[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 956 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 956

 To establish a pilot program for police departments to use anonymous 
      texts from citizens to augment their anonymous tip hotlines.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 11, 2011

   Mr. Kerry introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish a pilot program for police departments to use anonymous 
      texts from citizens to augment their anonymous tip hotlines.

    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 ``Text a Tip Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. A PILOT PROGRAM FOR TEXTING CRIME TIPS.

    (a) In General.--The Attorney General may make grants to State or 
local police departments to implement an anonymous tip program using 
cell phone text messaging that comply with the requirements of this 
Act.
    (b) Use of Funds.--A State or local police department that receives 
a grant under this Act shall use amounts provided under the grant to 
develop, implement, or expand the anonymous tip system using cell phone 
text messaging which may include payment of the following expenses:
            (1) Salaries, personnel, training, technology, and other 
        costs directly related to the operation of the program, 
        including reward money.
            (2) Promotion of the program including public service 
        announcements, printed advertisements, and other forms of 
        marketing.
    (c) Federal Share.--The Federal share of a grant under this Act 
shall not exceed 75 percent of the cost of the program.
    (d) Supplement and Not Supplant.--Grant amounts received under this 
Act shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, non-Federal funds 
that would otherwise be available for activities funded under this Act.

SEC. 3. PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.

    A texting tip program eligible for a grant under this Act shall 
comply with the following requirements:
            (1) A State or local police department shall administer the 
        program.
            (2) The incoming text messages shall be stripped of any 
        identifying information before it is transmitted to the police 
        through a verifiable technology or third party.
            (3) The text tip shall not be traceable by any means.
            (4) The texting program shall not replace any existing 1-
        800 tip hotlines.
            (5) The police department shall train sufficient personnel 
        to intercept and respond to the text tips.
            (6) The police department shall, to the extent possible, 
        make this program compatible with most mobile phone providers.
            (7) The texting program should include an unidentifiable 
        code that can be given to the tipster if they want to send 
        follow up information to the police, allowing for increased 
        continuity and more accurate information.
            (8) The texting program shall include a feature to abort a 
        tip while it is in the process of being given.
            (9) The grantee shall not impose any additional fees on the 
        tipster's mobile phone. Only standard messaging rates from the 
        tipster's mobile phone provider shall apply.
            (10) The police shall, to the extent possible, promote the 
        texting program to encourage citizens, especially youth, to 
        participate in the program.

SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS.

    (a) In General.--To request a grant under this Act, a State or 
local police department shall submit an application to the Department 
of Justice in such form and containing such information as the 
department may reasonably require.
    (b) Certifications.--Each application for a grant under this Act 
shall contain the certification of the State or local police department 
that the program for which the grant is requested meets each of the 
requirements of this Act.

SEC. 5. REPORTS AND EVALUATIONS.

    (a) Recipients.--For each fiscal year, each recipient of a grant 
under this Act during that fiscal year shall submit to the Attorney 
General a report on a date specified by the Attorney General--
            (1) regarding the effectiveness of activities carried out 
        using that grant; and
            (2) including an evaluation in such form and containing 
        such information as the Attorney General may reasonably 
        require.
    (b) Attorney General.--The Attorney General shall submit a yearly 
report on the effectiveness on the activities carried out under this 
Act to the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and the House of 
Representatives.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) The term ``texting tip program'' means a program that--
                    (A) allows citizens to text tips anonymously to the 
                police to aid in criminal justice;
                    (B) strips texts of identifying information; and
                    (C) is used by the police to prevent and solve 
                crimes.
            (2) The term ``texting'' means sending written messages 
        from a mobile phone. Texts is the plural form of text messages.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Attorney General to 
carry out this Act $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 
2017.
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