Introduction of the Federal Police Camera and Accountability Act of 2023

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I, along with Representative Donald S. Beyer, Jr., introduce the Federal Police Camera and Accountability Act of 2023. This bill would require uniformed federal law enforcement officers to wear body cameras and marked federal law enforcement vehicles to have dashboard cameras. It would also require the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on federal law enforcement officers' training, vehicle pursuits, use of force and interaction with citizens. In the last two Congresses, we introduced virtually identical bills, which were included in the House-passed George Floyd Justice in Policing Act both Congresses.

After the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, the urgency of this bill has become even more apparent. The U.S. Capitol Police tried to stop the mob attack, but since Capitol Police officers do not wear body cameras, we have been forced to rely on social media, cameras in and around the Capitol, body cameras worn by Metropolitan Police Department officers and public reporting to learn what happened. The events at Lafayette Square in 2020, where U.S. Park Police and other federal police officers forcibly removed peaceful protestors so the president could hold a photo op, is another recent example of why our bill is needed.

We first introduced this bill after Bijan Ghaisar was fatally shot on November 17, 2017, in his car by uniformed U.S. Park Police officers in Fairfax County, Virginia, after a vehicle pursuit on the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Video of this shooting only became available through a camera in a Fairfax County Police Department patrol car that was providing backup. Had it not been for that footage, which was recorded and released by that local police department, the public would not have had access to the circumstances surrounding Mr. Ghaisar's death. Moreover, the footage revealed concerns about the Park Police's pursuit and engagement policies.

Body and dashboard cameras for federal law enforcement officers are particularly important for the officers stationed in the nation's capital, where the Park Police and the uniformed division of the U.S. Secret Service have full local police powers. Many other federal law enforcement agencies also have local police powers near their respective agency buildings in the District of Columbia. Cameras can increase transparency for individual interactions with police, strengthen public trust and even deter future criminal behavior. For example, when individuals know that they are being recorded by a dashboard camera, they may be less likely to flee the scene of a traffic accident because they realize that their license plate will be documented. Individuals may also be less likely to attack an officer because the recording may be used as evidence. On the other hand, officers will also be less likely to commit offenses for the same reason. Body and dashboard cameras can also be used to train current and future officers more effectively in best and worst practices.

An increasing number of local police departments, including the Metropolitan Police Department in the District, are using body and dashboard cameras. It is clear that both law enforcement and the public would benefit from federal police departments following suit to increase transparency and maintain public trust.

Last year, President Biden issued an executive order (E.O.) requiring federal law enforcement agencies use body cameras, adopt and publicly post body camera policies and expedite release of video footage to the public following incidents involving serious bodily injury or deaths while an individual is in custody. This is a positive first step. Our bill is necessary, however, because the E.O. is more limited in scope than the bill, including that the E.O. does not require dashboard cameras and the U.S. Capitol Police and Supreme Court Police are not required to use any cameras. Additionally, the executive order can be undone by a future president, whereas this bill would enshrine these rules into law, requiring a future Congress and president acting together through subsequent legislation to overturn them.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

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