REFERENCE TITLE: use of force; reports; analysis

 

 

 

 

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-fifth Legislature

First Regular Session

2021

 

 

 

HB 2168

 

Introduced by

Representative Blackman

 

 

AN ACT

 

amending title 38, chapter 8, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 38-1117; relating to law enforcement.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 


Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1.  Title 38, chapter 8, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 38-1117, to read:

START_STATUTE38-1117.  Use-of-force incidents; data collection; reports; rules; public records; definitions

A.  A law enforcement agency shall report data to the National Use‑of-Force Data Collection on use-of-force incidents involving public officers at least annually.  The reported data may not include any identifying information on a public officer.  A law enforcement agency shall submit the report through the Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal that is administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

B.  A law enforcement agency shall report the data collected pursuant to subsection A of this section to the Arizona criminal justice commission at least annually.

C.  On or before July 1, 2022, the Arizona criminal justice commission shall develop standards and procedures governing the collection and reporting of use‑of‑force incident data.  These standards and procedures must be consistent with the requirements, definitions and methods of the National Use‑of‑Force Data Collection.

D.  The data reported pursuant to this section is a public record.

E.  On or before January 1, 2025, the Arizona criminal justice commission shall conduct a comprehensive analysis of law enforcement agency use-of-force rates reported pursuant to this section and shall release the analysis to the public.  The Arizona criminal justice commission shall update this report at least once every five years.

F.  For the purposes of this section:

1.  "Law enforcement agency" means a law enforcement agency of this State or a political subdivision of this State, including the department of public safety, a municipal, city, town, county and tribal police agency, a sheriff and special jurisdiction police.

2.  "National use-of-force data collection" means the national use‑of‑force data collection that is established and administered by the federal bureau of investigation to provide nationwide statistics on law enforcement use‑of‑force incidents.

3.  "Public officer" means all law enforcement officers of this State and political subdivisions of this state who both:

(a)  Are sworn by the officers' respective government authorities to uphold the law and to safeguard the rights, lives and property of American citizens.

(b)  Have full arrest powers, are members of public governmental law enforcement agencies and are paid from government monies set aside specifically for payment to sworn police law enforcement who are organized for the purpose of keeping order and for preventing and detecting crimes and apprehending those responsible.

4.  "Use-of-force incident" means an incident in which any of the following occurs:

(a)  A public officer's use of force is connected to a person's death.

(b)  A public officer's use of force is connected to a person receiving a serious physical injury.

(c) in the absence of death or serious physical injury, a public officer discharged a firearm at or in the direction of a person. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2.  Effective date

This act is effective from and after December 31, 2021.