Sec. 364. PEACE Act
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This section may be cited as the or the Police Exercising Absolute Care With Everyone Act of 2020 . PEACE Act of 2020 In this subsection: The term deadly force means force that creates a substantial risk of causing death or serious bodily injury, including— the discharge of a firearm; a maneuver that restricts blood or oxygen flow to the brain, including chokeholds, strangleholds, neck restraints, neckholds, and carotid artery restraints; and multiple discharges of an electronic control weapon.
The term deescalation tactics and techniques means proactive actions and approaches used by a Federal 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.
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. The term less lethal force means any degree of force that is not likely to have lethal effect. 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.
The term reasonable alternatives means tactics and methods used by a Federal 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, the term reasonable alternatives includes the use of less lethal force. The term totality of the circumstances means all credible facts known to the Federal law enforcement officer leading up to and at the time of the use of force, including the actions of the person against whom the Federal law enforcement officer uses such force and the actions of the Federal law enforcement officer. A Federal law enforcement officer may not use any less lethal force unless— the form of less lethal force used 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 reasonable alternatives to the use of the form of less lethal force have been exhausted.
A Federal law enforcement officer may not use deadly force against a person unless— the form of deadly force used is necessary, as a last resort, to prevent imminent and serious bodily injury or death to the officer or another person; the use of the form of deadly force creates no substantial risk of injury to a third person; and reasonable alternatives to the use of the form of deadly force have been exhausted. When feasible, prior to using force against a person, a Federal law enforcement officer shall identify himself or herself as a Federal law enforcement officer, and issue a verbal warning to the person that the Federal law enforcement officer seeks to apprehend, which shall— include a request that the person surrender to the law enforcement officer; and notify the person that the law enforcement officer will use force against the person if the person resists arrest or flees.
Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with impacted persons, communities, and 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 paragraphs
(2)and (3); 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— pregnant individuals; children and youth under 21 years of age; elderly persons; persons with mental, behavioral, or physical disabilities or impairments; persons experiencing perceptual or cognitive impairments due to use of alcohol, narcotics, hallucinogens, or other drugs; persons suffering from a serious medical condition; and persons with limited English proficiency. The Attorney General shall provide training to Federal law enforcement officers on interacting people described in subclauses
(I)through
(VII)of paragraph (5)(B)(ii). Chapter 51 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: It is not a defense to an offense under section 1111 or 1112 that the use of less lethal force or deadly force was justified in the case of a Federal law enforcement officer— whose use of such force was inconsistent with section 2 of the ; or Police Exercising Absolute Care With Everyone Act of 2020 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. In this section— the terms deadly force and less lethal force have the meanings given such terms in section 2 of the ; and Police Exercising Absolute Care With Everyone Act of 2020 the term Federal law enforcement officer has the meaning given such term in section 115. . 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. . A State or other jurisdiction, other than an Indian Tribe, 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 a fiscal year if, on the day before the first day of the fiscal year, the State or other jurisdiction does not have in effect a law that is consistent with subsection
(b)of this Act and section 1123 of title 18, United States Code, as determined by the Attorney General. If funds described in paragraph
(1)are withheld from a State or other jurisdiction pursuant to paragraph
(1)for one or more fiscal years, and the State or other jurisdiction enacts or puts in place a law described in paragraph (1), and demonstrates substantial efforts to enforce such law, subject to subparagraph (B), the State or other jurisdiction shall be eligible, in the fiscal year after the fiscal year during which the State or other jurisdiction demonstrates such substantial efforts, to receive the total amount that the State or other jurisdiction would have received during each fiscal year for which funds were withheld. A State or other jurisdiction may not receive funds under subparagraph
(A)in an amount that is more than the amount withheld from the State or other jurisdiction during the 5-fiscal-year period before the fiscal year during which funds are received under subparagraph (A). Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with impacted persons, communities, and 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 paragraph (1). This subsection shall apply to the first fiscal year that begins after the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and each fiscal year thereafter.
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U.S. Code