[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7252 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7252

    To provide for research to examine law enforcement policies and 
   practices, including the causes, consequences, and mitigation of 
            excessive use of force, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 18, 2020

Ms. Johnson of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to 
the Committees on Homeland Security, and the Judiciary, 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 provide for research to examine law enforcement policies and 
   practices, including the causes, consequences, and mitigation of 
            excessive use of force, 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 ``Promoting Fair and Effective 
Policing Through Research Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Despite the pivotal role police officers play in 
        preventing and controlling crime, there are significant gaps in 
        research on the fairness and efficacy of policing policies and 
        practices, including those related to use of force.
            (2) The lack of accurate and comprehensive data on police 
        use of force is often cited as one of the most significant 
        barriers to identifying and understanding patterns of police 
        use of excessive force against civilians.
            (3) The best available evidence reveals increased 
        likelihood of police use of force against people of color, 
        people with disabilities, LGBT people, people with mental 
        health conditions, people with low incomes, and those at the 
        intersections of these groups.
            (4) Biases in advanced policing technologies, including 
        biometric identification systems, have the potential to 
        exacerbate such disparities.
            (5) Along with better data, more social and behavioral 
        research is needed to improve our understanding of the 
        potential factors that influence excessive use of force as well 
        as the related psychological and social effects of such 
        incidents on individuals and communities.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Community-based organization.--The term ``community-
        based organization'' means a grassroots organization that 
        monitors the issue of police misconduct and that has a national 
        presence and membership, such as the National Association for 
        the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the American Civil 
        Liberties Union (ACLU), the National Council of La Raza, the 
        National Urban League, the National Congress of American 
        Indians, and the National Asian Pacific Legal Consortium 
        (NAPALC).
            (2) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001).
            (3) Law enforcement agency.--The term ``law enforcement 
        agency'' means any Federal, State, or local public agency 
        engaged in the prevention, detection, or investigation of 
        violations of criminal, immigration, or customs law.
            (4) Non-profit organization.--The term ``non-profit 
        organization'' means an organization described in section 
        501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from 
        tax under section 501(a) of such code.
            (5) Professional law enforcement association.--The term 
        ``professional law enforcement association'' means a law 
        enforcement membership association that works for the needs of 
        Federal, State, local, or Indian tribal law enforcement 
        agencies and with the civilian community on matters of common 
        interest, such as the Hispanic Police Command Officers 
        Association (HAPCOA), the National Asian Pacific Officers 
        Association (NAPOA), the National Black Police Association 
        (NBPA), the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement 
        Executives (NOBLE), Women in Law Enforcement, the Native 
        American Law Enforcement Association (NALEA), the International 
        Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the National Sheriffs' 
        Association (NFA), the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), and the 
        National Association of School Resource Officers.

SEC. 4. AGENCY ACTIVITIES.

    (a) National Science Foundation.--
            (1) Research.--The Director of the National Science 
        Foundation shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to 
        institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations (or 
        consortia of such institutions or organizations)--
                    (A) to support social and behavioral research on--
                            (i) policies and practices of law 
                        enforcement agencies and related outcomes, 
                        including the use of data and technology by law 
                        enforcement agencies;
                            (ii) the causes and consequences of police 
                        violence;
                            (iii) interventions designed to mitigate 
                        police use of excessive force, including de-
                        escalation training and advanced policing 
                        technologies;
                            (iv) organizational configurations and 
                        personnel practices in law enforcement 
                        agencies, such as recruitment, training, 
                        oversight, performance standards, decision-
                        making, methods of supervising officers, 
                        resource allocation, and the role of police 
                        leadership; and
                            (v) the role of cooperation among law 
                        enforcement agencies and the communities served 
                        by such agencies in reducing crime and ensuring 
                        community safety; and
                    (B) to educate and train the next generation of 
                researchers in areas of social and behavioral sciences 
                research relevant to policing policies and practices in 
                democratic societies.
            (2) Researcher-law enforcement partnerships.--
                    (A) In general.--The Director of the National 
                Science Foundation shall carry out a program to award 
                grants, on a competitive basis, to institutions of 
                higher education or nonprofit organizations (or 
                consortia of such institutions or organizations) to 
                improve the fairness and efficacy of policing policies 
                and practices, including by reducing the incidence and 
                mitigating the negative consequences of excessive and 
                lethal use of force by law enforcement.
                    (B) Partnerships.--In order to be eligible to 
                receive a grant under this subsection, an institution 
                of higher education or nonprofit organization (or 
                consortia of such institutions or organizations) shall 
                enter into a partnership with--
                            (i) one or more law enforcement agency;
                            (ii) one or more community-based 
                        organization; or
                            (iii) one or more professional law 
                        enforcement association.
                    (C) Annual meeting.--The Director of the National 
                Science Foundation, in consultation with the Attorney 
                General of the United States, shall convene an annual 
                meeting of the partnerships participating under this 
                section to foster greater national collaboration.
            (3) National academies study.--Not later than 45 days after 
        the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall enter 
        into an agreement with the Academies to conduct a study--
                    (A) to review the research literature and identify 
                research gaps related to policing policies and 
                practices, including research into the causes, 
                consequences, and mitigation of police violence;
                    (B) to present a compendium of promising policing 
                policies and practices, including those shown to reduce 
                the incidence and mitigate the negative consequences of 
                police violence;
                    (C) identify barriers to widespread and sustained 
                implementation of such policies and practices; and
                    (D) to make recommendations to the Foundation, the 
                Department of Justice, law enforcement agencies, and 
                other relevant stakeholders on measures to address such 
                barriers.
    (b) National Institute of Standards and Technology.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Commerce, acting through 
        the Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
        Technology, shall establish a program to support measurement 
        research to inform the development of best practices, 
        benchmarks, methodologies, procedures, and voluntary consensus 
        standards for biometric identification systems and other 
        advanced policing tools to assess and improve fairness in such 
        systems. In carrying out such program, the Director shall--
                    (A) conduct research to support efforts to improve 
                biometric identification systems, including in areas 
                related to conformity assessment, image 
                interoperability, and capture device certification;
                    (B) establish common definitions and 
                characterizations for biometric identification systems, 
                including fairness, bias, validation, transparency, 
                safety, privacy, security, robustness, and other 
                properties;
                    (C) produce data sets that are curated, 
                standardized, representative, secure, and privacy 
                protected for biometric identification technology 
                research, development, and use;
                    (D) provide outreach, coordination, and technical 
                support to relevant industry and non-industry 
                stakeholders and standards development organizations to 
                assist such entities in the development of best 
                practices and voluntary standards; and
                    (E) develop such standard reference material as the 
                Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
                Technology determines is appropriate to further the 
                development of such standards.
            (2) Biometrics vendor test program.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the 
                Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
                Technology, shall carry out a test program to provide 
                biometrics vendors the opportunity to test biometric 
                identification technologies.
                    (B) Activities.--In carrying out the program under 
                subparagraph (A), the Director shall--
                            (i) conduct research and testing to improve 
                        and benchmark the accuracy, efficacy, and 
                        fairness of biometric identification systems, 
                        including research and testing on demographic 
                        variations, capture devices, presentation 
                        attack detection, template protection, de-
                        identification, and comparison of algorithm and 
                        human facial recognition capability;
                            (ii) produce public-facing reports of the 
                        findings from such testing for a general 
                        audience;
                            (iii) in coordination with the Department 
                        of Homeland Security, provide guidance to law 
                        enforcement agencies to support decision-making 
                        with respect to acquisition and implementation 
                        of biometric identification systems and related 
                        technologies; and
                            (iv) conduct such other activities as the 
                        Director of the National Institute of Standards 
                        and Technology determines appropriate.
                    (C) Funding.--To carry out this subsection, the 
                Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
                Technology may enter into contracts, including 
                cooperative research and development arrangements, 
                grants, cooperative agreements, and other transactions 
                as the Director determines appropriate.
                    (D) Partnerships with other federal agencies.--In 
                addition to such sums as may be authorized to be 
                appropriated or otherwise made available to carry out 
                this section, the Director my accept funds from other 
                departments and agencies of the Federal Government, and 
                from the State and local governments, to carry out the 
                program under this subsection.
    (c) Department of Homeland Security.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Homeland Security, acting 
        through the Under Secretary for Science and Technology, in 
        consultation with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers, 
        shall establish a program with the purpose of reducing 
        excessive use of force and lethal use of force by law 
        enforcement.
            (2) Activities.--In carrying out such program, the 
        Secretary shall--
                    (A) support research and data analysis to improve 
                training, policies, and practices to support 
                development of guidelines and best practices for 
                recruitment and training of law enforcement officials 
                to reduce excessive use of force and mitigate racial 
                bias in policing;
                    (B) develop, test, and evaluate innovative tools or 
                technologies to assist in risk assessment and provide 
                law enforcement agencies with tools, restraints, and 
                maneuvers that are non-lethal or less harmful than 
                tools, restraints, and maneuvers used by such agencies;
                    (C) provide the scientific basis for a national 
                standard for police use of force continuums; and
                    (D) conduct outreach to Federal, State, local, and 
                tribal law enforcement agencies, academia, researchers, 
                practitioners, and trainers to share information and 
                disseminate guidelines and best practices.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 
2021 through 2026 to carry out the activities in this Act--
            (1) $10,000,000 to the Director of the National Science 
        Foundation;
            (2) $2,000,000 to the Director of the National Institute of 
        Standards and Technology; and
            (3) $2,000,000 to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
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