[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 62 (Tuesday, May 8, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4509-S4510]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BIDEN (for himself and Mr. McConnell):
  S. 840. A bill to amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 to provide standards and procedures to guide both 
State and local law enforcement agencies and law enforcement officers 
during internal investigations, interrogation of law enforcement 
officers, and administrative disciplinary hearings, to ensure 
accountability of law enforcement officers, to guarantee the due 
process rights of law enforcement officers, and to require States to 
enact law enforcement discipline, accountability, and due process laws; 
to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, in ``The Federalist No. 3,'' John Jay 
wrote that ``[a]mong the many objects to which a wise and free people 
find it necessary to direct their attention, that of providing for 
their safety seems to be the first.'' Such is the importance that our 
nation historically has placed on the maintenance of law and order. And 
our law enforcement officers, whom our country has charged with 
carrying out this primary responsibility, shoulder a weighty, and often 
times dangerous, burden. In 1999 alone, one hundred and thirty-four law 
enforcement officers fell in the line of

[[Page S4510]]

duty, making the ultimate sacrifice to protect our communities.
  While most Americans are aware that their police officers work in a 
dangerous environment, many Americans do not know that in enforcing the 
laws that exist to protect us all, these officers, themselves, often 
are denied basic legal protections in internal investigations and 
administrative hearings and are penalized for exercising their free 
speech and associational rights. They live in fear of being 
investigated without notice, interrogated without an attorney, and 
dismissed without a hearing, often times at the behest of some recently 
arrested criminal looking for a payback. In short, many officers do not 
enjoy the same basic due process and First Amendment rights as does the 
criminal element from which they are trying to protect us.
  According to the National Association of Police Organizations, Inc., 
NAPO, ``[i]n roughly half of the states in this country, officers enjoy 
some legal protections against false accusations and abusive conduct, 
but hundreds of thousands of officers have very limited due process and 
First Amendment rights and confront limitations on their exercise of 
those and other rights.'' And according to the Fraternal Order of 
Police, FOP, ``[i]n a startling number of jurisdictions throughout this 
country, law enforcement officers have no procedural or administrative 
protections whatsoever; in fact, they can be, and frequently are, 
summarily dismissed from their jobs without explanation. Officers who 
lose their careers due to administrative or political expediency almost 
always find it impossible to find new employment in public safety. An 
officer's reputation, once tarnished by accusation, is almost 
impossible to restore.'' In short, a trumped-up charge against a police 
officer can result in a lifetime sentence of a damaged career and 
reputation.
  It is time for our Nation to end this sorry situation. We must make 
sure that every member of law enforcement, in every jurisdiction in the 
country, is able to participate in the political process without fear 
of retaliation and is able to do his or her job without wondering 
whether they can defend themselves if their performance is scrutinized. 
To this end, I am proud to rise today with Senator Biden to introduce 
the ``Law Enforcement Discipline, Accountability, and Due Process Act 
of 2001.'' This bill would guarantee due process rights to every police 
officer who is subject to investigation for non-criminal disciplinary 
action, and it would protect them from retribution on the job for 
participating in the political process while off the job. Some of these 
protections are: the right to be informed of administrative charges 
prior to being questioned; the right to be advised of the results of an 
investigation; the right to a hearing, as well as an opportunity to 
respond; and the right to be represented by counsel or another 
representative.
  While this bill would protect the men and women who serve on the 
front lines of our nation's war against crime, it would not do so at 
the cost of citizen accountability. Just the opposite. It would 
strengthen the ability of individual citizens to hold accountable those 
few officers who misuse their authority. Specifically, as NAPO notes, 
``[o]ften police departments lack any guidelines and procedures for 
handling and investigating complaints, thus raising doubts about 
officer accountability.'' This bill will fill that void and thereby go 
a long way to dispelling such doubts. By establishing, as the FOP 
observes, ``an effective means for the receipt, review and 
investigation of public complaints against law enforcement officers 
that is fair and equitable to all parties,'' this bill ensures that 
legitimate citizen complaints against police officers will be actively 
investigated and that citizens will be informed of the progress and 
outcome of those investigations. It thus strikes an appropriate 
balance: the bill makes sure that every police officer has basic 
fundamental procedural rights, while at the same time ensuring that 
citizens have the opportunity to raise legitimate complaints and 
concerns about police officer conduct.
  This legislation is the product of much hard work and continual 
refinements by leading law enforcement groups, most notably the FOP and 
the NAPO. They have both strongly endorsed it, and, like Senator Biden 
and me, will work hard for its enactment. Over the years, Senator Biden 
and I, in conjunction with these groups, have made similar efforts to 
protect the men and women who protect us. While we have not yet been 
successful, we remain undeterred and will continue working toward our 
goal. The time has come to give our law enforcement officers the basic 
and fundamental rights that they desperately deserve. We urge our 
colleagues to join us in this very worthy effort.
                                 ______