Title II — Law Enforcement Accountability Reforms

“719. De-escalation and use of force

“(a) Policy—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary for Management, in consultation with Associate Secretary, shall update the Department-wide policy issued on September 7, 2018, on the use of force by law enforcement officers of the Department to ensure that such officers use only the amount of force that is objectively reasonable in consideration of the facts and circumstances at issue to bring incidents under control effectively, while also ensuring the safety of such officers and other individuals. Such updated policy shall set forth in a clear and consistent manner that de-escalation is preferred.

“(b) Requirements—The Department-wide policy updated pursuant to subsection (a) shall require—

“(1) law enforcement officers of the Department to complete initial and recurrent training in the full range of use of force tactics, including the use of de-escalation;

“(2) the head of each component of the Department with such officers to—

“(A) designate an individual or individuals, having subject matter expertise regarding use of force policy, training, and the application of use of force tactics, including de-escalation tactics, to be responsible for ensuring compliance with such updated policy; and

“(B) maintain a use of force review council or committee, the members of which shall have subject matter expertise described in subparagraph (A) to perform internal analysis of use of force incidents to—

“(i) inform training and tactics and develop recommendations for improvements to policies and procedures; and

“(ii) identify trends and lessons learned to be shared within the component and across the Department;

“(3) make recommendations with regard to, or report deficiencies in, training, policies, or procedures; and

“(4) maintain data regarding use of force within such component in accordance with subsection (c).

“(c) Reporting

“(1) In general—The Associate Secretary shall—

“(A) issue requirements for the head of each component of the Department to collect and maintain data regarding the use of force within each such component necessary to publish the report required under subparagraph (B); and

“(B) publish, every six months, a report on the Department’s website containing, to the extent possible—

“(i) data regarding each incident during the previous six-month period in which lethal force was used by law enforcement officers of the Department that—

“(I) is disaggregated by component; and

“(II) describes—

“(aa) specific information on the region or jurisdiction in which each such incident occurred; and

“(bb) the circumstances surrounding each such incident; and

“(ii) a specification of whether a Department officer or other individual was injured or killed in each such incident; and

“(C) in conjunction with the report required under subparagraph (B), publish a summary of any reviews with respect to which, during the previous six-month period, final action was taken, including a summary of the findings resulting from any such reviews and any findings relating to whether the uses of force contemplated by any such reviews complied with Federal law and Department-wide policy.

“(2) Privacy protection—Any information published pursuant to this subsection shall be presented in a manner that protects individual privacy.

“(d) Office of inspector general—The Inspector General of the Department shall on an ongoing basis review compliance with subsections (a) and (c).

“(e) De-Escalation and use of force council

“(1) In general—The Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Associate Secretary, shall maintain an intradepartmental council, chaired by the Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans, at which representatives from the following components and entities may share lessons learned, best practices, and trends regarding de-escalation and use of force policies, training, and oversight:

“(A) The Office of the Under Secretary for Management.

“(B) U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“(C) The Coast Guard.

“(D) The Secret Service.

“(E) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“(F) The Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“(G) The Transportation Security Administration.

“(H) The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

“(I) Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers.

“(J) The Office of the General Counsel.

“(K) The Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

“(L) The Privacy Office.

“(2) Feedback—The Secretary shall develop mechanisms for appropriate stakeholders, including labor organizations, to provide feedback, on an ongoing basis, to the council regarding its sharing of lessons learned, best practices, and trends regarding de-escalation and use of force.

“720. Body-worn camera and dashboard cameras

“(a) Strategy

“(1) In general—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary for Management, shall develop and disseminate a Department-wide directive for requiring by December 31, 2022, the use of body-worn cameras by all uniformed law enforcement officers of the Department and dashboard cameras for all marked vehicles of the Department and associated recording protocols.

“(2) Principles—The Department-wide directive required under paragraph (1) shall consider principles published by major civil and human rights organizations regarding body-worn cameras and dashboard cameras and include the following:

“(A) Benchmarks for implementation of the use of body-worn cameras by uniformed law enforcement officers and dashboard cameras for marked vehicles of the Department.

“(B) Training requirements, procedures, and best practices for the use of body-worn cameras and dashboard cameras.

“(C) Plans to publicize the directive and the requirements set forth in this section so that the workforce and other impacted individuals are notified of new policies, in particular, those regarding the retention and right to inspect body-worn camera footage.

“(3) Limited exception—The directive required under paragraph (1) shall not apply—

“(A) to any personnel who operate in a location where the Secretary carries out redundant video-monitoring or video-surveillance that is maintained in good working order and that provides video footage of a quality that is the same or better than that which would be captured by a body-worn camera or dashboard camera;

“(B) to any vehicle that serves as a mobile command vehicle, and to any personnel therein;

“(C) to any vehicle, including any Federal, State, local, or rented vehicle, that the Secretary deploys in support of protective operations and to any law enforcement personnel therein while such personnel are engaged in such protective operations; and

“(D) in instances in which an immediate threat to the life or safety of a uniformed law enforcement officer of the Department makes activating a body-worn camera or dashboard camera impossible or dangerous, except that in such an instance such officer shall activate any such camera at the first reasonable opportunity to do so.

“(b) Retention of footage

“(1) In general—Body camera and dashboard camera video footage shall be retained by the law enforcement agency that employs the officer whose camera captured the footage, or an authorized agent thereof, for 6 months after the date it was recorded, after which time such footage shall be permanently deleted.

“(2) Additional retention requirements—Notwithstanding the retention and deletion requirements in paragraph (1)—

“(A) video footage shall be automatically retained for not less than 3 years if the video footage captures an interaction or event involving—

“(i) any use of force; or

“(ii) an encounter about which a complaint has been registered by a subject of the video footage; and

“(B) body camera video footage shall also be retained for not less than 3 years if a longer retention period is voluntarily requested by—

“(i) the uniformed officer whose body camera recorded the video footage, if that officer reasonably asserts the video footage has evidentiary or exculpatory value in an ongoing investigation;

“(ii) any uniformed officer who is a subject of the video footage, if that officer reasonably asserts the video footage has evidentiary or exculpatory value;

“(iii) any superior officer of a uniformed officer whose body camera recorded the video footage or who is a subject of the video footage, if that superior officer reasonably asserts the video footage has evidentiary or exculpatory value;

“(iv) any uniformed officer, if the video footage is being retained solely and exclusively for police training purposes;

“(v) any member of the public who is a subject of the video footage;

“(vi) any parent or legal guardian of a minor who is a subject of the video footage; or

“(vii) a deceased subject’s spouse, next of kin, or legally authorized designee.

“(3) Right to inspect—During the retention periods described in paragraphs (1) and (2), the following persons shall have the right to inspect, but not retain or in any matter alter, the body camera footage:

“(A) Any person who is a subject of body camera video footage, and their designated legal counsel.

“(B) A parent of a minor subject of body camera video footage, and their designated legal counsel.

“(C) The spouse, next of kin, or legally authorized designee of a deceased subject of body camera video footage, and their designated legal counsel.

“(D) A uniformed officer whose body camera recorded the video footage, and their designated legal counsel, subject to the limitations and restrictions in this part.

“(E) The superior officer of a uniformed officer whose body camera recorded the video footage, subject to the limitations and restrictions in this part.

“(F) Any defense counsel who claims, pursuant to a written affidavit, to have a reasonable basis for believing a video may contain evidence that exculpates a client.

“(c) Periodic reporting

“(1) In general—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this section and every 180 days thereafter until the Secretary submits the certification described in paragraph (2), the Under Secretary for Management shall report to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate regarding progress on efforts to implement the Department-wide directive described in subsection (a).

“(2) Certification—A certification described in this paragraph is a certification submitted by the Secretary to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate that the Department has fully implemented the directive described in subsection (a).

“721. Prohibited use of force

“(a) In general—Beginning on the date that is 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section, a law enforcement officer of the Department who intentionally uses a chokehold or carotid hold shall be subject to disciplinary review. Such officer may be subject to disciplinary action, consistent with chapter 75 of title V, including termination, except in instances in which the use of such force is determined by the Secretary Associate Secretary to be objectively reasonable under the circumstances.

“(b) Definition—In this section, the terms “chokehold” and “carotid hold” mean the application of any pressure to the throat or windpipe, the use of maneuvers that restrict blood or oxygen flow to the brain, or carotid artery restraints that prevent or hinder breathing or reduce intake of air of an individual.”

“890C. De-escalation training

“(a) Department training—Not later than 90 days after the issuance of the updated Department-wide policy pursuant to section 719, the Associate Secretary shall ensure that use of force training provided to law enforcement officers of the Department appropriately emphasize de-escalation training to reflect such policy’s preference for de-escalation.

“(b) State and local law enforcement training—The Associate Secretary, acting through the Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, in consultation with the Deputy Assistant Secretary for State and Local Law Enforcement, shall, to the greatest extent practicable, increase the availability of use of force training, including de-escalation training, in the training curriculum made available to State, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement officers.”

“890D. Requests relating to personnel or equipment

“The Secretary shall provide notification to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate of the Secretary’s acceptance of a request to augment local law enforcement capabilities with the deployment of Department personnel, including law enforcement personnel, unmanned aerial system operations, or other equipment within 24 hours of such acceptance. The notification requirement under this section shall not apply to ongoing or routine joint operations or assignments authorized under law, including section 1303 of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (6 U.S.C. 1112).”

“722. Department component insignia required

“(a) In general—All uniformed law enforcement officers of the Department who are required to display or wear the official insignia or uniform (as such term is defined in section 716(c)(3) of title 18, United States Code) of the Department or component, as the case may be, to perform the duties of such officer shall display or wear such official insignia or uniform in a manner that is visible to others when carrying out such duties, including when deployed to augment State or local law enforcement capabilities.

“(b) Exception—The requirement under subsection (a) shall not apply in the case of a law enforcement officer of the Department or a component of the Department who is engaged in undercover or covert operations.”

“(7) Privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties advisors—The Chief Privacy Officer of the Department and the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the Department, in coordination with the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis shall, to the maximum extent practicable, assign personnel to assist the fusion centers that participate in the State, Local, and Regional Fusion Center Initiative, including employees of such fusion centers who are responsible for privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties efforts within such fusion centers.”

“(k) Self-Assessment

“(1) In general—Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall disseminate to each fusion center participating in the State, Local, and Regional Fusion Center Initiative and receiving a grant from the Department guidance on conducting a self-assessment with respect to adherence to privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties protections to privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties polices, including training. Not later than August 31, 2022, and annually thereafter, such fusion centers shall submit to the Secretary such self-assessments.

“(2) Inspector general review—Not later than September 30, 2022, and annually thereafter, the Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis shall submit to the Inspector General of the Department the self-assessments submitted to the Under Secretary. Not later than 90 days after the receipt of the self-assessments, and annually thereafter, the Inspector General shall review a representative sampling, as determined by the Inspector General, of the policies, practices, and performance with respect to privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties of the fusion centers participating in the State, Local, and Regional Fusion Center Initiative to determine such centers’ adherence to privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties polices, including training. Each such review shall take into consideration the self-assessments of the fusion centers so sampled and reviewed. The Inspector General shall annually rotate the fusion centers subject to such sampling and review, and shall endeavor to sample and review fusion centers that are diverse with respect to the metropolitan areas, States, or regions in which such fusion centers operate.

“(l) Comptroller general—Beginning on the date that is one year after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Comptroller General of the United States shall triennially submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a review of the use of emerging technologies, including facial recognition, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, by fusion centers participating in the State, Local, and Regional Fusion Center Initiative, and the effects of such technologies on the privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties of the American public. Each such review shall evaluate not fewer than—

“(1) three such fusion centers that serve high-risk urban areas (as such term is defined in section 2003); and

“(2) two State fusion centers.”

“(f) Definitions—In this section:

“(1) Interoperable communications—The term “interoperable communications” has the meaning given such term in section 7303(g) of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (6 U.S.C. 194(g)).

“(2) Sensitive assets—The term “sensitive assets” means any asset, regardless of value—

“(A) that the Department issues to a Department employee; and

“(B) that either the Under Secretary for Management or a component head determines requires special control and accounting.”