Deadly Force Independent Review Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill requires every federal law enforcement agency to create a specific plan for investigating any time an officer uses deadly force. These investigations must start immediately after an incident happens, and all evidence found must be shared with local and state police.
• To make sure investigations are fair, an independent watchdog called an Inspector General will review the findings. They will check to see if the investigation was thorough and if the evidence actually supports the final decision. If they find any wrongdoing, they must report it for potential criminal charges.
• The bill creates a standard way for the entire government to report these incidents. Every three months, a report will be sent to Congress including details like the race, age, and gender of everyone involved, what happened during the incident, and whether the officer tried to use non-lethal methods first.
• While the government will collect a lot of data to look for patterns, the names of the officers and the people involved will be kept private. This information will generally not be available to the public through open records requests to protect the privacy of those involved.