1.This Act may be cited as the
Safe Cities Act of
2009
.
2.Creation of and
assistance for Violent and Drug Crime ZonesTitle 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:
ECoordination with
Federal agencies to curb violent crime
21501.Creation of
and assistance for Violent and Drug Crime Zones
(a)In
this section the following definitions shall apply:
(1)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 ZoneThe 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)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)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
coordinationIn 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 teamsEach 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)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 practicesFederal 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)
(1)There shall be established, for each Violent and Drug
Crimes Zone, a Safe Cities Task Force.
(2)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)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
AppropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated from the
Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund such sums as may be necessary to carry out
this
section.
.
3.Authorization of
Appropriations for Community-Based Justice Grants for Prosecutors
(a)Section 31707 of the
Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13867) is
amended to read as follows:
31707.Authorization
of appropriationsThere 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 effortsSection 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.
.
4.Grants to State
and local law enforcement to establish State-wide crime prevention
databasesSubtitle 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:
320936.Grants to
State and local law enforcement to establish State-wide crime prevention
databases
(a)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
AppropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as may be necessary to carry out this
section.
.