Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires municipal law enforcement department adoption of use of force policies.

Highlights:

• Requires law enforcement agencies to keep recordkeeping and reporting documents regarding incidents in which the use of force and the use of deadly force by law enforcement officers were applied (Sec. 2).

• Defines “commission” as the Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission, and “commissioner” as the Commissioner of Pennsylvania State Police (Sec. 2).

• Defines “force” as efforts used by a law enforcement officer that may result in serious bodily injury or death when used to (Sec. 2):

• Effectuate an arrest;

• Overcome resistance or threatened resistance to effectuate an arrest; or

• Protect an arresting officer or any other individual.

• Defines “serious bodily injury” as bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or causes serious, permanent disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ (Sec. 2).

• Requires the commissioner, in consultation with the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association and the Fraternal Order of Police, to develop a reporting mechanism through which each law enforcement agency must submit report records of all use of force incidents (Sec. 2).

• Requires the report to document (Sec. 2):

• The reason for the use of force;

• Personal injuries, if any;

• Property damage, if any;

• Deaths, if any; and

• Suspect information, including statute violations and apprehension status of the suspect.

• Requires the Pennsylvania State Police to compile data sent by individual agencies on an annual basis for the Attorney General, Judiciary Committee of the Senate, Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives, and the Law and Justice Committee of the Senate, which must include (Sec. 2):

• Statewide aggregations of information collected;

• The total number and percentage of incidents involving the use of force;

• The total number and percentage of incidents involving the use of force resulting in serious bodily injury; and

• The total number and percentage of incidents involving the use of force that result in death.

• Requires the Pennsylvania State Police to submit the first annual report after the first full calendar year of data collection (Sec. 2).

Full Bill Text