# What This Bill Does: Creating a National Police Misuse of Force Investigation Board

This bill creates a brand new federal agency called the National Police Misuse of Force Investigation Board. Think of it as a specialized investigative body similar to the National Transportation Safety Board, but focused on police incidents instead of airplane crashes. The board would be independent from other government agencies and would investigate serious incidents where police use force that results in death, severe injury, or officer-involved shootings.

The board would be run by eight members appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, with requirements that at least four members have expertise in civil rights law, psychology, racial inequality, or conflict resolution. These members would serve six-year terms. The board would establish separate divisions to investigate three specific types of incidents: deaths in police custody, officer-involved shootings, and uses of force that cause severe bodily injury. For particularly significant cases involving patterns of excessive force or racial injustice concerns, the board could create special inquiry boards that include public members alongside board officials.

The board would have real investigative power, meaning it could subpoena witnesses, demand documents, hold hearings, and compel people to testify. If someone refuses to cooperate, the board could take them to federal court to enforce compliance. When the board investigates incidents, it would collect detailed information including demographic data about both the person injured or killed and the officers involved, what led to the initial police contact, what happened before the force was used, and what the outcome was. All of this information would be made public unless it falls under standard privacy protections.

In practical terms, this bill would mean that serious police use-of-force incidents would get investigated by a dedicated federal agency rather than being handled solely by local police departments or prosecutors. The board would have staff stationed in every state and could conduct independent investigations into police actions. The investigations would be transparent, with findings made public, which could help identify patterns of problematic policing and provide families of victims with an independent review of what happened.