H.R. 3544 · 114th Congress

Safer Officers and Safer Citizens Act of 2015

Stage
In committee
Introduced
2015-09-17
Latest action
2015-10-05 · Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations.

Summary

Safer Officers and Safer Citizens Act of 2015

This bill amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance to award matching grants to states, local governments, and Indian tribes to purchase body-worn cameras.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance must give preference to grant applications from jurisdictions that: (1) have comprehensive policies and procedures related to implementation of a body-worn camera program, (2) have high percentages of officers without access to body-worn cameras, (3) have violent crime rates above the national average, and (4) agree to submit metrics on the use of body-worn cameras.

To offset the cost, it requires the Office of Personnel Management to issue regulations to limit administrative leave for federal employees to 20 days per year, unless approved individually by the agency head. The Office of Management and Budget must ensure each agency adjusts the number of authorized full-time equivalent employees to reflect lower personnel requirements due to increased available work hours per employee.