PRINTER'S NO. 2671
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1904
Session of
2019
INTRODUCED BY D. MILLER, FRANKEL, HILL-EVANS, A. DAVIS,
CALTAGIRONE, HOWARD, McCLINTON AND JOHNSON-HARRELL,
OCTOBER 15, 2019
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, OCTOBER 15, 2019
AN ACT
Providing for use of force reporting and for duties of the
Municipal Police Officers' Education and Training Commission,
the Pennsylvania State Police and law enforcement agencies.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Use of Force
Reporting Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Commission." The Municipal Police Officers' Education and
Training Commission.
"Committee." As described in section 3(a).
"Form." The Use of Force Report Form under section 3.
"Law enforcement agency." An agency that employs a law
enforcement officer.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
"Law enforcement officer." As follows:
(1) An individual who by virtue of the individual's
office or public employment is vested by law with a duty to
maintain public order or make arrests for offenses, whether
or not that duty extends to all offenses or is limited to
specific offenses.
(2) The term includes, but is not limited to, the
following:
(i) A full-time or part-time employee assigned to
criminal or traffic law enforcement duties of a police
department of a county, region, city, borough, town,
township or school entity.
(ii) A member of the Pennsylvania State Police.
(iii) A sheriff, deputy sheriff or constable.
(iv) An individual on active State duty under 51
Pa.C.S. ยง 508 (relating to active duty for emergency).
Section 3. Development of form.
(a) Committee.--Within 180 days of the effective date of
this section, the commission, in conjunction with the
Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association and any other
organization deemed necessary by the commission, shall establish
a committee and develop a Use of Force Report Form.
(b) Purpose.--The form shall be used by each law enforcement
agency within this Commonwealth to document when a law
enforcement officer of the law enforcement agency, while engaged
in the public discharge of duties, uses force or a weapon or
threatens the use of a weapon on a suspect.
(c) Standards.--The committee shall establish threshold
standards regarding the nature and amount of force applied to a
suspect that would require the completion of the form. At a
20190HB1904PN2671 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
minimum, the threshold standards shall include the following:
(1) Any force deployed by a law enforcement officer that
extends beyond what is necessary for compliant suspect
handcuffing.
(2) Any time that a law enforcement officer uses or
threatens to use a weapon on a suspect.
(d) Notice.--Upon development of the form, the commission
shall transmit notice of the development of the form to the
Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania
Bulletin.
Section 4. Contents of form.
(a) Specific information.--At a minimum, the form shall
require a law enforcement officer to provide the following, to
the best of the law enforcement officer's ability:
(1) The following information regarding the law
enforcement officer and the suspect:
(i) Physical characteristics, including age, height,
weight, gender and race.
(ii) The use of force continuum during the incident.
(iii) How contact between the law enforcement
officer and the suspect was initialized.
(iv) The possession, warnings, display and use of
weapons during the incident.
(v) A characterization of the dialogue between the
law enforcement officer and the suspect during the
incident.
(vi) Weaponless tactics during the incident.
(vii) Any body part that is injured as a result of
the incident.
(viii) Any medical attention needed following the
20190HB1904PN2671 - 3 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
use of force during the incident.
(2) The following information:
(i) Prior knowledge of the suspect by the law
enforcement officer.
(ii) The number of law enforcement officers,
suspects and bystanders at the scene of the incident.
(iii) The suspect's general response to the law
enforcement officer and other law enforcement officers
during the incident.
(iv) The type of approach by the law enforcement
officer during the incident.
(v) Any suspected impairment of the suspect during
the incident.
(b) Signatures.--A completed form must contain the
signatures of the following:
(1) The law enforcement officer providing the
information contained in the completed form.
(2) The law enforcement officer's supervisor, who shall
attest to the completion and review of the form prior to
submission.
(c) Public disclosure.--The form shall be designed to
protect from disclosure information that would be exempted under
the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-
to-Know Law.
Section 5. Policy and procedures.
(a) Action by committee.--The committee shall develop policy
and procedures that shall establish the minimum standards for
law enforcement agencies to train and comply with this act.
(b) Action by law enforcement agencies.--Within 90 days of
the publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin of the notice under
20190HB1904PN2671 - 4 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
section 3(d), each law enforcement agency shall amend its
policies and procedures in accordance with this act, which shall
include the adoption and use of the form.
Section 6. Database.
(a) Development.--No later than 90 days after the enactment
of the general appropriation act following the effective date of
this section, the Pennsylvania State Police shall develop a
database with the capability to receive, store, tabulate and
analyze the data sets required to be documented by all law
enforcement agencies under completed forms.
(b) Submittal of completed forms.--Upon the development of
the database described in subsection (a), each law enforcement
agency shall electronically submit each completed form to the
database within 72 hours of the incident that necessitates
completion of the form.
Section 7. Annual reports.
Within one year following the development of the database
under section 6(a), and each year thereafter, the Pennsylvania
State Police shall submit to the General Assembly and post on
the publicly accessible Internet website of the Pennsylvania
State Police a report that:
(1) summarizes the data sets in the database;
(2) summarizes the analyses of the data sets in the
database; and
(3) extrapolates recommendations to improve the
database, the form and the policies and procedures made in
accordance with this act.
Section 8. Effect of act.
Nothing in this act is intended to limit an analysis done by
a law enforcement agency regarding the forms completed by the
20190HB1904PN2671 - 5 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
law enforcement agency or data sets created by the law
enforcement agency.
Section 9. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 60 days.
20190HB1904PN2671 - 6 -
1
2
3
4