[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 665 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.665

                     One Hundred Fourteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
           the sixth day of January, two thousand and fifteen


                                 An Act


 
  To encourage, enhance, and integrate Blue Alert plans throughout the 
United States in order to disseminate information when a law enforcement 
 officer is seriously injured or killed in the line of duty, is missing 
  in connection with the officer's official duties, or an imminent and 
 credible threat that an individual intends to cause the serious injury 
    or death of a law enforcement officer is received, 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 ``Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu 
National Blue Alert Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
    In this Act:
        (1) Coordinator.--The term ``Coordinator'' means the Blue Alert 
    Coordinator of the Department of Justice designated under section 
    4(a).
        (2) Blue alert.--The term ``Blue Alert'' means information sent 
    through the network relating to--
            (A) the serious injury or death of a law enforcement 
        officer in the line of duty;
            (B) an officer who is missing in connection with the 
        officer's official duties; or
            (C) an imminent and credible threat that an individual 
        intends to cause the serious injury or death of a law 
        enforcement officer.
        (3) Blue alert plan.--The term ``Blue Alert plan'' means the 
    plan of a State, unit of local government, or Federal agency 
    participating in the network for the dissemination of information 
    received as a Blue Alert.
        (4) Law enforcement officer.--The term ``law enforcement 
    officer'' shall have the same meaning as in section 1204 of the 
    Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
    3796b).
        (5) Network.--The term ``network'' means the Blue Alert 
    communications network established by the Attorney General under 
    section 3.
        (6) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the 50 States, the 
    District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 
    Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 
    Mariana Islands.
SEC. 3. BLUE ALERT COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK.
    The Attorney General shall establish a national Blue Alert 
communications network within the Department of Justice to issue Blue 
Alerts through the initiation, facilitation, and promotion of Blue 
Alert plans, in coordination with States, units of local government, 
law enforcement agencies, and other appropriate entities.
SEC. 4. BLUE ALERT COORDINATOR; GUIDELINES.
    (a) Coordination Within Department of Justice.--The Attorney 
General shall assign an existing officer of the Department of Justice 
to act as the national coordinator of the Blue Alert communications 
network.
    (b) Duties of the Coordinator.--The Coordinator shall--
        (1) provide assistance to States and units of local government 
    that are using Blue Alert plans;
        (2) establish voluntary guidelines for States and units of 
    local government to use in developing Blue Alert plans that will 
    promote compatible and integrated Blue Alert plans throughout the 
    United States, including--
            (A) a list of the resources necessary to establish a Blue 
        Alert plan;
            (B) criteria for evaluating whether a situation warrants 
        issuing a Blue Alert;
            (C) guidelines to protect the privacy, dignity, 
        independence, and autonomy of any law enforcement officer who 
        may be the subject of a Blue Alert and the family of the law 
        enforcement officer;
            (D) guidelines that a Blue Alert should only be issued with 
        respect to a law enforcement officer if--
                (i) the law enforcement agency involved--

                    (I) confirms--

                        (aa) the death or serious injury of the law 
                    enforcement officer; or
                        (bb) the attack on the law enforcement officer 
                    and that there is an indication of the death or 
                    serious injury of the officer; or

                    (II) concludes that the law enforcement officer is 
                missing in connection with the officer's official 
                duties;

                (ii) there is an indication of serious injury to or 
            death of the law enforcement officer;
                (iii) the suspect involved has not been apprehended; 
            and
                (iv) there is sufficient descriptive information of the 
            suspect involved and any relevant vehicle and tag numbers;
            (E) guidelines that a Blue Alert should only be issued with 
        respect to a threat to cause death or serious injury to a law 
        enforcement officer if--
                (i) a law enforcement agency involved confirms that the 
            threat is imminent and credible;
                (ii) at the time of receipt of the threat, the suspect 
            is wanted by a law enforcement agency;
                (iii) the suspect involved has not been apprehended; 
            and
                (iv) there is sufficient descriptive information of the 
            suspect involved and any relevant vehicle and tag numbers;
            (F) guidelines--
                (i) that information should be provided to the National 
            Crime Information Center database operated by the Federal 
            Bureau of Investigation under section 534 of title 28, 
            United States Code, and any relevant crime information 
            repository of the State involved, relating to--

                    (I) a law enforcement officer who is seriously 
                injured or killed in the line of duty; or
                    (II) an imminent and credible threat to cause the 
                serious injury or death of a law enforcement officer;

                (ii) that a Blue Alert should, to the maximum extent 
            practicable (as determined by the Coordinator in 
            consultation with law enforcement agencies of States and 
            units of local governments), be limited to the geographic 
            areas most likely to facilitate the apprehension of the 
            suspect involved or which the suspect could reasonably 
            reach, which should not be limited to State lines;
                (iii) for law enforcement agencies of States or units 
            of local government to develop plans to communicate 
            information to neighboring States to provide for seamless 
            communication of a Blue Alert; and
                (iv) providing that a Blue Alert should be suspended 
            when the suspect involved is apprehended or when the law 
            enforcement agency involved determines that the Blue Alert 
            is no longer effective; and
            (G) guidelines for--
                (i) the issuance of Blue Alerts through the network; 
            and
                (ii) the extent of the dissemination of alerts issued 
            through the network;
        (3) develop protocols for efforts to apprehend suspects that 
    address activities during the period beginning at the time of the 
    initial notification of a law enforcement agency that a suspect has 
    not been apprehended and ending at the time of apprehension of a 
    suspect or when the law enforcement agency involved determines that 
    the Blue Alert is no longer effective, including protocols 
    regulating--
            (A) the use of public safety communications;
            (B) command center operations; and
            (C) incident review, evaluation, debriefing, and public 
        information procedures;
        (4) work with States to ensure appropriate regional 
    coordination of various elements of the network;
        (5) establish an advisory group to assist States, units of 
    local government, law enforcement agencies, and other entities 
    involved in the network with initiating, facilitating, and 
    promoting Blue Alert plans, which shall include--
            (A) to the maximum extent practicable, representation from 
        the various geographic regions of the United States; and
            (B) members who are--
                (i) representatives of a law enforcement organization 
            representing rank-and-file officers;
                (ii) representatives of other law enforcement agencies 
            and public safety communications;
                (iii) broadcasters, first responders, dispatchers, and 
            radio station personnel; and
                (iv) representatives of any other individuals or 
            organizations that the Coordinator determines are necessary 
            to the success of the network;
        (6) act as the nationwide point of contact for--
            (A) the development of the network; and
            (B) regional coordination of Blue Alerts through the 
        network; and
        (7) determine--
            (A) what procedures and practices are in use for notifying 
        law enforcement and the public when--
                (i) a law enforcement officer is killed or seriously 
            injured in the line of duty;
                (ii) a law enforcement officer is missing in connection 
            with the officer's official duties; and
                (iii) an imminent and credible threat to kill or 
            seriously injure a law enforcement officer is received; and
            (B) which of the procedures and practices are effective and 
        that do not require the expenditure of additional resources to 
        implement.
    (c) Limitations.--
        (1) Voluntary participation.--The guidelines established under 
    subsection (b)(2), protocols developed under subsection (b)(3), and 
    other programs established under subsection (b), shall not be 
    mandatory.
        (2) Dissemination of information.--The guidelines established 
    under subsection (b)(2) shall, to the maximum extent practicable 
    (as determined by the Coordinator in consultation with law 
    enforcement agencies of States and units of local government), 
    provide that appropriate information relating to a Blue Alert is 
    disseminated to the appropriate officials of law enforcement 
    agencies, public health agencies, and other agencies.
        (3) Privacy and civil liberties protections.--The guidelines 
    established under subsection (b) shall--
            (A) provide mechanisms that ensure that Blue Alerts comply 
        with all applicable Federal, State, and local privacy laws and 
        regulations; and
            (B) include standards that specifically provide for the 
        protection of the civil liberties, including the privacy, of 
        law enforcement officers who are seriously injured or killed in 
        the line of duty, is missing in connection with the officer's 
        official duties, or who are threatened with death or serious 
        injury, and the families of the officers.
    (d) Cooperation With Other Agencies.--The Coordinator shall 
cooperate with the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of 
Transportation, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, 
and appropriate offices of the Department of Justice in carrying out 
activities under this Act.
    (e) Restrictions on Coordinator.--The Coordinator may not--
        (1) perform any official travel for the sole purpose of 
    carrying out the duties of the Coordinator;
        (2) lobby any officer of a State regarding the funding or 
    implementation of a Blue Alert plan; or
        (3) host a conference focused solely on the Blue Alert program 
    that requires the expenditure of Federal funds.
    (f) Reports.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this Act, and annually thereafter, the Coordinator shall submit to 
Congress a report on the activities of the Coordinator and the 
effectiveness and status of the Blue Alert plans that are in effect or 
being developed.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.