Federal grants would require police training and independent deadly-force reviews

The federal Attorney General may award a grant to a state. The grants would help states carry out the training rules and their laws for handling covered police deadly-force cases. A state must meet both the police-training and independent-prosecution requirements. Each grant would last one fiscal year.

States seeking grants must require annual fair and impartial policing training. The requirement covers all state law enforcement officers and everyone enrolled in a state law enforcement academy. Training must cover bias, working with people from different cultures or with mental illness or disabilities, crisis response, and de-escalation. Participants must show their skills through scenario-based tests, and states must certify and verify completion. Initial compliance is due within 240 days after enactment; the Attorney General may allow 120 more days for good-faith efforts. Later eligibility depends on compliance at the end of the prior fiscal year.

A state must have the required independent-prosecution law to qualify for a grant. The law must cover criminal cases where a possible defendant is an officer and the alleged offense involves on-duty deadly force that caused injury or death. Deadly force means force a reasonable person would view as likely to cause death or serious bodily harm. One option is an agency or civilian review board that investigates and independently reviews all officer use-of-force allegations. Other options use the state attorney general, another law enforcement agency, or a special or independent prosecutor. The law must be enacted and in effect on the last day of the fiscal year before the grant year.