text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Custodial Interrogation Recording 
  Act''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      Congress finds the following:
              (1) According to the National Conference of Commissioners 
          on Uniform State Laws, research has demonstrated that video 
          recording of custodial interrogations furthers three important 
          civic values: truth-finding, efficient and fair administration 
          of justice, and protection of constitutional guarantees. See 
          Richard A. Leo, Police Interrogation and American Justice 296-
          305 (2008); Thomas P. Sullivan, Recording Federal Custodial 
          Interviews, 45 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 1297 (2008).
              (2) Video recording of the entire process of custodial 
          interrogation has proven to be a major advance in law 
          enforcement, improving the ability to solve crimes and prove 
          cases while lowering the overall costs of investigation and 
          litigation.
              (3) Video recording of custodial interrogations promotes 
          truth-finding in several ways, including by reducing the 
          incentive to fabricate, compensating for faulty or unreliable 
          recollections of witnesses, deterring problematic interrogation 
          methods, filtering out weak cases, and enhancing the ability of 
          finders of fact to assess witness credibility and veracity.
              (4) Video recording of custodial interrogations promotes 
          efficiency in the administration of the criminal justice system 
          by reducing the number of frivolous suppression motions, 
          improving the quality of police investigations, improving the 
          quality of review and case screening by prosecutors, and 
          reducing the likelihood of hung juries.
              (5) Video recording of custodial interrogations safeguards 
          constitutional rights and values by making it easier for courts 
          to adjudicate motions to suppress, by making it easier for 
          prosecutors to preserve and disclose material exculpatory 
          evidence required under the Supreme Court decision in Brady v. 
          Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), by making it easier for superiors 
          to train police officers in how to comply with constitutional 
          mandates and for the press, and by making it easier for the 
          press, the judiciary, prosecutors, independent watchdog groups, 
          and police administrators to identify and correct misuses of 
          power by law enforcement.
              (6) Video recordings of custodial interrogations make it 
          easier to identify and avoid biases, which would otherwise be 
          difficult to detect and correct because such biases are often 
          unconscious, thus operating outside police awareness.
              (7) Video recordings of custodial interrogations help to 
          improve public confidence in the fairness and professionalism 
          of policing, which in a democracy not only is a good in itself 
          but also a proven means of reducing crime and enhancing citizen 
          cooperation in solving crimes.
              (8) Video recording of the entire process of custodial 
          interrogation is likely to be a major boon to law enforcement, 
          improving its ability to prove its cases while lowering overall 
          costs of investigation and litigation. Such recording will 
          also, however, improve systemic accuracy, fairness to the 
          accused and the State alike, protection of constitutional 
          rights, and public confidence in the justice system.
  
  SEC. 3. AMENDMENT.
  
      Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 
  (42 U.S.C. 3711) is amended--
              (1) in section 1001(a), by adding at the end the following:
              ``(27) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 
          part LL such sums as may be necessary for each of the first 5 
          fiscal years beginning after the date of the enactment of such 
          part.''; and
              (2) by adding at the end the following:
  
         ``PART LL--CUSTODIAL INTERROGATION VIDEO RECORDING GRANTS
  
  ``SEC. 3021. CUSTODIAL INTERROGATION VIDEO RECORDING GRANTS.
  
      ``(a) Grant Program.--The Attorney General shall make grants to 
  States and units of local government to take whatever steps the 
  Attorney General determines to be necessary to achieve the complete and 
  accurate recording, by both audio and video means, of every custodial 
  interrogation occurring within the State or unit of local government.
      ``(b) Matching Requirement.--The portion of the costs of a program 
  funded by a grant under this section may not exceed 75 percent.
      ``(c) Definition of Custodial Interrogation.--In this section, the 
  term `custodial interrogation' means questioning or other conduct by a 
  law enforcement officer which is reasonably likely to elicit an 
  incriminating response from an individual and occurs when reasonable 
  individuals in the same circumstances would consider themselves in 
  custody.''.
target: Custodial Interrogation Recording Act  Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to direct the Attorney General to make grants to states and local governments for the complete and accurate recording, by both audio and video means, of every custodial interrogation occurring within the state or unit of local government.
feat_title: Custodial Interrogation Recording Act