[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4231 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4231
To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to
reduce the rate of occurrence of homicides and violent crimes in
violent and drug crime zones.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 8, 2009
Mr. Cao introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to
reduce the rate of occurrence of homicides and violent crimes in
violent and drug crime zones.
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 ``Safe Cities Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. CREATION OF AND ASSISTANCE FOR VIOLENT AND DRUG CRIME ZONES.
Title XXI of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of
1994 (42 U.S.C. 14061 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following new subtitle:
``Subtitle E--Coordination With Federal Agencies to Curb Violent Crime
``SEC. 21501. CREATION OF AND ASSISTANCE FOR VIOLENT AND DRUG CRIME
ZONES.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section the following definitions shall
apply:
``(1) Governor.--The term `Governor' means a Governor or
other chief executive officer of a State or the Mayor of the
District of Columbia.
``(2) Violent and drug crime zone.--The term `Violent and
Drug Crime Zone' means a metropolitan area within a State or
multiple States that is designated as having rates of
homicides, violent felonies, sex offenses, drug and gang-
related crimes that are high in proportion to the national
average rates of such crimes, as determined by the most recent
available data of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the
National Incident Based Reporting System maintained by the
uniform crime reporting program of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. For purposes of the previous sentence, rates of
a crime for an area shall be treated as high in proportion to
the national average rates of such crime if such rates for the
area are greater than 5 times the national average rates.
``(3) State.--The term `State' means a State of the United
States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth,
territory, or possession of the United States.
``(b) Violent and Drug Crime Zones.--
``(1) Designation.--The Attorney General, after
consultation with the Governor of each appropriate State and
with relevant Federal agencies, may designate as a Violent and
Drug Crime Zone, any specified area that is located within 1 or
more States, based on the criteria for designation under
paragraph (4).
``(2) Assistance and coordination.--In order to provide
Federal assistance to Violent and Drug Crime Zones, the
Attorney General shall, upon consultation with appropriate
State and relevant local and Federal law enforcement agencies--
``(A) establish a drug and violent crime
intervention team in each Violent and Drug Crime Zone,
which will consist of local, State, and relevant
Federal law enforcement authorities, for the
coordinated investigation, apprehension, and
prosecution of criminal activity in such zone;
``(B) ensure the establishment of a Safe Cities
Task Force described in subsection (c) for each Violent
and Drug Crime Zone;
``(C) coordinate with appropriate Federal agencies
the temporary reassignment of personnel to the
intervention team established under subparagraph (A);
``(D) provide funding or create funding partnership
opportunities with one or more States for the operation
of such intervention teams; and
``(E) require reporting from such intervention
teams to share intelligence and best practices.
``(3) Composition of drug and violent crime intervention
teams.--Each drug and violent crime intervention team
established pursuant to paragraph (2)(A) shall consist of
agents and officers, where feasible, from--
``(A) the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
``(B) the Drug Enforcement Administration;
``(C) the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and
Explosives; and
``(D) other relevant Federal agencies, as
determined by the Attorney General in consultation with
local law enforcement agencies in the relevant area
designated under paragraph (1).
``(4) Criteria for designation.--In considering an area for
designation as a Drug and Violent Crime Zone under this
section, the Attorney General shall consider--
``(A) the current levels of homicides, violent
crimes, sex crimes, and drug-related and gang-related
crimes in the zone;
``(B) the extent to which State and local law
enforcement agencies have committed and need additional
resources to respond to the crimes described in
subparagraph (A);
``(C) the extent to which a significant increase in
the allocation of Federal resources would enhance local
response to the crimes described in subparagraph (A);
and
``(D) any other criteria deemed appropriate by the
Attorney General.
``(5) Training and transfer of best practices.--Federal
agency personnel who participate in a drug and violent crime
intervention team under this subsection shall, as a condition
of such participation, develop and submit to the Attorney
General best practice reports. The Attorney General shall
provide for such best practice reports, as well as other
intelligence and knowledge-transfer opportunities, to be shared
with State and local law enforcement agencies to enable such
agencies to replicate the best practices of the intervention
teams.
``(c) Safe Cities Task Forces.--
``(1) In general.--There shall be established, for each
Violent and Drug Crimes Zone, a Safe Cities Task Force.
``(2) Membership.--Each Safe Cities Task Force, with
respect to a Violent and Drug Crimes Zone, shall consist of not
more than 8 members, including the Mayor involved, Chief of
Police or equivalent, Governor of the applicable State, the
city attorney (or equivalent) involved, and representatives
from Federal law enforcement agencies as determined appropriate
by the Attorney General.
``(3) Duties.--The duties of each Safe Cities Task Force
shall include the following:
``(A) Oversight of funding expenditures related to
the creation and work of the drug and violent crime
intervention team for the zone involved.
``(B) Assistance with coordination of such
intervention team.
``(C) Outreach to affected communities within the
zone served by such intervention team, as needed.
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated from the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund such sums as
may be necessary to carry out this section.''.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR COMMUNITY-BASED JUSTICE
GRANTS FOR PROSECUTORS.
(a) In General.--Section 31707 of the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13867) is amended to read as
follows:
``SEC. 31707. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
``There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this
subtitle $15,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 through 2013
.''.
(b) Increase in Prosecutors for Intervention Team Efforts.--Section
31702 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42
U.S.C. 14211) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at the end and
inserting ``; and''; and
(3) adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(6) to fund programs that would increase the number of
prosecutors available to work with efforts of drug and violent
crime intervention teams under section 21501, as determined
necessary by the Attorney General in consultation with
appropriate Federal agencies and local law enforcement.''.
SEC. 4. GRANTS TO STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO ESTABLISH STATE-
WIDE CRIME PREVENTION DATABASES.
Subtitle I of title XXXII of the Violent Crime Control and Law
Enforcement Act of 1994 is amended by adding at the end the following
new section:
``SEC. 320936. GRANTS TO STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TO ESTABLISH
STATE-WIDE CRIME PREVENTION DATABASES.
``(a) Authority To Make Grants.--The Office of Justice Programs of
the Department of Justice shall award grants, in accordance with such
regulations as the Attorney General may prescribe, to State and local
programs designed to establish and maintain a State-wide database to
track criminals, arrests, prosecutions, and convictions.
``(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this
section.''.
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