HR7310-119

What This Bill Does

The Deadly Force Independent Review Act requires each federal law-enforcement agency to establish a protocol for investigating every occasion when an agency officer uses deadly force. The protocol must require all collected evidence to be made available to appropriate State and local authorities. If the agency inspector general does not conduct the investigation, the inspector general must independently review the findings to verify thoroughness, protocol compliance, and evidentiary support. Findings of wrongdoing must be reported for discipline or prosecution. The Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency must create a uniform governmentwide reporting methodology and investigation guidelines. The Council must submit quarterly reports to House Oversight, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, House and Senate Judiciary Committees, and the Comptroller General with incident details, demographics, dates, locations, agency explanations, guidelines, and non-lethal efforts. Names and identifying information are protected from public release and FOIA except in limited circumstances.

Who Benefits and How

People subjected to federal deadly force and their families benefit from mandatory investigations, evidence preservation, inspector general review, and reporting of wrongdoing. State law enforcement agencies and local law enforcement agencies benefit because evidence must be made available to them. Congress and the Comptroller General benefit from quarterly governmentwide data. Federal inspectors general benefit from clearer authority to review investigations that they did not directly conduct.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Federal law-enforcement agencies must create protocols, initiate investigations after every use of deadly force, collect and share evidence, document explanations, and provide data for reporting. Agency inspectors general must conduct independent reviews and refer wrongdoing. The Council of Inspectors General must build governmentwide reporting and investigation standards. Agencies must protect identifying information from public release, FOIA disclosure, and unauthorized disclosure.

Key Provisions

• Requires federal law-enforcement agencies to investigate every use of deadly force by an agency officer.
• Requires evidence collected in those investigations to be made available to appropriate State and local authorities.
• Requires inspector general independent review when the inspector general does not conduct the investigation.
• Requires governmentwide reporting methods, investigation guidelines, and quarterly reports.
• Restricts public, FOIA, and unauthorized disclosure of identifying information.