[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4359 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4359

 To provide that a Federal law enforcement officer may not use deadly 
force or less lethal force unless such force is necessary, to encourage 
   States to adopt similar laws or policies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 17, 2019

     Mr. Khanna (for himself, Mr. Clay, Mr. Rush, Mr. Thompson of 
Mississippi, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Meeks, Ms. Clarke of New York, Ms. Norton, 
 Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Payne, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Veasey, Ms. Pressley, 
  Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Hastings, Ms. Jackson Lee, Mr. Garcia of 
   Illinois, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Ms. Ocasio-
    Cortez, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Waters, and Ms. Jayapal) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide that a Federal law enforcement officer may not use deadly 
force or less lethal force unless such force is necessary, to encourage 
   States to adopt similar laws or policies, 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 ``Police Exercising Absolute Care With 
Everyone Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. USE OF FORCE BY FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.

    (a) Prohibition on Less Lethal Force.--A Federal law enforcement 
officer may not use any less lethal force unless such less lethal force 
is necessary and proportional in order to effectuate an arrest of a 
person who the officer has probable cause to believe has committed a 
criminal offense, and only after exhausting reasonable alternatives to 
the use of such force.
    (b) Prohibition on Deadly Use of Force.--A Federal law enforcement 
officer may not use deadly force against a person unless--
            (1) such force is necessary, as a last resort, to prevent 
        imminent and serious bodily injury or death to the officer or 
        another person;
            (2) the use of such forces creates no substantial risk of 
        injury to a third person; and
            (3) reasonable alternatives to the use of such force have 
        been exhausted.
    (c) Requirement to Give Verbal Warning.--When feasible, prior to 
using force against a person, a Federal law enforcement officer shall 
identify himself or herself as a law enforcement officer, and issue a 
verbal warning to the person that the law enforcement officer seeks to 
apprehend, which warning includes--
            (1) a request that the person surrender to the law 
        enforcement officer; and
            (2) notifies the person that the law enforcement officer 
        will use force against the person if the person resists arrest 
        or flees.
    (d) Guidance on Use of Force.--Not later than 120 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in 
consultation with impacted persons, communities, or organizations, 
including representatives of civil and human rights organizations, 
victims of police use of force, and representatives of law enforcement 
associations, shall provide guidance to Federal law enforcement 
agencies on the types of less lethal force and deadly force that are 
prohibited under subsections (a) and (b), and how a Federal law 
enforcement officer can assess whether the use of force is appropriate 
and necessary, and use the least amount of force when interacting 
with--
            (1) pregnant women;
            (2) children and youth under age 21;
            (3) elderly persons;
            (4) persons with mental, behavioral, or physical 
        disabilities or impairments;
            (5) persons experiencing perceptual or cognitive 
        impairments due to use of alcohol, narcotics, hallucinogenic, 
        or other drugs;
            (6) persons suffering from a serious medical condition; and
            (7) persons with limited English proficiency.
    (e) Training.--The Attorney General shall provide training to 
Federal law enforcement officers on interacting people described in 
paragraphs (1) through (7) of subsection (d).
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Deadly force.--The term ``deadly force'' means force 
        that creates a substantial risk of causing death or serious 
        bodily injury, including the discharge of a firearm, 
        respiratory chokeholds, and multiple discharges of an 
        electronic control weapon.
            (2) Federal law enforcement officer.--The term ``Federal 
        law enforcement officer'' means any officer, agent, or employee 
        of the United States authorized by law or by a Government 
        agency to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, 
        investigation, or prosecution of any violation of Federal 
        criminal law.
            (3) Less lethal force.--The term ``less lethal force'' 
        means any degree of force that is not likely to have lethal 
        effect.
            (4) Necessary.--The term ``necessary'' means that another 
        reasonable Federal law enforcement officer would objectively 
        conclude, under the totality of the circumstances, that there 
        was no reasonable alternative to the use of force.
            (5) Reasonable alternatives.--The term ``reasonable 
        alternatives'' means tactics and methods used by a law 
        enforcement officer to effectuate an arrest that do not 
        unreasonably increase the risk posed to the law enforcement 
        officer or another person, including verbal communication, 
        distance, warnings, deescalation tactics and techniques, 
        tactical repositioning, and other tactics and techniques 
        intended to stabilize the situation and reduce the immediacy of 
        the risk so that more time, options, and resources can be 
        called upon to resolve the situation without the use of force. 
        With respect to the use of deadly force, such term includes the 
        use of less lethal force.
            (6) Deescalation tactics and techniques.--The term 
        ``deescalation tactics and techniques'' means proactive actions 
        and approaches used by a law enforcement officer to stabilize 
        the situation so that more time, options, and resources are 
        available to gain a person's voluntary compliance and reduce or 
        eliminate the need to use force, including verbal persuasion, 
        warnings, tactical techniques, slowing down the pace of an 
        incident, waiting out a subject, creating distance between the 
        officer and the threat, and requesting additional resources to 
        resolve the incident.
            (7) Totality of the circumstances.--The term ``totality of 
        the circumstances'' means all credible facts known to the law 
        enforcement officer leading up to and at the time of the use of 
        force, including the actions of the person against whom the law 
        enforcement officer uses such force and the actions of the law 
        enforcement officer.
    (g) Limitation on Justification Defense.--
            (1) In general.--Chapter 51 of title 18, United States 
        Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1123. Limitation on justification defense for Federal law 
              enforcement officers
    ``(a) In General.--It is not a defense to an offense under section 
1111 or 1112 that the use of less lethal or deadly force was justified 
in the case of a Federal law enforcement officer--
            ``(1) whose use of such force was inconsistent with section 
        2 of the Police Exercising Absolute Care With Everyone Act of 
        2019; or
            ``(2) whose gross negligence, leading up to and at the time 
        of the use of force, contributed to the necessity of the use of 
        such force.
    ``(b) Definition.--In this section, the term `Federal law 
enforcement officer' has the meaning given such term in section 115.''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 
        51 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
        after the item related to section 1122 the following:

``1123. Limitation on justification defense for Federal law enforcement 
                            officers.''.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON THE RECEIPT OF FUNDS UNDER THE EDWARD BYRNE 
              MEMORIAL JUSTICE ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Limitation.--A State or other jurisdiction may not receive 
funds that the State or other jurisdiction would otherwise receive 
under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) for any fiscal year 
in which the State or other jurisdiction does not have in place a law 
that is consistent with section 2 of this Act and section 1123 of title 
18, United States Code, as determined by the Attorney General.
    (b) Subsequent Enactment.--In the case that funds described in 
subsection (a) are withheld from a State or other jurisdiction pursuant 
to subsection (a), and the State or other jurisdiction subsequently 
enacts or puts in place a law described in subsection (a), and 
demonstrates substantial efforts to enforce such law, the State or 
other jurisdiction shall be eligible, in the subsequent fiscal year, to 
receive the total amount that the State or other jurisdiction would 
have received in each fiscal year for which funds were withheld, not to 
exceed the total that such State or other jurisdiction would have 
received for a period of 5 years.
    (c) Guidance.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with 
impacted persons, communities, organizations (including representatives 
of civil and human rights organizations), individuals against whom a 
law enforcement officer used force, and representatives of law 
enforcement associations, shall make guidance available to States and 
other jurisdictions on the criteria that the Attorney General will use 
in determining whether the State or jurisdiction has in place a law 
described in subsection (a).
    (d) Application.--This section shall apply beginning in the first 
fiscal year that begins after the date that is one year after the date 
of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR USE OF FORCE POLICY.

    (a) Authorization.--The Attorney General is authorized to make 
grants to units of local government in States that do not have in place 
a law that is substantially similar to section 2 of this Act and 
section 1123 of title 18, United States Code, and which State did not 
receive funds under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et seq.) pursuant 
to section 3, if the law enforcement agency of that unit of local 
government has in place a policy related to the use of force by law 
enforcement officers that is consistent with section 2 of this Act.
    (b) Application.--A unit of local government seeking a grant under 
this section may submit to the Attorney General an application at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Attorney 
General may reasonably require.
    (c) Amount.--The amount of a grant under this section shall be an 
amount which is equal to the amount the unit of local government would 
otherwise have received under subpart 1 of part E of title I of the 
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10151 et 
seq.), if the State in which the unit of local government is located 
had received funds under such program.
    (d) Use of Funds.--A grant under this section may be used for the 
purposes described in section 501 of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10152).
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section 
for each fiscal year, beginning 2020 through 2024.
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