Private Security Officer Quality Assurance Act of 1997 - Directs the Attorney General (AG) to designate an association of employers of private security officers, which must submit to the AG, at the request of an employer of officers, fingerprints or other methods of positive identification for background checks of such officers. Allows an employer to seek authorization from its employees for a background check.
Directs the AG, upon receipt of fingerprints from an association, to: (1) search records of the Interstate Information Index of the National Crime Information Center and the Identification Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and (2) provide any corresponding identification and criminal history records to the requesting association.
Authorizes the AG to prescribe regulations to carry out this Act, including measures relating to the imposition of fees necessary for the recovery of costs. Directs the AG to report to specified congressional committees two years after enactment of this Act on the number of inquiries made by the association of employers and their disposition.
Establishes criminal penalties for misuse of such background check information.
Provides that employers shall not be held liable in any action for damages based on employment determinations that rely on such criminal history information from the AG.
Authorizes the AG to collect a user fee for a request, under any applicable law, for an individual's criminal history information.
[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[H.R. 2184 Introduced in House (IH)]
105th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2184
To permit reviews of criminal records of applicants for private
security officer employment, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 17, 1997
Mr. Bryant introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the
Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as
fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To permit reviews of criminal records of applicants for private
security officer employment, 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 ``Private Security Officer Quality
Assurance Act of 1997''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) employment of private security officers in the United
States is growing rapidly;
(2) private security officers function as an adjunct to
public law enforcement by helping to reduce and prevent crime;
(3) the private security industry provides numerous
opportunities for entry-level job applicants, including
individuals suffering from unemployment due to economic
conditions or dislocations;
(4) such private security officers protect individuals,
tangible and intangible property and proprietary information
and provide protection to such diverse operations as banks,
hospitals, chemical companies, oil and gas refineries,
airports, communication facilities and operations, office
complexes, schools, residential properties, apartment
complexes, gated communities and many others;
(5) sworn law enforcement officers provide significant
services to the citizens of the United States in its public
areas, and are only supplemented by private security officers
who provide prevention and reporting services in support of,
but not in place of, regular sworn police;
(6) given the growth of large private shopping malls, and
the consequent reduction in the number of public shopping
streets, the American public is more likely to have contact
with private security personnel in the course of a day than
with sworn law enforcement officers;
(7) the trend in the Nation toward growth in such security
services has accelerated rapidly as the per capita number of
public sector law enforcement officers has decreased;
(8) such growth serves important public policy goals in
making available more public sector law enforcement officers to
combat serious and violent crimes;
(9) regardless of the differences in their duties, skill,
and responsibilities, the public has difficulty in discerning
the difference between sworn law enforcement officers and
private security personnel;
(10) the American public demands the employment of
qualified, well-trained private security personnel as an
adjunct, but not a replacement for sworn law enforcement
officers; and
(11) private security officers and applicants for private
security officer positions should be screened as thoroughly as
possible, particularly since many private security officers
bear weapons.
SEC. 3. BACKGROUND CHECKS.
(a) In General.--(1) At the request of an employer of private
security officers, an association of employers of private security
officers, designated for the purpose of this section by the Attorney
General, must submit to the Attorney General fingerprints or other
methods of positive identification of an employee of such employer for
purposes of a background check.
(2) An employer may seek authorization from its employees to submit
their fingerprints for purposes of a background check.
(3) Upon receipt of fingerprints from an association designated
under this section, the Attorney General shall search the records of
the Interstate Information Index of the National Crime Information
Center and the Identification Division of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and shall provide any identification and criminal
history records corresponding to the fingerprints to the requesting
association within 30 business days.
(4) The Attorney General shall, to the maximum extent possible,
encourage the use of the best technology available in compiling
criminal history information and in responding to requests under this
section.
(5) An association designated under this section shall submit
employee fingerprints to the Attorney General for identification and
appropriate processing within one business day of receiving them. Such
an association shall also transfer a copy of the identification and
criminal history records that it receives from the Attorney General to
the requesting employer within one business day of receiving them.
(6) An association designated under this section shall provide a
copy to the appropriate licensing authorities or regulatory agencies in
the States of the requests it makes on behalf of employers for
identification and criminal history records. The association shall also
provide a copy of the information it transfers to employers to such
States.
(b) Regulations.--The Attorney General may prescribe such
regulations as may be necessary to carry out this section, including
measures relating to the security, confidentiality, accuracy, use, and
dissemination of information and audits and recordkeeping and the
imposition of fees necessary for the recovery of costs.
(c) Report.--The Attorney General shall report to the Senate and
House Committees on the Judiciary 2 years after the date of enactment
of this bill on the number of inquiries made by the association of
employers under this section and their disposition.
SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
Subsection (d) of section 534 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by adding the following paragraph:
``(3) an association of employers of private security
officers designated by the Attorney General for purposes of
conducting background checks on employees or prospective
employees.''.
SEC. 5. CRIMINAL PENALTY.
Whoever knowingly and intentionally uses any information obtained
pursuant to section 3 other than for the purpose of determining the
suitability of an individual for employment as a private security
officer shall be fined not more than $50,000 or imprisoned for not more
than two years, or both.
SEC. 6. EMPLOYER LIABILITY.
Where an employer of private security officers reasonably relies
for employment determinations upon criminal history information
provided by the Attorney General, such employer shall not be liable in
any action for damages based on such employment determinations.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act--
(1) the term ``Attorney General'' includes any person or
entity designated by the Attorney General, including the
Federal Bureau of Investigation;
(2) the term ``employee'' includes an applicant for
employment;
(3) the term ``employer'' means any person that--
(A) provides, as an independent contractor, for
consideration, the services of one or more private
security officers (possibly including oneself); and
(B) is licensed by one or more States as a provider
of private security services, or is certified as such
by the chief law enforcement officer of one or more
States;
(4) the term ``fingerprint'' includes any other method of
positive identification approved by the Attorney General;
(5) the term ``private security officer''--
(A) means an individual who performs security
services, full or part time, for consideration as an
independent contractor or an employee, whether armed or
unarmed and in uniform or plain clothes whose primary
duty is to perform security services, but
(B) does not include--
(i) sworn police officers who have law
enforcement powers in the State,
(ii) attorneys, accountants, and other
professionals who are otherwise licensed in the
State,
(iii) employees whose duties are primarily
internal audit or credit functions,
(iv) persons whose duties may incidentally
include the reporting or apprehension of
shoplifters or trespassers,
(v) an individual on active duty in the
military service,
(vi) employees of electronic security
system companies acting as technicians or
monitors,
(vii) employees whose duties primarily
involve the secure movement of prisoners, or
(viii) employees of armored vehicle
companies;
(6) the term ``security services'' means the performance of
one or more of the following:
(A) the observation or reporting of intrusion,
larceny, vandalism, fire or trespass;
(B) the deterrence of theft or misappropriation of
any goods, money, or other item of value;
(C) the observation or reporting of any unlawful
activity;
(D) the protection of individuals or property,
including proprietary information, from harm or
misappropriation;
(E) the control of access to premises being
protected;
(F) the maintenance of order and safety at
athletic, entertainment, or other public activities;
and
(G) the provision of canine services for protecting
premises or for the detection of any unlawful device or
substance; and
(7) the term ``State'' means any of the several States, the
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the
United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
SEC. 8. USER FEES.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Attorney General
may collect a user fee for a request, under any applicable law, for an
individual's criminal history information.
SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The effective date of this Act shall be July 1, 1999.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to House Education and the Workforce
Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to House Judiciary
Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime.
For Further Action See H.R.103.
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