[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5865 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5865

To establish a grant program providing for the acquisition, operation, 
   and maintenance of body-worn cameras for law enforcement officers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 11, 2014

 Mr. Cleaver introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Armed 
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish a grant program providing for the acquisition, operation, 
   and maintenance of body-worn cameras for law enforcement officers.

    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 ``Camera Authorization and Maintenance 
Act of 2014'' or as the ``CAM Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO USE BODY-WORN CAMERA SYSTEMS.

    (a) In General.--Beginning on the date that is 180 days after the 
date of enactment, if, in a fiscal year, a State or unit of local 
government that receives any grant from the Attorney General does not 
require law enforcement officers of that State or unit of local 
government to use body-worn cameras, that State or unit of local 
government may not receive any grant from the Attorney General in the 
following fiscal year.
    (b) Hardship Waiver.--The Attorney General may waive the 
application of subsection (a) to any State or unit of local government 
that applies for such a waiver if, in the determination of the Attorney 
General, compliance with the requirement of subsection (a) would pose a 
financial hardship on the State or unit of local government.
    (c) Definitions.--Terms used in this section have the meaning given 
such terms in section 901 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3791).

SEC. 3. BODY-WORN CAMERA GRANTS.

    Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 
(42 U.S.C. 3711 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

                   ``PART MM--BODY-WORN CAMERA GRANTS

``SEC. 3031. IN GENERAL.

    ``From amounts made available to carry out this part, the Director 
of the Bureau of Justice Assistance may make grants to States, units of 
local government, and Indian tribes for the acquisition, operation, and 
maintenance of body-worn cameras for law enforcement officers.

``SEC. 3032. USES OF FUNDS.

    ``Grants awarded under this section shall be--
            ``(1) distributed directly to the State, unit of local 
        government, or Indian tribe; and
            ``(2) used for the program described under section 3034.

``SEC. 3033. PROGRAM DESCRIBED.

    ``The program described in this section is any program implemented 
by a grantee requiring the use of body-worn cameras by law enforcement 
officers in that jurisdiction, consistent with the following 
requirements:
            ``(1) Any law enforcement officer who has regular contact 
        with the general public shall be required to wear and, as 
        appropriate, activate a body-worn camera.
            ``(2) An officer who is not otherwise assigned body-worn 
        cameras may be required to wear one in certain circumstances, 
        including the following:
                    ``(A) After receiving a specified number of 
                complaints or disciplinary actions.
                    ``(B) When participating in a certain type of 
                activity, such as SWAT operations.
            ``(3) Body cameras should be worn on the officer's chest or 
        at eye level.
            ``(4) An officer who activates the body-worn camera while 
        on duty should be required to note the existence of the 
        recording in the official incident report.
            ``(5) An officer who wears body-worn cameras should be 
        required to articulate their reasoning, on camera or in 
        writing, if that officer fails to record an activity that is 
        required by department policy to be recorded.
            ``(6) An officer is required to activate his or her body-
        worn camera when responding to all calls for service and during 
        all law enforcement-related encounters and activities that 
        occur while the officer is on duty traffic stops, arrests, 
        searches, interrogations, investigations, and pursuits.
            ``(7) Officers should also be required to activate the 
        camera during the course of any encounter with the public that 
        becomes adversarial after the initial contact.
            ``(8) An officer shall inform any person who is being 
        recorded by a body-worn camera when the person is being 
        recorded unless doing so would be unsafe, impractical, or 
        impossible.
            ``(9) Once activated, the body-worn camera shall remain in 
        recording mode until the conclusion of an incident or 
        encounter, the officer has left the scene, or a supervisor has 
        authorized (on camera) that a recording may cease.
            ``(10) Policies shall designate the officer as the person 
        responsible for downloading recorded data from his or her body-
        worn camera. However, in certain clearly identified 
        circumstances (including officer-involved shootings, in-custody 
        deaths, or other incidents involving the officer that result in 
        a person's bodily harm or death), the officer's supervisor 
        should immediately take physical custody of the camera and 
        should be responsible for downloading the data.
            ``(11) If the camera system does not have a system to track 
        who accesses the recorded data, when, and for what purpose, 
        grantees shall create an audit system that monitors who 
        accesses recorded data, when, and for what purpose. Grantees 
        may conduct forensic reviews to determine whether recorded data 
        has been tampered with. Data shall be downloaded from the body-
        worn camera by the end of each shift in which the camera was 
        used. Officers shall properly categorize and tag body-worn 
        camera videos at the time they are downloaded. Videos shall be 
        classified according to the type of event or incident captured 
        in the footage.
            ``(12) When setting time frames for retention of data, 
        grantees shall consider the following:
                    ``(A) State laws governing evidence retention.
                    ``(B) Departmental policies governing retention of 
                other types of electronic records.
                    ``(C) The openness of the State's public disclosure 
                laws.
                    ``(D) The need to preserve footage to promote 
                transparency.
                    ``(E) The length of time typically needed to 
                receive and investigate citizen complaints.
                    ``(F) The agency's capacity for data storage.
            ``(13) Data must be managed by a third party. To protect 
        the security and integrity of data managed by a third party, a 
        grantee shall use a reputable, experienced vendor, enter into a 
        legal contract with the vendor that protects the agency's data, 
        ensure the system includes a built-in audit trail and reliable 
        backup methods, and consult with legal advisors.
            ``(14) An officer shall be permitted to review video 
        footage of an incident in which they were involved, prior to 
        making a statement about the incident.
            ``(15) A grantee's internal audit unit, rather than the 
        officer's direct chain of command, should periodically conduct 
        a random review of body-worn camera footage to monitor 
        compliance with the program and assess overall officer 
        performance.
            ``(16) Grantee policies pertaining to body-worn cameras 
        shall include specific measures for preventing unauthorized 
        access or release of recorded data.
            ``(17) Grantees shall have clear and consistent protocols 
        for releasing recorded data externally to the public and the 
        news media (or public disclosure policies). Each such policy 
        must be in compliance with any applicable State or Federal 
        public disclosure laws.
            ``(18) Body-worn camera training shall be required for all 
        grantee personnel who may use or otherwise be involved with 
        body-worn cameras.
            ``(19) The grantee shall collect statistical data 
        concerning body-worn camera usage, including when video footage 
        is used in criminal prosecutions and internal affairs matters 
        as well as when excessive force has been used.
            ``(20) The grantee shall conduct periodic reviews of 
        policies and protocols of the grantee pertaining to body-worn 
        cameras.

``SEC. 3034. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.

    ``Funds available under this part shall be awarded to each 
qualifying unit of local government with fewer than 100,000 residents. 
Any remaining funds available under this part shall be awarded to other 
qualifying applicants on a pro rata basis.

``SEC. 3035. MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.

    ``(a) Federal Share.--The portion of the costs of a program 
provided by a grant under subsection (a) may not exceed 50 percent. Any 
funds appropriated by Congress for the activities of any agency of an 
Indian tribal government or the Bureau of Indian Affairs performing law 
enforcement functions on any Indian lands may be used to provide the 
non-Federal share of a matching requirement funded under this 
subsection.
    ``(b) Non-Federal Share.--The non-Federal share of payments made 
under this part may be made in cash or in-kind fairly evaluated, 
including planned equipment or services.''.

SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE ON COMMUNITY POLICING AND BODY 
              CAMERA ACCOUNTABILITY.

    There shall be established in the Department of Justice a task 
force to do the following:
            (1) The task force shall be created to provide 
        recommendations on community policing, including best practices 
        from communities where law enforcement and neighborhoods work 
        well together to create accountability and transparency.
            (2) This task force shall provide a report to the Congress 
        by April 2015 the recommendations above.
            (3) Membership shall include representatives of civil 
        rights organizations, Federal, State, and local law enforcement 
        personnel, and community policing experts.
            (4) The task force shall develop proper body-worn camera 
        training protocol.
            (5) The task force shall study the impact that citizen 
        review boards could have on investigating cases of alleged 
        police misconduct.
            (6) Not later than 1 year after implementation of the body 
        camera requirement policy under section 3033 of title I of the 
        Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1968, the task force shall conduct 
        a survey to determine best practices and effectiveness of the 
        policy with findings to be reported back to the Congress.

SEC. 5. GAO REPORT ON PENTAGON'S 1033 PROGRAM.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Congress a 
report on the Department of Defense Excess Personal Property Program 
established pursuant to section 1033 of Public Law 104-201, the 
``National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997'' that 
includes information on--
            (1) which jurisdictions equipment is sent to;
            (2) the value of equipment sent to each jurisdiction;
            (3) the level of training provided to officers; and
            (4) how the equipment is used in the jurisdiction.
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