Sponsors (10)
The bill improves national data, transparency, and the capacity for evidence-based reforms to reduce harmful police encounters with people with mental illness, while creating privacy risks, administrative burdens for local agencies, and open-ended federal costs.
People with mental illness will be better understood because anonymized, yearly federal data on police interactions will be collected and summarized, enabling clearer measurement of their experiences with law enforcement.
Policymakers and researchers will have consistent data to design and evaluate training or reform programs that could reduce harmful encounters between police and people with mental illness.
The public will gain greater transparency because the Attorney General must publish an annual summary of the data, supporting community oversight and advocacy.
Even anonymized datasets risk re-identification, which could expose sensitive information about victims (including people with mental illness or disabilities) despite prohibitions on identity data.
Police departments and local governments could face added administrative burden and costs to comply with federal data-collection and reporting requirements.
Taxpayers may ultimately bear higher federal spending because the bill authorizes unspecified 'such sums as may be necessary' for the 2026–2036 period.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs the Attorney General, working with HHS/SAMHSA, to collect annual data on law enforcement officers' interactions with people with mental illness, issue data-collection guidelines, and publish an annual summary for Congress. Limits use of the data to research and statistics, forbids identifying victims, and authorizes appropriations as needed for fiscal years 2026–2036.
Introduced May 29, 2025 by Wesley Bell · Last progress May 29, 2025