), except that the Attorney General may grant an additional 60 days to a State or unit of local government that is making good faith efforts to comply with such subsection.

Ineligibility for funds

For any fiscal year after the expiration of the period specified in paragraph (1), a State or unit of local government that fails to comply with subsection (a), shall, at the discretion of the Attorney General, be subject to a 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 of not less than 1 percent and not more than 10 percent.