Preventing Authoritarian Policing Tactics on America’s Streets Act
The Preventing Authoritarian Policing Tactics on America’s Streets Act would significantly curb the use of federal law enforcement and armed forces for crowd control and related activities inside the United States. The bill would require identifiable badges for officers involved in crowd-control or arrests, ban concealing identifying information or using unmarked vehicles in such operations, and strictly limit where federal personnel may perform crowd-control actions (primarily to federal property or its immediate vicinity) unless a state/local request for assistance is made in writing or the Insurrection Act is invoked. It also creates a prohibition on arrest by federal personnel who are operating in violation of these new rules and mandates public notice within 24 hours after deployment, sharing details about the operation, personnel, custody, and related requests for assistance. The overall aim is to increase transparency and prevent abuses in federal crowd-control deployments. In short, the bill seeks to reduce federal crowd-control deployments outside of narrowly defined circumstances, improve accountability and visibility of such actions, and provide public reporting on deployments and detainees.
Key Points
- 1Defines who counts as a Federal law enforcement officer (including contractors) and what constitutes a law enforcement function, ensuring the rules apply broadly to federal personnel involved in crowd control.
- 2Requires all federal officers or armed forces personnel involved in crowd control to display identifying information (agency and last name or unique ID; for armed forces, last name/ID and rank) at all times; prohibits obscuring this information and the use of unmarked vehicles during such activities.
- 3Limits crowd-control authority: federal personnel may generally operate only on federal property or the immediate vicinity (e.g., sidewalks and streets adjacent to federal buildings) unless there is a state/local written request for assistance or the Insurrection Act is invoked.
- 4Prohibits arrests by federal personnel when they are conducting crowd-control actions in violation of the identification and/or location rules.
- 5Requires public notice within 24 hours after deployment, including deployment date, numbers of personnel, mission description, locations of detainees and custody arrangements, and a copy of any written request for assistance if applicable.