DHS Use of Force Oversight Act

This bill would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to set a single use-of-force policy for all law enforcement officers and agents in the Department of Homeland Security. The policy would limit force to what is objectively reasonable, call for officers to identify themselves and give a verbal warning when feasible, state that deescalation is preferred, and ban chokeholds and carotid restraints on people resisting arrest. Officers would have to complete initial and recurring training, and each component would have to name a compliance official and keep a review council to study use-of-force incidents. The Department would publish use-of-force data every six months, brief Congress and inform the public within 24 hours of incidents causing hospitalization or death, and the Inspector General would review compliance on an ongoing basis.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Delia C. Ramirez Democrat sponsor
• 29 cosponsors