Camera Authorization and Maintenance Act of 2014 or the CAM Act of 2014 - Prohibits a state or local government that does not require its law enforcement officers to use body-worn cameras from receiving any grant from the Attorney General in the following fiscal year, subject to a financial hardship waiver.
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to states, local governments, and Indian tribes for the acquisition, operation, and maintenance of body-worn cameras for law enforcement officers. Sets forth requirements for the wearing and use of such body cameras and for recordings made. Requires funds to be awarded to each qualifying local government with fewer than 100,000 residents, with any remaining funds awarded to other qualifying applicants on a pro rata basis.
Establishes in the Department of Justice (DOJ) a task force to:
Directs the Comptroller General to submit a report on the Department of Defense Excess Personal Property Program that includes information on which jurisdictions equipment is sent to, the value of equipment sent to each jurisdiction, the level of training provided, and how the equipment is used.
[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.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
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.
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.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.
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