Private Security Officer Quality Assurance Act of 1996

Summary: Private Security Officer Quality Assurance Act of 1996 - Authorizes an association of employers of private security officers to submit fingerprints or other methods of positive identification to the Attorney General on behalf of any applicant for a State license or certificate or registration as a private security officer or employer of such officers.  Authorizes the Attorney General to:  (1) exchange identification and criminal history records with State governmental agencies for licensing and employment purposes; and (2) prescribe regulations as may be necessary to carry out this Act, including measures relating to the security, confidentiality, accuracy, use, and dissemination of information and audits and recordkeeping.  Sets forth reporting requirements. 
Expresses the sense of the Congress that each State should participate in the background check system established by this Act.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Private Security Officer Quality 
Assurance Act of 1996''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) employment of private security officers in the United 
        States is growing rapidly;
            (2) the private security industry provides numerous 
        opportunities for entry-level job applicants, including 
        individuals suffering from unemployment due to economic 
        conditions or dislocations;
            (3) 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;
            (4) 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;
            (5) 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; and
            (6) 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.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``employee'' includes an applicant for 
        employment;
            (2) the term ``employer'' means any person that--
                    (A) employs one or more private security officers; 
                or
                    (B) provides, as an independent contractor, for 
                consideration, the services of one or more private 
                security officers (possibly including oneself);
            (3) the term ``private security officer''
                    (A) means--
                            (i) 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, or
                            (ii) an individual who is an employee of an 
                        electronic security system company engaged in 
                        one or more of the following activities in the 
                        State: burglar alarm technician, fire alarm 
                        technician, closed circuit television 
                        technician, access control technician, or 
                        security system monitor; 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, or
                            (v) an individual on active duty in the 
                        military service;
            (4) 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 secure movement of prisoners;
                    (G) the maintenance of order and safety at 
                athletic, entertainment, or other public activities;
                    (H) the provision of canine services for protecting 
                premises or for the detection of any unlawful device or 
                substance; and
                    (I) the transportation of money or other valuables 
                by armored vehicle; and
            (5) 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. 4. BACKGROUND CHECKS.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Submission.--An association of employers of private 
        security officers, designated for the purpose of this section 
        by the Attorney General, may submit fingerprints or other 
        methods of positive identification approved by the Attorney 
        General, to the Attorney General on behalf of any applicant for 
        a State license or certificate of registration as a private 
        security officer or employer of private security officers.
            (2) Exchange.--In response to a submission under paragraph 
        (1), the Attorney General may, to the extent provided by State 
        law conforming to the requirements of the second paragraph 
        under the heading ``Federal Bureau of Investigation'' and the 
        subheading ``Salaries and Expenses'' in title II of Public Law 
        92-544 (86 Stat. 1115), exchange, for licensing and employment 
        purposes, identification and criminal history records with the 
        State governmental agencies to which the applicant has applied.
    (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.
    (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. 5. STATE PARTICIPATION.

    It is the sense of the Congress that each State should participate 
in the background check system established under section 4.