SUBCHAPTER VIII—STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

Executive Documents

Ex. Ord. No. 13684. Establishment of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing

Ex. Ord. No. 13684, Dec. 18, 2014, 79 F.R. 76865, provided:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to identify the best means to provide an effective partnership between law enforcement and local communities that reduces crime and increases trust, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Establishment. There is established a President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing (Task Force).

Sec. 2. Membership. (a) The Task Force shall be composed of not more than eleven members appointed by the President. The members shall include distinguished individuals with relevant experience or subject-matter expertise in law enforcement, civil rights, and civil liberties.

(b) The President shall designate two members of the Task Force to serve as Co-Chairs.

Sec. 3. Mission. (a) The Task Force shall, consistent with applicable law, identify best practices and otherwise make recommendations to the President on how policing practices can promote effective crime reduction while building public trust.

(b) The Task Force shall be solely advisory and shall submit a report to the President by March 2, 2015.

Sec. 4. Administration. (a) The Task Force shall hold public meetings and engage with Federal, State, tribal, and local officials, technical advisors, and nongovernmental organizations, among others, as necessary to carry out its mission.

(b) The Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services shall serve as Executive Director of the Task Force and shall, as directed by the Co-Chairs, convene regular meetings of the Task Force and supervise its work.

(c) In carrying out its mission, the Task Force shall be informed by, and shall strive to avoid duplicating, the efforts of other governmental entities.

(d) The Department of Justice shall provide administrative services, funds, facilities, staff, equipment, and other support services as may be necessary for the Task Force to carry out its mission to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(e) Members of the Task Force shall serve without any additional compensation for their work on the Task Force, but shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem, to the extent permitted by law for persons serving intermittently in the Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701–5707).

Sec. 5. Termination. The Task Force shall terminate 30 days after the President requests a final report from the Task Force.

Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to a department, agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

(c) Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended ([former] 5 U.S.C. App.) [see 5 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.] (the "Act") may apply to the Task Force, any functions of the President under the Act, except for those in section 6 of the Act, shall be performed by the Attorney General.

Barack Obama.      

Part A—DNA Identification

§12591. Quality assurance and proficiency testing standards

(a) Publication of quality assurance and proficiency testing standards

(1)(A) Not later than 180 days after September 13, 1994, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall appoint an advisory board on DNA quality assurance methods from among nominations proposed by the head of the National Academy of Sciences and professional societies of crime laboratory officials.

(B) The advisory board shall include as members scientists from State, local, and private forensic laboratories, molecular geneticists and population geneticists not affiliated with a forensic laboratory, and a representative from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

(C) The advisory board shall develop, and if appropriate, periodically revise, recommended standards for quality assurance, including standards for testing the proficiency of forensic laboratories, and forensic analysts, in conducting analyses of DNA.

(2) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, after taking into consideration such recommended standards, shall issue (and revise from time to time) standards for quality assurance, including standards for testing the proficiency of forensic laboratories, and forensic analysts, in conducting analyses of DNA.

(3) The standards described in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall specify criteria for quality assurance and proficiency tests to be applied to the various types of DNA analyses used by forensic laboratories. The standards shall also include a system for grading proficiency testing performance to determine whether a laboratory is performing acceptably.

(4) Until such time as the advisory board has made recommendations to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Director has acted upon those recommendations, the quality assurance guidelines adopted by the technical working group on DNA analysis methods shall be deemed the Director's standards for purposes of this section.

(5)(A) In addition to issuing standards as provided in paragraphs (1) through (4), the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall issue standards and procedures for the use of Rapid DNA instruments and resulting DNA analyses.

(B) In this Act, the term "Rapid DNA instruments" means instrumentation that carries out a fully automated process to derive a DNA analysis from a DNA sample.

(b) Administration of advisory board

(1) For administrative purposes, the advisory board appointed under subsection (a) shall be considered an advisory board to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

(2) Section 1013 of title 5 shall not apply with respect to the advisory board appointed under subsection (a).

(3) The DNA advisory board established under this section shall be separate and distinct from any other advisory board administered by the FBI, and is to be administered separately.

(4) The board shall cease to exist on the date 5 years after the initial appointments are made to the board, unless the existence of the board is extended by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

(c) Proficiency testing program

(1) Not later than 1 year after the effective date of this Act,¹ the Director of the National Institute of Justice shall certify to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House and Senate that—

(A) the Institute has entered into a contract with, or made a grant to, an appropriate entity for establishing, or has taken other appropriate action to ensure that there is established, not later than 2 years after September 13, 1994, a blind external proficiency testing program for DNA analyses, which shall be available to public and private laboratories performing forensic DNA analyses;

(B) a blind external proficiency testing program for DNA analyses is already readily available to public and private laboratories performing forensic DNA analyses; or

(C) it is not feasible to have blind external testing for DNA forensic analyses.

(2) As used in this subsection, the term "blind external proficiency test" means a test that is presented to a forensic laboratory through a second agency and appears to the analysts to involve routine evidence.

(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Attorney General shall make available to the Director of the National Institute of Justice during the first fiscal year in which funds are distributed under this subtitle up to $250,000 from the funds available under part X of Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 [34 U.S.C. 10511 et seq.] to carry out this subsection.

(Pub. L. 103–322, title XXI, §210303, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2068; Pub. L. 115–50, §2(a), Aug. 18, 2017, 131 Stat. 1001; Pub. L. 117–286, §4(a)(211), Dec. 27, 2022, 136 Stat. 4329.)

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This Act, referred to in subsec. (a)(5)(B), probably means the DNA Identification Act of 1994, which is subtitle C (§§210301–210306) of title XXI of Pub. L. 103–322, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2065. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 1994 Act note set out under section 10101 of this title and Tables.

The effective date of this Act, referred to in subsec. (c)(1), probably means the date of enactment of Pub. L. 103–322, which was approved Sept. 13, 1994.

This subtitle, referred to in subsec. (c)(3), is subtitle C (§§210301–210306) of title XXI of Pub. L. 103–322, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2065, known as the DNA Identification Act of 1994. For complete classification of this subtitle to the Code, see Short Title of 1994 Act note set out under section 10101 of this title and Tables.

The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, referred to in subsec. (c)(3), is Pub. L. 90–351, June 19, 1968, 82 Stat. 197. Part X of title I of the Act is classified generally to subchapter XXIII (§10511 et seq.) of chapter 101 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 1968 Act note set out under section 10101 of this title and Tables.

Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 14131 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Amendments

2022—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 117–286 substituted "Section 1013 of title 5" for "Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.)".

2017—Subsec. (a)(5). Pub. L. 115–50 added par. (5).

¹ See References in Text note below.

§12592. Index to facilitate law enforcement exchange of DNA identification information

(a) Establishment of index

The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation may establish an index of—

(1) DNA identification records of—

(A) persons convicted of crimes;

(B) persons who have been charged in an indictment or information with a crime; and

(C) other persons whose DNA samples are collected under applicable legal authorities, provided that DNA samples that are voluntarily submitted solely for elimination purposes shall not be included in the National DNA Index System;

(2) analyses of DNA samples recovered from crime scenes;

(3) analyses of DNA samples recovered from unidentified human remains; and

(4) analyses of DNA samples voluntarily contributed from relatives of missing persons.

(b) Information

The index described in subsection (a) shall include only information on DNA identification records and DNA analyses that are—

(1) based on analyses performed by or on behalf of a criminal justice agency (or the Secretary of Defense in accordance with section 1565 of title 10) in accordance with publicly available standards that satisfy or exceed the guidelines for a quality assurance program for DNA analysis, issued by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation under section 12591 of this title;

(2) prepared by—

(A) laboratories that—

(i) have been accredited by a nonprofit professional association of persons actively involved in forensic science that is nationally recognized within the forensic science community; and

(ii) undergo external audits, not less than once every 2 years, that demonstrate compliance with standards established by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; or

(B) criminal justice agencies using Rapid DNA instruments approved by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in compliance with the standards and procedures issued by the Director under section 12591(a)(5) of this title; and

(3) maintained by Federal, State, and local criminal justice agencies (or the Secretary of Defense in accordance with section 1565 of title 10) pursuant to rules that allow disclosure of stored DNA samples and DNA analyses only—

(A) to criminal justice agencies for law enforcement identification purposes;

(B) in judicial proceedings, if otherwise admissible pursuant to applicable statutes or rules;

(C) for criminal defense purposes, to a defendant, who shall have access to samples and analyses performed in connection with the case in which such defendant is charged; or

(D) if personally identifiable information is removed, for a population statistics database, for identification research and protocol development purposes, or for quality control purposes.

(c) Failure to comply

Access to the index established by this section is subject to cancellation if the quality control and privacy requirements described in subsection (b) are not met.

(d) Expungement of records

(1) By Director

(A) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall promptly expunge from the index described in subsection (a) the DNA analysis of a person included in the index—

(i) on the basis of conviction for a qualifying Federal offense or a qualifying District of Columbia offense (as determined under sections 40702 and 40703 of this title, respectively), if the Director receives, for each conviction of the person of a qualifying offense, a certified copy of a final court order establishing that such conviction has been overturned; or

(ii) on the basis of an arrest under the authority of the United States, if the Attorney General receives, for each charge against the person on the basis of which the analysis was or could have been included in the index, a certified copy of a final court order establishing that such charge has been dismissed or has resulted in an acquittal or that no charge was filed within the applicable time period.

(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term "qualifying offense" means any of the following offenses:

(i) A qualifying Federal offense, as determined under section 40702 of this title.

(ii) A qualifying District of Columbia offense, as determined under section 40703 of this title.

(iii) A qualifying military offense, as determined under section 1565 of title 10.

(C) For purposes of subparagraph (A), a court order is not "final" if time remains for an appeal or application for discretionary review with respect to the order.

(2) By States

(A) As a condition of access to the index described in subsection (a), a State shall promptly expunge from that index the DNA analysis of a person included in the index by that State if—

(i) the responsible agency or official of that State receives, for each conviction of the person of an offense on the basis of which that analysis was or could have been included in the index, a certified copy of a final court order establishing that such conviction has been overturned; or

(ii) the person has not been convicted of an offense on the basis of which that analysis was or could have been included in the index, and the responsible agency or official of that State receives, for each charge against the person on the basis of which the analysis was or could have been included in the index, a certified copy of a final court order establishing that such charge has been dismissed or has resulted in an acquittal or that no charge was filed within the applicable time period.

(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), a court order is not "final" if time remains for an appeal or application for discretionary review with respect to the order.

(Pub. L. 103–322, title XXI, §210304, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2069; Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, §1000(a)(1) [title I, §120], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1535, 1501A-23; Pub. L. 106–546, §6(b), Dec. 19, 2000, 114 Stat. 2733; Pub. L. 108–405, title II, §203(a), (d), title III, §302, Oct. 30, 2004, 118 Stat. 2269, 2270, 2272; Pub. L. 109–162, title X, §1002, Jan. 5, 2006, 119 Stat. 3084; Pub. L. 115–50, §2(b), Aug. 18, 2017, 131 Stat. 1001.)

Editorial Notes

Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 14132 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section. Some section numbers or references in amendment notes below reflect the classification of such sections or references prior to editorial reclassification.

Amendments

2017—Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 115–50 amended par. (2) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: "prepared by laboratories that—

"(A) not later than 2 years after October 30, 2004, have been accredited by a nonprofit professional association of persons actively involved in forensic science that is nationally recognized within the forensic science community; and

"(B) undergo external audits, not less than once every 2 years, that demonstrate compliance with standards established by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and".

2006—Subsec. (a)(1)(C). Pub. L. 109–162, §1002(1), struck out "DNA profiles from arrestees who have not been charged in an indictment or information with a crime, and" after "provided that".

Subsec. (d)(1)(A). Pub. L. 109–162, §1002(2), added subpar. (A) and struck out former subpar. (A), which read as follows: "The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall promptly expunge from the index described in subsection (a) of this section the DNA analysis of a person included in the index on the basis of a qualifying Federal offense or a qualifying District of Columbia offense (as determined under sections 14135a and 14135b of this title, respectively) if the Director receives, for each conviction of the person of a qualifying offense, a certified copy of a final court order establishing that such conviction has been overturned."

Subsec. (d)(2)(A)(ii). Pub. L. 109–162, §1002(3), substituted "the responsible agency or official of that State receives, for each charge against the person on the basis of which the analysis was or could have been included in the index, a certified copy of a final court order establishing that such charge has been dismissed or has resulted in an acquittal or that no charge was filed within the applicable time period." for "all charges for which the analysis was or could have been included in the index have been dismissed or resulted in acquittal."

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 109–162, §1002(4), struck out heading and text of subsec. (e). Prior to amendment, text related to authority for keyboard searches.

2004—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 108–405, §203(a)(1), substituted "of—" for "of persons convicted of crimes;" and added subpars (A) to (C).

Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 108–405, §302, amended par. (2) generally. Prior to amendment, par. (2) read as follows: "prepared by laboratories, and DNA analysts, that undergo semiannual external proficiency testing by a DNA proficiency testing program meeting the standards issued under section 14131 of this title; and".

Subsec. (d)(2)(A). Pub. L. 108–405, §203(a)(2)(B), (C), which directed that subsection (d)(2) be amended by substituting "; or" for period at end and by adding cl. (ii) at end, was executed by making the amendment to subpar. (A) of subsec. (d)(2) to reflect the probable intent of Congress.

Pub. L. 108–405, §203(a)(2)(A), substituted "if—" for "if" and inserted cl. (i) designation before "the responsible agency".

Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 108–405, §203(d), added subsec. (e).

2000—Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 106–546, §6(b)(1), inserted "(or the Secretary of Defense in accordance with section 1565 of title 10)" after "criminal justice agency".

Subsec. (b)(2). Pub. L. 106–546, §6(b)(2), substituted "semiannual" for ", at regular intervals of not to exceed 180 days,".

Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 106–546, §6(b)(3), inserted "(or the Secretary of Defense in accordance with section 1565 of title 10)" after "criminal justice agencies" in introductory provisions.

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 106–546, §6(b)(4), added subsec. (d).

1999—Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 106–113 added par. (4).

§12593. Federal Bureau of Investigation

(a) Proficiency testing requirements

(1) Generally

(A) Personnel at the Federal Bureau of Investigation who perform DNA analyses shall undergo semiannual external proficiency testing by a DNA proficiency testing program meeting the standards issued under section 12591 of this title.

(B) Within 1 year after September 13, 1994, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall arrange for periodic blind external tests to determine the proficiency of DNA analysis performed at the Federal Bureau of Investigation laboratory.

(C) In this paragraph, "blind external test" means a test that is presented to the laboratory through a second agency and appears to the analysts to involve routine evidence.

(2) Report

For 5 years after September 13, 1994, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall submit to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House and Senate an annual report on the results of each of the tests described in paragraph (1).

(b) Privacy protection standards

(1) Generally

Except as provided in paragraph (2), the results of DNA tests performed for a Federal law enforcement agency for law enforcement purposes may be disclosed only—

(A) to criminal justice agencies for law enforcement identification purposes;

(B) in judicial proceedings, if otherwise admissible pursuant to applicable statues ¹ or rules; and

(C) for criminal defense purposes, to a defendant, who shall have access to samples and analyses performed in connection with the case in which such defendant is charged.

(2) Exception

If personally identifiable information is removed, test results may be disclosed for a population statistics database, for identification research and protocol development purposes, or for quality control purposes.

(c) Criminal penalty

(1) A person who—

(A) by virtue of employment or official position, has possession of, or access to, individually identifiable DNA information indexed in a database created or maintained by any Federal law enforcement agency; and

(B) knowingly discloses such information in any manner to any person or agency not authorized to receive it,

shall be fined not more than $100,000.

(2) A person who, without authorization, knowingly obtains DNA samples or individually identifiable DNA information indexed in a database created or maintained by any Federal law enforcement agency shall be fined not more than $250,000, or imprisoned for a period of not more than one year, or both.

(Pub. L. 103–322, title XXI, §210305, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2070; Pub. L. 106–546, §8(c), Dec. 19, 2000, 114 Stat. 2735; Pub. L. 108–405, title II, §203(e)(1), Oct. 30, 2004, 118 Stat. 2270.)

Editorial Notes

Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 14133 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Amendments

2004—Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 108–405 substituted "$250,000, or imprisoned for a period of not more than one year, or both" for "$100,000".

2000—Subsec. (a)(1)(A). Pub. L. 106–546 substituted "semiannual" for ", at regular intervals of not to exceed 180 days,".

¹ So in original. Probably should be "statutes".

Part B—Police Pattern or Practice

§12601. Cause of action

(a) Unlawful conduct

It shall be unlawful for any governmental authority, or any agent thereof, or any person acting on behalf of a governmental authority, to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers or by officials or employees of any governmental agency with responsibility for the administration of juvenile justice or the incarceration of juveniles that deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.

(b) Civil action by Attorney General

Whenever the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that a violation of paragraph (1) ¹ has occurred, the Attorney General, for or in the name of the United States, may in a civil action obtain appropriate equitable and declaratory relief to eliminate the pattern or practice.

(Pub. L. 103–322, title XXI, §210401, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2071.)

Editorial Notes

Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 14141 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

¹ So in original. Probably should be "subsection (a) of this section".

§12602. Data on use of excessive force

(a) Attorney General to collect

The Attorney General shall, through appropriate means, acquire data about the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers.

(b) Limitation on use of data

Data acquired under this section shall be used only for research or statistical purposes and may not contain any information that may reveal the identity of the victim or any law enforcement officer.

(c) Annual summary

The Attorney General shall publish an annual summary of the data acquired under this section.

(Pub. L. 103–322, title XXI, §210402, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2071.)

Editorial Notes

Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 14142 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.