H.R. 3652 — National Police Misuse of Force Investigation Board Act of 2025

This section establishes the National Police Misuse of Force Investigation Board (Board) as an independent federal establishment composed of 8 members appointed by the President with Senate confirmation, with no more than 4 from the same political party and at least 4 qualified in civil rights law, psychology, racial inequality social theory, socioeconomics, or violent conflict mitigation. Members serve 6-year terms (with holdover authority until successors are qualified and presidential removal for cause); the President designates a Chairman and Vice Chairman (with Senate advice and consent for the Chairman), each serving 2-year terms, and the Chairman serves as chief executive with authority to appoint and fix pay for necessary staff (other than personal staff of other members), distribute business, and supervise expenditures. A quorum consists of 5 members; the Board must establish necessary offices—including one for police brutality investigations—and distinct bureaus, divisions, or offices for (1) deaths in police custody, (2) officer-involved shootings, and (3) uses of force resulting in severe bodily injury in police custody; the Chairman must designate a Chief Financial Officer to oversee financial management, budget execution, property control, and service charges. Each Board member may select limited personal staff (1 senior professional at or below GS-15 level and 1 administrative staff, plus others per annual budget allocations, subject to ethics approval); the Board has a judicially recognized seal; and reports from offices under subsection (g) must include demographic data on involved individuals and officers, circumstances of the incident (e.g., date, time, location, reason for contact, events leading to force), and outcomes (e.g., types of force used, charges filed, death or injury).

This section authorizes the Board to establish a special board of inquiry for incidents involving a substantial question or history of excessive force use, the influence of historical racial injustice, or civil rights infringement within the community. The special board consists of (1) one Board member as chairman and (2) two public members appointed by the President upon notification of the board's establishment; public members must be qualified by training and experience and have no pecuniary interest in any aviation enterprise involved in the incident. The special board has the same authority as the Board under this Act.

This section establishes administrative authorities for the Board related to police misuse of force. Specifically, it (a) authorizes the Board, Board members, administrative law judges, or designated officers to conduct hearings, administer oaths, issue subpoenas, and enforce compliance through civil actions in U.S. district court; (b) grants additional powers to (1) procure temporary or intermittent services of experts or consultants under 5 U.S.C. 3109 (i.e., contracts not exceeding one year bypassing competitive service appointment and certain pay limits); make agreements without regard to 41 U.S.C. 5; use federal services on a reimbursable basis; confer with state/local authorities; appoint advisory committees; accept uncompensated services, gifts, and contracts for studies; and enter agreements for facilities/services/training with reimbursement requirements—and (2) deposit related receipts as offsetting collections; (c) requires simultaneous submission of budget materials and legislative comments to Congress, prohibiting prior review by other executive entities; (d) authorizes liaison committees with other governments and standard-setting bodies; (e) permits formal inquiries with Federal Register notice and required reports from government entities and carriers; (f) authorizes regulations; and (g) permits overtime pay for GS-10 or higher employees for incident-related work, notwithstanding standard limits in 5 U.S.C. 5542(a)(1)-(2), at a rate equal to one and one [text cuts off].

This section requires the Board to make publicly available, upon identifiable request and at reasonable cost, copies of records, information, or investigations submitted to or received by the Board, except as provided in subsections (b), (c), (d), and (f) or if exempt under section 552(b) of title 5 or another U.S. law. It further (1) directs the Board to deposit related receipts as offsetting collections to its appropriation; (2) prohibits the Board or recipient agencies from disclosing voluntarily provided safety-related information—unrelated to the Board's investigation authority—if disclosure would inhibit voluntary submissions of that information; and (3) authorizes the Board to train its employees and permit attendance by other government, foreign government, or industry personnel, with required reimbursements from non-Board attendees credited as offsetting collections to the Board's appropriation.

This section directs the Board to submit periodic reports to Congress, federal departments and agencies, state and local authorities concerned with police misuse of force, and other interested persons that advocate responses to reduce similar incidents, propose adjudication recommendations to local, state, and federal governments and the public, and—where appropriate—recommend reforms to police procedures, laws, or equipment. The section further directs the Board to (1) conduct special studies and investigations on law enforcement oversight; (2) examine police misuse of force investigation techniques and publish recommended procedures; (3) prescribe reporting requirements for incidents investigable by the Board or involving public safety departments; (4) evaluate other government entities' transportation safety consciousness and effectiveness in preventing such incidents; and (5) assess safeguards and procedures for hazardous materials transportation and related government performance.

This section requires the Board to submit an annual report to Congress on July 1 of each year that includes (1) a statistical and analytical summary of all investigations conducted and reviewed by the Board during the prior calendar year; (2) a survey and summary of the recommendations made by the Board to reduce, together with the observed response to each recommendation; (3) a detailed appraisal of the investigation and excessive force incident prevention activities of other U.S. government departments, agencies, instrumentalities, and state and local governmental authorities; and (4) a list of ongoing investigations that have exceeded the expected time allotted for completion by Board order, with an explanation for the additional time required for each.

This section authorizes appropriations of such sums as necessary to carry out the Act and permits the Board to impose and collect fees, refunds, and reimbursements for services it provides. Fees, refunds, and reimbursements collected are credited as offsetting collections to the relevant account, available only for associated costs, and remain available until expended; the Board may also refund fees paid by mistake or in excess.

This section establishes the general authority of the Board to investigate, or have investigated to a level of detail it prescribes, and determine the facts, circumstances, and cause or probable cause of (1) deaths in police custody, (2) officer-involved shootings, or (3) uses of force that result in severe bodily injury in police custody.

This section authorizes Board officers and employees, upon displaying credentials and providing written notice, to enter properties and inspect records, processes, controls, or facilities related to incident investigations. It further (1) authorizes the Board to inspect and test involved weapons, with preservation and movement governed by Board regulations; (2) grants the Board exclusive authority over testing decisions (i.e., personnel, methods, and witnesses), based on investigation needs; (3) requires prompt initiation, completion, and availability of results for inspections, examinations, and tests; and (4) authorizes the Board to order autopsies—observing applicable local religious protections—and to obtain copies of existing autopsy reports performed by state or local officials, with or without reimbursement.

This section establishes requirements for recipients of the Board's recommendations related to law enforcement use of force to submit a formal written response within 90 days indicating whether they intend (1) to adopt the complete recommendation, (2) to adopt part of it, or (3) to refuse it. Responses adopting all or part of a recommendation must include a proposed timetable for completion, with partial adoptions detailing reasons for refusing the remainder and full refusals detailing reasons for refusal. (c) requires the Board to make each recommendation and response publicly available. (d) directs the Attorney General to submit annual reports to Congress and the Board by February 1 on the regulatory status of recommendations on the Board's "most wanted list," with continued annual reporting; if no report is received by March 1, the Board must notify the House and Senate Judiciary Committees; and within 90 days of the Attorney General's report, the Board must review it and transmit comments to the Attorney General and the Judiciary Committees.

This section requires the Chairman of the Board, as soon as practicable after notification of an incident within the United States involving loss of life or serious injury to a civilian from interaction with law enforcement officers, to (1) designate a Board employee as director of family support services to serve as the federal point of contact for affected civilians and families, and (2) designate an independent nonprofit organization with post-trauma experience to coordinate their emotional care and support. The designated nonprofit must provide mental health and counseling services; facilitate private grieving; contact and meet with affected civilians and families periodically until assistance is no longer needed (as determined with the director); and communicate the roles of the organization, agencies, and parties involved. The section further directs the Board, to the maximum extent practicable during its investigation, to brief families prior to any public briefing on the incident and findings and to inform families of, and allow attendance at, any public hearings or meetings on the incident. No person (including a state or locality) may impede the Board, director, nonprofit, or families' contacts; and no state or locality may prevent the nonprofit from providing mental health and counseling services for 30 days after the incident (extendable by the director to 60 days with notification to state and local authorities if needed). The section does not limit assistance or obligations of law enforcement departments or local governments and does not apply if the Board relinquishes investigative priority to a federal agency willing and able to assist victims and families (in which case the Board must assist that agency to the maximum extent possible).

This section establishes authority for the Inspector General of the Department of Justice to review the financial management, property management, and business operations of the Board—including internal accounting and administrative control systems—for compliance with applicable federal laws, rules, and regulations. In doing so, the Inspector General must (1) keep the Chairman of the Board and Congress fully informed of problems; (2) issue findings and recommendations to address such problems; and (3) report periodically to Congress on progress in implementing corrective actions. The section further grants the Inspector General access to information authorities under subsections (a) and (b) of section 6 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 and authorizes appropriations to the Attorney General for related expenses (or, absent appropriation, a reimbursable agreement between the Inspector General and the Board).

This section directs the Comptroller General of the United States to evaluate and audit the programs, operations, activities, and expenditures of the Board at least annually—or as determined necessary by the Comptroller General or the appropriate congressional committees—to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the Board's administration. The evaluations and audits must address (1) information management and security, including privacy protection of personally identifiable information; (2) resource management; (3) workforce development; (4) procurement and contracting planning, practices, and policies; (5) adherence to leading practices in selected management areas; and (6) addressing management challenges in completing incident investigations. It defines the appropriate congressional committees as the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary.

This section restricts discovery and use in judicial proceedings of recordings from law enforcement body cameras or vehicle-mounted cameras and their transcripts. Specifically, it (1) generally prohibits discovery except when a court determines it necessary for a fair trial, with transcripts discoverable only if the recording is unavailable; (2) requires protective orders for any discovered non-public portions, limiting their use to the proceeding and prohibiting dissemination; (3) permits admission into evidence only under seal; and (4) exempts the Board's use of recordings for safety recommendations. The section also prohibits admission into evidence or use in civil damages actions of any part of a Board report related to an incident or investigation.

This section authorizes the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division to open a pattern-or-practice investigation at any time, citing a recipient's lack of progress on implementing recommendations as possible evidence of a systematic pattern of abuse, and to take direct enforcement action if needed.

This section conditions eligibility for Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (Byrne JAG) funds—formula grants to states and localities for criminal justice programs—on specified legal changes regarding findings and recommendations from the National Police Accountability and Reform Board. Specifically, for each fiscal year after the compliance period expires, grant recipients must (1) make Board findings or recommendations admissible in criminal or civil proceedings on law enforcement violence; (2) permit such findings to be presented to juries if prosecution or a civil case proceeds; and (3) submit an initial report to the Board and Congress one year after receiving reform recommendations, with annual reports thereafter until all recommendations are addressed. Compliance is required beginning the first full fiscal year after enactment (with a possible 60-day extension for good-faith efforts), after which noncompliance subjects recipients, at the Attorney General's discretion, to a 1-10% reduction in Byrne JAG funds; withheld amounts are reallocated to compliant states and localities.