A B ILL To provide for documentation of use of force by law enforcement agents, and to provide a rebuttable presumption if documentation is not completed as provided herein; Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as "The Law Enforcement Documentation Act of 2016". (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. TITLE I--DOCUMENTATION OF USE OF FORCE Sec. 101. Background. Sec. 102. Standard. TITLE II--REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION Sec. 201. Rebuttable Presumption. Sec. 202. Loss of Federal Funds; Equipment. TITLE III--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS, FUNDING, SEVERABILITY AND SAVINGS CLAUSE Sec. 301. Appropriations. Sec. 302. Severability. Sec. 303. Savings clause. SECTION 2. DEFINITIONS. In this Act: (1) Law enforcement agency.--The term "law enforcement agency" means any Federal, State, unit of local government, or Indian tribal public agency engaged in the prevention, detection, or investigation of violations of criminal, immigration, or customs laws. (2) Law enforcement agent.--The term "law enforcement agent" means any Federal, State, local, or Indian tribal official responsible for enforcing criminal, immigration, or customs laws, including police officers and other agents of a law enforcement agency, and also including any private contract employee with those duties. (3) Indian tribe.--The term "Indian tribe" has the meaning given the term in section 102 of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a). (4) Covered program.--The term "covered program" means any program or activity funded in whole or in part with funds made available under-- (A) the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program under part E of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3750 et seq.); and (B) the "Cops on the Beat" program under part Q of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796dd et seq.), except that no program, project, or other activity specified in section 1701(b)(13) of such part shall be a covered program under this paragraph. (5) State.--The term "State" means each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any other territory or possession of the United States. (6) Unit of local government.--The term "unit of local government" means-- (A) any city, county, township, town, borough, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a State; (B) any law enforcement district or judicial enforcement district that-- (i) is established under applicable State or local law or regulation or other governmental edict; and (ii) has the authority to, in a manner independent of other State entities, establish a budget and impose taxes; or (C) any Indian tribe that performs law enforcement functions, as determined by the Secretary of the Interior. (7) Weapon.--"Weapon" shall include any weapon or device or object used, or which can be used, to subdue or inflict damage to a person. TITLE I--DOCUMENTATION OF USE OF FORCE Sec. 101. BACKGROUND. There is a fundamental need to protect the constitutional due process rights of individual citizens, including law enforcement agents, by setting a nationwide standard for the documentation of use of force by law enforcement agents. Sec. 102. STANDARD. Within one hour after using a weapon of any kind to subdue or inflict damage to a person, or with the intent to subdue or inflict damage to a person, each law enforcement agent involved in the use of force shall: (a) Begin preparing a written report of all circumstances involved in the use of force, including the date, time and place, every reason for the use of force, the type of force used, the result of the use of force, the names, if known, of other witnesses to the use of force, including the suspect, and any other relevant material; if a name or names are unknown, then the law enforcement agent shall describe each such individual. (b) The preparation of the documentation described in the preceding paragraph shall be done under videotape with the device clearly showing the date and time of taping. (c) The preparation of the documentation described above shall be completed with no other law enforcement agents or other persons within the presence or hearing range of the person preparing the document, and the law enforcement agent preparing the document shall not take any telephone calls or communicate with others by any other device or method during preparation of the documentation. (d) In the event that multiple law enforcement agents were involved in the use of force, then each will be separated from the others until each documentation is complete. (e) Upon completion of the written documentation of use of force, the law enforcement agent shall read it, audibly, before the video camera. (f) After the document has been prepared and read out loud while videotaped, the document and video shall be transmitted immediately to the local states's attorney or district attorney or attorney general in that jurisdiction. TITLE II--FAILURE TO PREPARE DOCUMENTATION Sec. 201. REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION. If the law enforcement agent or the law enforcment agency has failed or refused to comply with the documentation requirements described in Title I of this Act, then there shall be a rebuttable presumption in any federal court that the law enforcement agent or the law enforcement agency has violated the constitutional rights of the suspect or suspects or other person or persons who were the subject of the use of force. The presumption may be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence that the law enforcement agent was her- or himself indisposed in a hospital under the care of a medical doctor, who provided, at the time, a diagnosis that the law enforcement agent or agents was physically and/or mentally completely incapable of completing the documentation described in Title I above, even if he or she were permitted to only videotape his or her narrative. Sec. 202. LOSS OF FEDERAL FUNDS; EQUIPMENT. If any law enforcement agent or law enforcment agency has failed or refused to comply with the documentation requirements described in Title I of this Act, then any or all federal funds under any Covered Program may be rescinded by the Department of Justice. Further, a violation of this Act shall create an automatic forfeiture of all federal tactical equipment, save communications equipment, previously provided to the law enforcement agency. TITLE III--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS, FUNDING, SEVERABILITY AND SAVINGS CLAUSE Sec. 301. MISCELLANEOUS; FUNDING. Appropriations for this act will come from the Department of Justice's General Fund every year without vote. Provided, however, the Department of Justice may use funds obtained pursuant to 28 U.S. Code § 524(c). The Attorney General shall transmit to Congress a report indicating the disposition of any § 524(c) funds used hereunder in the same manner as that Section provides. Sec. 302. SEVERABILITY. If any provision of this Act or the application of it to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of this Act and the application of its provisions to other persons not similarly situated or to other circumstances shall not be affected thereby. Sec. 303. SAVINGS CLAUSE. Nothing in this Act shall be construed-- (1) to limit legal or administrative remedies under section 1979 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (42 U.S.C. 1983), section 210401 of the Violent Crime Control Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14141), the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.), or title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.); (2) to affect any Federal, State, unit of local government or tribal law that applies to an Indian tribe because of the political status of the tribe; or (3) to waive the sovereign immunity of an Indian tribe without the consent of the tribe.

