[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 877 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 877

   To establish a pilot grant program to assist State and local law 
     enforcement agencies in purchasing body-worn cameras for law 
                         enforcement officers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 26, 2015

 Mr. Schatz (for himself and Mr. Paul) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish a pilot grant program to assist State and local law 
     enforcement agencies in purchasing 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 ``Police Creating Accountability by 
Making Effective Recording Available Act of 2015'' or the ``Police 
CAMERA Act''.

SEC. 2. MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT BODY-WORN CAMERAS.

    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 LL--MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT BODY-WORN CAMERAS

``SEC. 3021. GRANT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

    ``(a) In General.--The Assistant Attorney General for the Office of 
Justice Programs (in this section referred to as the `Assistant 
Attorney General') may make grants to States, units of local 
government, and Indian tribes to purchase or lease body-worn cameras 
for use by State, local, and tribal law enforcement officers (as 
defined in section 2503) and expenses related to the implementation of 
a body-worn camera program in order to deter excessive force, improve 
accountability and transparency of use of force by law enforcement 
officers, assist in responding to complaints against law enforcement 
officers, and improve evidence collection.
    ``(b) Duration of Grants.--
            ``(1) In general.--Grants awarded under this part shall be 
        2 years in duration.
            ``(2) Disbursement of grant amount.--In disbursing a grant 
        awarded to an entity under this section--
                    ``(A) upon awarding the grant to the entity, the 
                Assistant Attorney General shall disburse 50 percent of 
                the total grant amount to the entity; and
                    ``(B) upon demonstration by the entity of 
                completion of the requirements in subsection (d)(1), 
                the Assistant Attorney General shall disburse the 
                remaining 50 percent of the total grant amount to the 
                entity.
    ``(c) Use 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--
                    ``(A) the purchase or lease of body-worn cameras 
                for law enforcement officers on patrol in the 
                jurisdiction of the grantee;
                    ``(B) any costs relating to the implementation of a 
                body-worn camera program, including law enforcement 
                officer training or the storage or maintenance of data 
                collected under a body-worn camera program; or
                    ``(C) implementing policies or procedures to comply 
                with the requirements described in subsection (d).
    ``(d) Requirements.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Assistant Attorney General shall 
        award a grant under this section to a State, unit of local 
        government, or Indian tribe requesting the grant that commits 
        to--
                    ``(A) establishing policies and procedures in 
                accordance with the requirements described in paragraph 
                (2) before law enforcement officers use of body-worn 
                cameras;
                    ``(B) adopting data collection and retention 
                protocols as described in paragraph (3) before law 
                enforcement officers use of body-worn cameras;
                    ``(C) making the policies and protocols described 
                in subparagraphs (A) and (B) available to the public; 
                and
                    ``(D) complying with the requirements for use of 
                data under paragraph (4).
            ``(2) Required policies and procedures.--An entity 
        receiving a grant under this section shall--
                    ``(A) develop with community input and publish for 
                public view policies and protocols for--
                            ``(i) the safe and effective use of body-
                        worn cameras;
                            ``(ii) the secure storage, handling, and 
                        destruction of data collected by body-worn 
                        cameras;
                            ``(iii) protecting the privacy rights of 
                        any individual who may be recorded by a body-
                        worn camera; and
                            ``(iv) the release of any data collected by 
                        a body-worn camera in accordance with the open 
                        records laws, if any, of the State; and
                    ``(B) conduct periodic evaluations of the security 
                of the storage and handling of the body-worn camera 
                data.
            ``(3) Data collection and retention protocol.--The data 
        collection and retention protocol described in this paragraph 
        is a protocol that--
                    ``(A) requires--
                            ``(i) a law enforcement officer who is 
                        wearing a body-mounted camera to provide an 
                        explanation if an activity that is required to 
                        be recorded by the body-mounted camera is not 
                        recorded;
                            ``(ii) a law enforcement officer who is 
                        wearing a body-mounted camera to obtain consent 
                        to be recorded from a crime victim or witness 
                        before interviewing the victim or witness;
                            ``(iii) the collection of data unrelated to 
                        a legitimate law enforcement purpose be 
                        minimized to the greatest extent practicable;
                            ``(iv) the system used to store data 
                        collected by body-worn cameras shall log all 
                        viewing, modification, or deletion of stored 
                        data and shall prevent, to the greatest extent 
                        practicable, the unauthorized access or 
                        disclosure of stored data;
                            ``(v) any law enforcement officer be 
                        prohibited from accessing the stored data 
                        without an authorized purpose; and
                            ``(vi) the law enforcement agency to 
                        collect and report data on--
                                    ``(I) incidences of use of force, 
                                disaggregated by race, ethnicity, 
                                gender, and age of the victim;
                                    ``(II) the number of complaints 
                                filed against law enforcement officers;
                                    ``(III) the disposition of 
                                complaints filed against law 
                                enforcement officers; and
                                    ``(IV) the number of times camera 
                                footage is used for evidence collection 
                                in investigations of crimes;
                    ``(B) allows an individual to file a complaint with 
                a law enforcement agency relating to the improper use 
                of body-worn cameras; and
                    ``(C) complies with any other requirements 
                established by the Assistant Attorney General.
            ``(4) Use or transfer of data.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Data collected by an entity 
                receiving a grant under this section from a body-
                mounted camera shall be used only in internal and 
                external investigations of misconduct by a law 
                enforcement agency or officer, if there is reasonable 
                suspicion that a recording contains evidence of a 
                crime, or for limited training purposes. The Assistant 
                Attorney General shall establish rules to ensure that 
                the data is used only for the purposes described in 
                this subparagraph.
                    ``(B) Prohibition on transfer.--Except as provided 
                in subparagraph (B), an entity receiving a grant under 
                this section may not transfer any data collected by the 
                entity from a body-mounted camera to another law 
                enforcement or intelligence agency.
                    ``(C) Exceptions.--
                            ``(i) Criminal investigation.--An entity 
                        receiving a grant under this section may 
                        transfer data collected by the entity from a 
                        body-mounted camera to another law enforcement 
                        agency or intelligence agency for use in a 
                        criminal investigation if the requesting law 
                        enforcement or intelligence agency has 
                        reasonable suspicion that the requested data 
                        contains evidence relating to the crime being 
                        investigated.
                            ``(ii) Civil rights claims.--An entity 
                        receiving a grant under this section may 
                        transfer data collected by the law enforcement 
                        agency from a body-mounted camera to another 
                        law enforcement agency for use in an 
                        investigation of any right, privilege, or 
                        immunity secured or protected by the 
                        Constitution or laws of the United States.
    ``(e) Matching Funds.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (3), the 
        Federal share of the cost of a program carried out using a 
        grant under this part may not exceed 75 percent of the total 
        cost of the program.
            ``(2) Indian assistance.--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 the matching requirement 
        described in paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Waiver.--The Assistant Attorney General may waive, in 
        whole or in part, the matching requirement described in 
        paragraph (1) in the case of fiscal hardship, as determined by 
        the Assistant Attorney General.
    ``(f) Allocation of Funds.--For fiscal years 2015 and 2016, of the 
amounts appropriated to the Office of Justice Programs, $10,000,000 
shall be used to carry out this part.

``SEC. 3022. APPLICATIONS.

    ``(a) In General.--To request a grant under this part, the chief 
executive of a State, unit of local government, or Indian tribe shall 
submit an application to the Assistant Attorney General in such form 
and containing such information as the Assistant Attorney General may 
reasonably require.
    ``(b) Regulations.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this part, the Assistant Attorney General shall promulgate 
regulations to implement this part, including the information that 
shall be included and the requirements that the States, units of local 
government, and Indian tribes must meet in submitting the applications 
required under this section.

``SEC. 3023. STUDY.

    ``(a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date on which 
all grants are awarded under this part, the Assistant Attorney General 
shall conduct a study on--
            ``(1) the efficacy of body-worn cameras in deterring 
        excessive force by law enforcement officers;
            ``(2) the impact of body-worn cameras on the accountability 
        and transparency of the use of force by law enforcement 
        officers;
            ``(3) the impact of body-worn cameras on responses to and 
        adjudications of complaints of excessive force;
            ``(4) the effect of the use of body-worn cameras on the 
        safety of law enforcement officers on patrol;
            ``(5) the effect of the use of body-worn cameras on public 
        safety;
            ``(6) the impact of body-worn cameras on evidence 
        collection for criminal investigations;
            ``(7) issues relating to the secure storage and handling of 
        data from the body-worn cameras;
            ``(8) issues relating to the privacy of citizens and 
        officers recorded on body-worn cameras;
            ``(9) issues relating to the public's access to body-worn 
        camera footage;
            ``(10) the need for proper training of law enforcement 
        officers that use body-worn cameras;
            ``(11) best practices in the development of protocols for 
        the safe and effective use of body-worn cameras; and
            ``(12) any other factors that the Assistant Attorney 
        General determines are relevant in evaluating the efficacy of 
        body-worn cameras.
    ``(b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date on which the 
study required under subsection (a) is completed, the Assistant 
Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report on the study.''.
                                 <all>