[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2092 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2092

To expedite State reviews of criminal records of applicants for private 
          security officer employment, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 21, 1995

  Mr. Barr (for himself, Mr. Martinez, Mr. Heineman, Mr. Schiff, Mr. 
   Berman, Mr. Serrano, and Mr. Bryant of Tennessee) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Economic and 
  Educational Opportunities, and in addition to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
 in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To expedite State reviews of criminal records of applicants for private 
          security officer employment, and for other purposes.
    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Private Security Officer Quality 
Assurance Act of 1995''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) employment of private security officers in the United 
        States is growing rapidly;
            (2) the private security industry provides numerous 
        opportunities for entry-level job applicants, including 
        individuals suffering from unemployment due to economic 
        conditions or dislocations;
            (3) sworn law enforcement officers provide significant 
        services to the citizens of the United States in its public 
        areas, and are only supplemented by private security officers 
        who provide prevention and reporting services in support of, 
        but not in place of, regular sworn police;
            (4) given the growth of large private shopping malls, and 
        the consequent reduction in the number of public shopping 
        streets, the American public is more likely to have contact 
        with private security personnel in the course of a day than 
        with sworn law enforcement officers;
            (5) regardless of the differences in their duties, skill, 
        and responsibilities, the public has difficulty in discerning 
        the difference between sworn law enforcement officers and 
        private security personnel;
            (6) the American public demands the employment of 
        qualified, well-trained private security personnel as an 
        adjunct, but not a replacement for sworn law enforcement 
        officers;
            (7) the States and employers should be required to 
        determine the qualifications of applicants for employment as 
        private security personnel;
            (8) employers should be required to ensure at least minimum 
        training for newly hired private security personnel and 
        refresher training for experienced personnel, based upon State-
        imposed standards;
            (9) State requirements, if any, for screening and training 
        private security personnel vary widely;
            (10) public safety would be improved if all States required 
        appropriate screening and training of private security 
        personnel;
            (11) States should enact laws imposing minimum standards 
        that are uniform nationwide for the screening and training of 
        private security personnel, although States should be allowed 
        to enact stricter or more rigorous standards if they so choose; 
        and
            (12) State law applicable to private security personnel 
        should apply to all private security personnel.

SEC. 3. BACKGROUND CHECKS.

    (a) In General.--An association of employers of private security 
officers, designated for the purpose of this section by the Attorney 
General, may submit fingerprints or other methods of positive 
identification approved by the Attorney General, to the Attorney 
General on behalf of any applicant for a State license or certificate 
of registration as a private security officer or employer of private 
security officers. In response to such a submission, the Attorney 
General may, to the extent provided by State law conforming to the 
requirements of the second paragraph under the heading ``Federal Bureau 
of Investigation'' and the subheading ``Salaries and Expenses'' in 
title II of Public Law 92-544 (86 Stat. 1115), exchange, for licensing 
and employment purposes, identification and criminal history records 
with the State governmental agencies to which such applicant has 
applied.
    (b) Regulations.--The Attorney General may prescribe such 
regulations as may be necessary to carry out this section, including 
measures relating to the security, confidentiality, accuracy, use, and 
dissemination of information and audits and recordkeeping.
    (c) Report.--The Attorney General shall report to the Senate and 
House Committees on the Judiciary 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this bill on the number of inquiries made by the association of 
employers under this section and their disposition.
SEC. 4. STATE LICENSING OR REGISTRATION OF SECURITY OFFICERS.

    For the purpose of assuring that private security officers are 
qualified to provide the public with security services, it is the sense 
of the Congress that the several States should enact statutes which 
would include the following:
            (1) Employer licenses.--Requirements and procedures for 
        issuing licenses to, and reviewing security services, of 
        employers. A State could require an employer to name an 
        individual holder of such license:
                    (A) Fees.--Fees on licenses of employers of private 
                security officers should compensate the State for its 
                direct costs of implementing and enforcing the program. 
                Revenues from such fees should be dedicated to this 
                regulatory program.
                    (B) Assignment to duty.--Procedures should require 
                that employers may assign an employee to duty as an 
                unarmed private security officer prior to the State's 
                approval of the employee's registration as a private 
                security officer only after the employer has--
                            (i) submitted an application for a criminal 
                        records background check,
                            (ii) initiated verification of the 
                        employee's personal references and 5 year 
                        employment history, and
                            (iii) verified that the employee has 
                        successfully completed the classroom training 
                        required by paragraph (3).
            (2) Registration permits.--Requirements for issuance of 
        registration permits by the State regulatory authority to 
        private security officers, including the following provisions:
                    (A) Permits should be valid for 3 years.
                    (B) Applicants who have been convicted of 
                committing a felony or a misdemeanor, either of which 
                the State Regulatory Agency determines relevant to the 
                performance of security services should be denied a 
                registration permit. States should utilize the criminal 
                records forwarded by the Department of Justice in 
                addition to State police records in making this 
                determination.
                    (C) Employers must certify that the employees have 
                completed classroom and on the job training.
            (3) Training requirements.--Each State should have in 
        effect training requirements for private security officers that 
        consist of the following, at a minimum:
                    (A) For unarmed security officers, the following:
                            (i) Eight hours of basic classroom 
                        instruction, successful completion of a written 
                        examination, and four hours of on the job 
                        training.
                            (ii) Such classroom training should 
                        include, at a minimum, the following:
                                    (I) The legal powers and 
                                limitations of a private security 
                                officer, including instruction in the 
                                law of arrest, search and seizure, and 
                                the use of force as related to security 
                                services.
                                    (II) Safety and fire detection and 
                                reporting.
                                    (III) When and how to notify public 
                                authorities.
                                    (IV) The techniques of observation 
                                and reporting of incidents, and how to 
                                prepare an incident report.
                                    (V) The fundamentals of patrolling.
                                    (VI) Deportment and ethics.
                    (B) For armored car personnel, the State should 
                have in effect training and testing that appropriately 
                reflects the nature of their duties rather than the 
                classroom instruction required by subparagraph (A).
                    (C) For electronic security officers, the State 
                should require training and testing that adequately 
                prepares the registrant for duties in the fields of 
                burglar alarms, fire alarms, closed circuit television, 
                access control, or system monitoring.
                    (D) For armed private security officers, in 
                addition to the training required by paragraph (1) or 
                (2), the following:
                            (i) Fifteen hours of weapons instructions 
                        (including the marksmanship described in clause 
                        (ii)) and successful completion of a written 
                        examination on--
                                    (I) the legal limitations on the 
                                use of,
                                    (II) weapons handling, and
                                    (III) safety and maintenance.
                            (ii) A minimum marksmanship qualification 
                        of 70 percent attained on any silhouette target 
                        course approved by the State regulatory agency.
                    (E) Each State should have in effect a requirement 
                for an annual refresher course in the subjects listed 
                in this section. Armed private security officers should 
                be required to requalify on the range.
            (4) Waiver.--On the request of an employer, a State should 
        waive the preassignment screening requirements and training 
        requirement if the security officer holds a valid registration 
        certificate of that State, or is a sworn law enforcement 
        officer.
            (5) Recognition of out-of-state licenses.--A State should 
        accept proof of licensure of registration (accompanied by an 
        appropriate fee) from other States as valid licenses providing 
        the State's training and screening requirements are consistent.
            (6) Employee protection.--A State should have in effect a 
        law that makes invalid and unenforceable any unreasonable 
        limitation imposed by an employer on the right of an employee 
        to seek or obtain subsequent employment as a private security 
        officer after voluntary or involuntary termination of 
        employment by such employer.
            (7) Advisory boards.--States should use advisory boards to 
        provide information to regulators enforcing the statute. Such 
        boards should include persons engaged in the business of 
        providing security, security managers, law enforcement 
        officials, and members of the public.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act--
            (1) the term ``employee'' includes an applicant for 
        employment;
            (2) the term ``employer'' means any person that--
                    (A) employs one or more private security officers; 
                or
                    (B) provides, as an independent contractor, for 
                consideration, the services of one or more private 
                security officers (possibly including oneself);
            (3) the term ``felony'' means an offense for which a term 
        of imprisonment exceeding one year may be imposed;
            (4) the term ``misdemeanor'' means an offense for which a 
        maximum term of imprisonment of one year or less may be 
        imposed;
            (5) the term ``private security officer''
                    (A) means--
                            (i) an individual who performs security 
                        services, full or part time, for consideration 
                        as an independent contractor or an employee, 
                        whether armed or unarmed and in uniform or 
                        plain clothes whose primary duty is to perform 
                        security services, or
                            (ii) an individual who is an employee of an 
                        electronic security system company engaged in 
                        one or more of the following activities in the 
                        State: burglar alarm technician, fire alarm 
                        technician, closed circuit television 
                        technician, access control technician, or 
                        security system monitor; but
                    (B) does not include--
                            (i) sworn police officers who have law 
                        enforcement powers in the State,
                            (ii) attorneys, accountants, and other 
                        professionals who are otherwise licensed in the 
                        State,
                            (iii) employees whose duties are primarily 
                        internal audit or credit functions,
                            (iv) persons whose duties may incidentally 
                        include the reporting or apprehension of 
                        shoplifters or trespassers, or
                            (v) an individual on active duty in the 
                        military service;
            (6) the term ``registration permit'' means a license, 
        permit, certificate, registration card, or other formal written 
        permission from the State for the person to engage in providing 
        security services;
            (7) the term ``security services'' means the performance of 
        one or more of the following:
                    (A) the observation or reporting of intrusion, 
                larceny, vandalism, fire or trespass;
                    (B) the deterrence of theft or misappropriation of 
                any goods, money, or other item of value;
                    (C) the observation or reporting of any unlawful 
                activity;
                    (D) the protection of individuals or property, 
                including proprietary information, from harm or 
                misappropriation;
                    (E) the control of access to premises being 
                protected;
                    (F) the secure movement of prisoners;
                    (G) the maintenance of order and safety at 
                athletic, entertainment, or other public activities;
                    (H) the provision of canine services for protecting 
                premises or for the detection of any unlawful device or 
                substance; and
                    (I) the transportation of money or other valuables 
                by armored vehicle;
            (8) the term ``State'' means any of the several States, the 
        District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 
        United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the 
        Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; and
            (9) the term ``State Regulatory Agency'' means an 
        appropriate State regulatory entity.
                                 <all>