article: SECTION 1. POTENTIAL PROBLEM OFFICER EARLY WARNING PROGRAMS. (a) Declarations.--The Congress finds and declares that-- (1) police brutality is a problem of deep concern; and (2) the Congress has an interest in assisting local units in creating early warning systems that are effective, resilient, and affordable to the local units. (b) Definition.--In this Act, ``potential problem officer early warning program'' means a system of procedures that is designed to-- (1) identify police officers who have been the subject of an excessive number of legitimate complaints of excessive use of force by members of the public or have otherwise demonstrated the potentiality of having difficulty dealing appropriately with members of the public; (2) provide assistance to such officers in avoiding such difficulty in the future, including the provision of training in communication techniques, conflict resolution, and stress management; and (3) apply discipline where appropriate. (c) Evaluation and Report.-- (1) Evaluation.--The Attorney General, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Justice, shall-- (A) conduct an evaluation of potential problem officer early warning programs that are being or have been utilized by units of local government, including analyses of-- (i) the effect on such programs of factors such as the population and geographic size and characteristics of a jurisdiction and the ability of such programs to adjust in a resilient manner to changes in such factors; (ii) the potential savings that local governments can realize from the operation of such programs as a result of the reduction in the number of citizen complaints, the reduction in the number of occasions in which it is necessary to change the duty assignments of or to dismiss (and replace) problem officers, and other beneficial effects; (iii) the positive and negative effects that such programs may have on the law enforcement system, such as their effect on police morale and the ability of police officers to perform their law enforcement duties; (iv) the ability of such programs to ensure the exoneration of officers whose conduct is proper while identifying those whose conduct indicates the necessity or desirability of prophylactic action; and (v) the costs of establishing such programs and of operating and monitoring the effectiveness of such programs on a permanent basis; (B) develop a model early warning system that is effective, capable of adjusting to changing circumstances, and affordable to units (or combinations of units) of local government of jurisdictions (or combinations of jurisdictions) with populations of 50,000 or more; and (C) prepare and disseminate to the law enforcement community, including Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies, findings and recommendations made as a result of the evaluation for the establishment of such programs. (2) Report.--On or before October 1, 1994, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report addressing the matters described in paragraph (1), with recommendations concerning the need or appropriateness of further action by the Federal Government. (3) Expenses.--Expenses incurred in conducting the evaluation and developing a model potential problem officer early warning system under paragraph (1) shall be paid out of funds that are available to the National Institute of Justice and not specifically appropriated for other purposes, to the extent that such funds can be made available without increasing the amount of appropriations for the National Institute of Justice for any fiscal year over the amount appropriated for fiscal year 1993. (d) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that-- (1) the Attorney General should, under existing authorities and using appropriations available for those authorities and funds otherwise available to the Attorney General, make seed money grants of up to $25,000 each to units (or combinations of units) of local government of jurisdictions (or combinations of jurisdictions) of a population of 50,000 or more for the purpose of assisting the police department (or other entity that performs the functions of a police department) in establishing a potential problem officer early warning program; (2) a unit of local government should be eligible to receive a grant described in subsection (c) if-- (A) its police department (or other entity that performs the functions of a police department) adopts and enforces-- (i) a written policy prohibiting the use of unreasonable or unnecessary physical force by law enforcement officers; and (ii) written procedures for receiving and investigating citizen complaints alleging misconduct by law enforcement officers; (B) the program to be funded includes provisions for continuing self-monitoring of the program, including the provision to the Attorney General of information that may be useful in performing the evaluation and developing the model program described in subsection (d)(1); and (C) the grant recipient demonstrates a commitment to the long-term continuance of the program and the reduction of the incidence of police brutality; (3) a policy described in paragraph (2)(A) should-- (A) restrict the use of force to circumstances authorized by law and to the degree minimally necessary to accomplish a lawful law enforcement purpose; and (B) include procedures for reporting and monitoring the use of force by officers within the jurisdiction of the department; (4) the procedures described in paragraph (2)(B) should require that complainants-- (A) be allowed to receive copies of their complaints; (B) be informed of the findings, disposition, and specific disciplinary actions, if any, resulting from their complaints; and (C) be permitted to attend any disciplinary hearings that result from their complaints; (5) a unit (or combination of units) of local government should receive grants described in this subsection in amounts that do not exceed $50,000 in the aggregate; and (6) the total amount of grants described in this subsection that are made during fiscal years 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998 should not exceed $5,000,000.
summary: Directs the Attorney General to: (1) conduct an evaluation of potential problem officer early warning programs utilized by local governments; (2) develop a model early warning system that is effective, capable of adjusting to changing circumstances, and affordable to local governments of jurisdictions with populations of 50,000 or more; and (3) prepare and disseminate findings and recommendations to the law enforcement community for the establishment of such programs. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) reporting requirements; and (2) payment of expenses incurred in conducting the evaluation and developing a model system. Expresses thhe sense of the Congress that: (1) the Attorney General should make seed money grants of up to $25,000 to local governments for assisting in establishing such programs; and (2) local governments should be eligible if they adopt and enforce policies prohibiting unreasonable or unnecessary force by law enforcement officers and procedures for receiving and investigating citizen complaints.