STUDY OF INVESTIGATIVE PRACTICES OF MILITARY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE ORGANIZATIONS RELATING TO SEX CRIMES.

SEC. 1072. STUDY OF INVESTIGATIVE PRACTICES OF MILITARY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE ORGANIZATIONS RELATING TO SEX CRIMES. (a) Independent Study Required.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall provide for an independent study of the policies, procedures, and practices of the military criminal investigative organizations for the conduct of investigations of complaints of sex crimes and other criminal sexual misconduct arising in the Armed Forces. (2) The Secretary shall provide for the study to be conducted by the National Academy of Public Administration. The amount of a contract for the study may not exceed $2,000,000. (3) The Secretary shall require that all components of the Department of Defense cooperate fully with the organization carrying out the study. (b) Matters To Be Included in Study.—The Secretary shall require that the organization conducting the study under this section specifically consider each of the following matters: (1) The need (if any) for greater organizational independence and autonomy for the military criminal investigative organizations than exists under current chain-of-command structures within the military departments. (2) The authority of each of the military criminal investigative organizations to investigate allegations of sex crimes and other criminal sexual misconduct and the policies of those organizations for carrying out such investigations. (3) The training (including training in skills and techniques related to the conduct of interviews) provided by each of those organizations to agents or prospective agents responsible for conducting or providing support to investigations of alleged sex crimes and other criminal sexual misconduct, including— (A) the extent to which that training is comparable to the training provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other civilian law enforcement agencies; and (B) the coordination of training and investigative policies related to alleged sex crimes and other criminal sexual misconduct of each of those organizations with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other civilian Federal law enforcement agencies. (4) The procedures and relevant professional standards of each military criminal investigative organization with regard to recruitment and hiring of agents, including an evaluation of the extent to which those procedures and standards provide for— (A) sufficient screening of prospective agents based on background investigations; and (B) obtaining sufficient information about the qualifications and relevant experience of prospective agents. (5) The advantages and disadvantages of establishing, within each of the military criminal investigative organizations or within the Defense Criminal Investigative Service only, a 111 STAT. 1899special unit for the investigation of alleged sex crimes and other criminal sexual misconduct. (6) The clarity of guidance for, and consistency of investigative tactics used by, each of the military criminal investigative organizations for the investigation of alleged sex crimes and other criminal sexual misconduct, together with a comparison with the guidance and tactics used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other civilian law enforcement agencies for such investigations. (7) The number of allegations of agent misconduct in the investigation of sex crimes and other criminal sexual misconduct for each of those organizations, together with a comparison with the number of such allegations concerning agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other civilian law enforcement agencies for such investigations. (8) The procedures of each of the military criminal investigative organizations for administrative identification (known as “titling”) of persons suspected of committing sex crimes or other criminal sexual misconduct, together with a comparison with the comparable procedures of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other civilian Federal law enforcement agencies for such investigations. (9) The accuracy, timeliness, and completeness of reporting of sex crimes and other criminal sexual misconduct by each of the military criminal investigative organizations to the National Crime Information Center maintained by the Department of Justice. (10) Any recommendation for legislation or administrative action to revise the organizational or operational arrangements of the military criminal investigative organizations or to alter recruitment, training, or operational procedures, as they pertain to the investigation of sex crimes and other criminal sexual misconduct. (c) Report.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall require the organization conducting the study under this section to submit to the Secretary a report on the study not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act. The organization shall include in the report its findings and conclusions concerning each of the matters specified in subsection (b). (2) The Secretary shall submit the report under paragraph (1), together with the Secretary’s comments on the report, to Congress not later than 30 days after the date on which the report is submitted to the Secretary under paragraph (1). (d) Military Criminal Investigative Organization Defined.—For the purposes of this section, the term “military criminal investigative organization” means any of the following: (1) The Army Criminal Investigation Command. (2) The Naval Criminal Investigative Service. (3) The Air Force Office of Special Investigations. (4) The Defense Criminal Investigative Service. (e) Criminal Sexual Misconduct Defined.—For the purposes of this section, the term “criminal sexual misconduct” means conduct by a member of the Armed Forces involving sexual abuse, sexual harassment, or other sexual misconduct that constitutes an offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.111 STAT. 1900