Kaine & Beyer Introduce Bill To Increase Transparency About Cost Of Federal, State, And Local Police Misconduct

Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and U.S. Representative Don Beyer (D-VA-08) introduced the Cost of Police Misconduct Act, legislation to increase transparency and accountability about the costs of law enforcement misconduct. This bill would require federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to report judgments and settlements related to police misconduct, including court fees and insurance payments, to the Department of Justice. There is no currently no searchable federal database for misconduct related judgements and settlements. Cities and counties, which have different definitions of misconduct, are not currently required to report information about these costs to the federal government.

By creating a comprehensive database on the size and nature of such costs, this bill would help policymakers, law enforcement, and the public understand how much these settlements are costing taxpayers, and illuminate the need for reforms that could help save lives and taxpayer dollars. This bill was first introduced following the 2020 murder of George Floyd. Today's reintroduction comes after several recent shootings involving federal agents, including the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

"Many law enforcement officers serve honorably and keep our communities safe. But there have also been tragic incidents of misconduct involving law enforcement, including the recent killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. While many Americans understand that these cases can be deadly and erode public trust in law enforcement, they don't always realize the financial costs," said Kaine. "This legislation would increase transparency about how much money federal, state, and local governments spend on police misconduct-related settlements and shine a light on what reforms might be needed to prevent these instances of misconduct."

"Many of us understand the significant harm caused by police misconduct and its devastating cost to human life. Just these last few weeks in Minnesota, we have seen how aggressive and unaccountable policing can escalate violence, erode public trust, and traumatize entire communities. Yet most Americans remain unaware that cities and counties also bear a staggering financial toll because law enforcement agencies often settle misconduct claims in secret. Full data transparency is urgently needed to help hold those responsible for misconduct accountable and to help jurisdictions prevent abuses. Our legislation would provide communities and policymakers the data necessary to measure the cost of misconduct settlements, to not only saves lives-the most important goal-but also taxpayer dollars, which would be better spent on programs and policies that are proven to prevent crime," said Beyer.

Every year, states, cities, and counties across the country spend hundreds of millions of dollars on judgments and settlements related to police misconduct-the costliest of which, in many cases, are civil rights violations that result in the physical injury or death of residents. Cities and counties typically pay for such judgments and settlements through liability insurance (typical of smaller cities), from a general or dedicated municipal fund (typical of larger cities), or by issuing bonds (common for large judgments or settlements). Bond funding often results in taxpayers paying nearly double the cost of the judgment or settlement because the city or county must pay fees to financial institutions and interest to investors.

A 2022 Washington Post report found that police misconduct cost taxpayers more than $3 billion since 2020, with more than $1.5 billion of that paid to settle claims against officers who had more than one claim against them. A previous study found that the nation's three largest cities-New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles-had paid almost $2.5 billion of the $3 billion total paid out to settle misconduct claims over the past decade, but that smaller cities still spent millions of dollars settling claims. Another report found that the ten cities with the largest police departments paid almost $250 million in settlement costs and court judgments in just one year.

Specifically, the Cost of Police Misconduct Act would require:

• Federal law enforcement agencies and state and local law enforcement agencies that receive federal funds under the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG) or the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) "Cops on the Beat" grant program to report on an annual basis judgments or settlements related to misconduct by law enforcement officers, including settlements reached before a lawsuit has been filed, and, for each allegation and judgment or settlement reported:
  • the race, ethnicity, sex, and age of each officer and civilian involved.
  • the year in which the alleged misconduct took place.
  • the year in which the alleged misconduct was reported.
  • the type of misconduct alleged, which may include a body camera violation (whether a failure to wear or record), use of force (including type of force), a collision, racial profiling, negligence, property damage, sexual harassment or assault, false testimony, wrongful death, failure of duty to intervene and/or wrongful imprisonment.
  • any personnel action taken by the officer involved, which may include resignation or retirement.
  • any personnel action taken by the law enforcement agency involved, which may include termination, demotion or relocation of the officer.
  • the total amount paid to satisfy a judgment or settlement and related court fees with respect to such allegation regardless of the source of the payment.
  • the source of money used, such as general operating budget, law enforcement agency budget, bond, to pay a judgment or settlement and related court fees.
  • the total amount spent on all such judgments and settlements and related court fees.
• States and local governments to publish their reported data on their respective websites.
• The Attorney General to create and maintain an online, public, searchable database of the information reported.
• The Comptroller General to conduct a study of the information reported to determine the leading cause of such judgments and settlements and what can be done to prevent them, and to submit a report about the aforementioned study to Congress.
• The Attorney General to submit a separate report to Congress containing the collected data and required recommendations.
• The Attorney General to determine the number of federal agencies that have law enforcement authority, make this information publicly available, and update it annually. The federal government does not know the exact number of agencies that have law enforcement authority. In order to determine if these agencies are in compliance with this law and others, the federal government needs to know how many have this authority.

Full text of the Senate bill is available here.