II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4968 

To create an Active Shooter Alert Communications Network, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2022 

Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To create an Active Shooter Alert Communications Network, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Active Shooter Alert 

5 Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ACTIVE SHOOTER.—The term ‘‘active shoot9 er’’ means an individual who is engaged in killing or 

10 attempting to kill persons with a firearm in a popuVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:02 Oct 06, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4968.IS S4968

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1 lated area and who is determined to pose an active, 

2 imminent threat to people in that populated area. 

3 (2) ACTIVE SHOOTER ALERT COMMUNICATIONS

4 NETWORK; NETWORK.—The term ‘‘Active Shooter 

5 Alert Communications Network’’ or ‘‘Network’’ 

6 means an interconnected system of the Federal Gov7 ernment and State, Tribal, and local governments 

8 that is organized to provide information to the pub9 lic, within geographically relevant areas, on active 

10 shooter situations. 

11 (3) ADMINISTRATOR OF FEMA.—The term ‘‘Ad12 ministrator of FEMA’’ means the Administrator of 

13 the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 

14 (4) ADVISORY PANEL.—The term ‘‘Advisory 

15 Panel’’ means the Advisory Panel established under 

16 section 4(b). 

17 (5) CHAIRMAN OF THE FCC.—The term ‘‘Chair18 man of the FCC’’ means the Chairman of the Fed19 eral Communications Commission. 

20 (6) COORDINATOR.—The term ‘‘Coordinator’’ 

21 means the Active Shooter Alert Coordinator of the 

22 Department of Justice designated under section 

23 3(a). 


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1 (7) POPULATED AREA.—The term ‘‘populated 

2 area’’ means a location where 1 or more persons 

3 other than the active shooter are present. 

4 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 

5 the 50 States, the District of Columbia, American 

6 Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana 

7 Islands, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and 

8 any other territory of the United States. 

9 SEC. 3. NATIONAL COORDINATION OF ACTIVE SHOOTER 

10 ALERT COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK. 

11 (a) COORDINATION WITHIN DEPARTMENT OF JUS12 TICE.— 

13 (1) DESIGNATION OF COORDINATOR.—The At14 torney General shall designate an officer of the De15 partment of Justice to act as the national coordi16 nator of the Active Shooter Alert Communications 

17 Network regarding an emergency involving an active 

18 shooter. 

19 (2) TITLE.—The officer designated under para20 graph (1) shall be known as the ‘‘Active Shooter 

21 Alert Coordinator of the Department of Justice’’. 

22 (b) DUTIES.—The Coordinator shall— 

23 (1) encourage Federal agencies and State, Trib24 al, and local government agencies to establish proce25 dures to respond to an active shooter, including acVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:02 Oct 06, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4968.IS S4968

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1 tive shooter procedures relating to interstate or 

2 interjurisdictional travel (including airports and bor3 der crossing areas and checkpoints), and focus on 

4 Federal agencies and State, Tribal, and local govern5 ments that have not yet established such procedures; 

6 and 

7 (2) work with State, Tribal, and local govern8 ments to encourage appropriate regional and inter9 jurisdictional coordination of various elements of the 

10 Network. 

11 (c) GOALS.—The Coordinator shall encourage the 

12 adoption of best practices established under section 4(a) 

13 by State, Tribal, and local governments for— 

14 (1) the development of policies and procedures 

15 to guide the use of mass alert systems, changeable 

16 message signs, or other information systems to no17 tify local residents, motorists, travelers, and individ18 uals in the vicinity of an active shooter; 

19 (2) the development of guidance or policies on 

20 the content and format of alert messages to be con21 veyed on mass alert systems, changeable message 

22 signs, or other information systems relating to an 

23 active shooter; 

24 (3) the coordination of State, Tribal, and local 

25 active shooter alert communications plans within a 


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1 region for the use of mass alert systems relating to 

2 an active shooter; 

3 (4) the planning and designing of mass alert 

4 systems for multilingual communication with local 

5 residents, motorists, travelers, and individuals in the 

6 vicinity of an active shooter, which system may in7 clude the capability for issuing wide area alerts to 

8 local residents, motorists, travelers, and individuals 

9 in the vicinity of an active shooter; 

10 (5) the planning of systems and protocols to fa11 cilitate the efficient issuance of active shooter alerts 

12 and other key information to local residents, motor13 ists, travelers, and individuals in the vicinity of an 

14 active shooter during times of day outside of normal 

15 business hours; 

16 (6) the provision of training and guidance to 

17 transportation authorities to facilitate the appro18 priate use of mass alert systems and other informa19 tion systems for the notification of local residents, 

20 motorists, travelers, and individuals in the vicinity of 

21 an active shooter; and 

22 (7) the development of appropriate mass alert 

23 systems to ensure that alerts sent to individuals in 

24 the immediate vicinity of an active shooter do not 


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1 alert the active shooter to the location of individuals 

2 sheltering in place near the active shooter. 

3 (d) INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYS4 TEM.—In carrying out duties under subsection (b), the 

5 Coordinator shall notify and coordinate with the Adminis6 trator of FEMA, the Secretary of Transportation, and the 

7 Chairman of the FCC on using the Integrated Public Alert 

8 and Warning System to issue alerts for the Network. 

9 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter 

11 until each of State, Tribal, and local government has 

12 adopted an active shooter alert protocol, the Coordinator, 

13 in consultation with the Administrator of FEMA, the Sec14 retary of Transportation, and the Chairman of the FCC, 

15 shall submit to Congress a report on— 

16 (1) the activities of the Coordinator; and 

17 (2) the effectiveness and status of the active 

18 shooter alert communications plan of each State, 

19 Tribal, and local government within each region in 

20 which such governments have coordinated their 

21 plans. 

22 SEC. 4. STANDARDS FOR ISSUANCE AND DISSEMINATION 

23 OF ALERTS THROUGH ACTIVE SHOOTER 

24 ALERT COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK. 

25 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF BEST PRACTICES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (c), 

2 the Coordinator, using the recommendations of the 

3 Advisory Panel and in coordination with the Admin4 istrator of FEMA, the Secretary of Transportation, 

5 the Chairman of the FCC, local broadcasters, and 

6 Federal, State, Tribal, and local law enforcement 

7 agencies, shall establish best practices for— 

8 (A) the issuance of alerts through the Net9 work; 

10 (B) the extent of the dissemination of 

11 alerts issued through the Network; and 

12 (C) the achievement of the goals described 

13 in section 3(c). 

14 (2) UPDATING BEST PRACTICES.— 

15 (A) REVIEW.—Not less frequently than 

16 once every 5 years, the Coordinator shall review 

17 the best practices established under paragraph 

18 (1) to ensure that the best practices are con19 sistent with updated data and recommendations 

20 on active shooter situations and technological 

21 advancements in the Integrated Public Alert 

22 and Warning System or other technologies. 

23 (B) CONVENING ADVISORY PANEL.—The 

24 Coordinator shall convene the Advisory Panel 

25 as necessary to provide updated recommendaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:02 Oct 06, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4968.IS S4968

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1 tions if the Coordinator determines under sub2 paragraph (A) that the best practices estab3 lished under paragraph (1) need to be updated. 

4 (b) ADVISORY PANEL.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Coordinator 

7 shall establish an Advisory Panel to make rec8 ommendations with respect to the establishment of 

9 best practices under subsection (a). 

10 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Panel shall 

11 be comprised of not fewer than 9 members, includ12 ing— 

13 (A) not fewer than 5 law enforcement offi14 cers, including not less than 1 nonsupervisory 

15 law enforcement officer, who have responded to 

16 active shooter incidents and who represent 

17 rural, suburban, and urban communities; 

18 (B) not less than 1 public safety expert 

19 who is not a law enforcement officer and who 

20 has responded to an active shooter incident; 

21 (C) not less than 1 emergency response of22 ficial who is not a law enforcement officer; 

23 (D) not less than 1 city planning expert; 

24 and 


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1 (E) not less than 1 mental and behavioral 

2 health expert. 

3 (3) RECOMMENDATIONS.—Not later than 15 

4 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

5 Advisory Panel shall submit to Coordinator rec6 ommendations with respect to the establishment of 

7 best practices under subsection (a). 

8 (c) LIMITATIONS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The best practices estab10 lished under subsection (a) shall— 

11 (A) be adoptable on a voluntary basis only; 

12 and 

13 (B) to the maximum extent practicable (as 

14 determined by the Coordinator, in consultation 

15 with State, Tribal, and local law enforcement 

16 agencies), provide that— 

17 (i) appropriate information relating to 

18 an active shooter response is disseminated 

19 to the appropriate law enforcement, public 

20 health, communications, and other public 

21 officials; and 

22 (ii) the dissemination of an alert 

23 through the Network be limited to the geo24 graphic areas most likely to be affected by, 


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1 or able to respond to, an active shooter sit2 uation. 

3 (2) NO INTERFERENCE.—In establishing best 

4 practices under subsection (a), the Coordinator may 

5 not interfere with systems of voluntary coordination 

6 between local broadcasters and State, Tribal, and 

7 local law enforcement agencies for improving and 

8 implementing the Network. 

9 SEC. 5. COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY ON STATE RE10 SPONSES TO ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATIONS 

11 REQUIRING THE ISSUANCE OF PUBLIC 

12 ALERTS AND WARNINGS. 

13 (a) STUDY.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

15 the United States shall conduct a study on State 

16 and local responses to active shooters and situations 

17 requiring the issuance of a public alert or warning. 

18 (2) CONTENTS.—In conducting the study under 

19 paragraph (1), the Comptroller General shall ad20 dress each of the following: 

21 (A) Differences between the definitions of 

22 the term ‘‘active shooter’’ used by different 

23 States. 

24 (B) The amount of time it takes and the 

25 process in each State to receive approval from 


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1 the State alerting officials after a local law en2 forcement agency requests the issuance of a 

3 public alert or warning, such as an AMBER 

4 Alert, a Blue Alert, or an Ashanti alert. 

5 (C) A comparison of the timing and effec6 tiveness of the issuance of public alerts and 

7 warnings by State, Tribal, and local alerting of8 ficials. 

9 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

10 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

11 General shall submit to Congress a report containing the 

12 findings of the study conducted under subsection (a). 

13 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro15 priated to the Attorney General to carry out this Act 

16 $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2023. 

17 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro18 priated under subsection (a) shall remain available until 

19 expended. 

20 SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act may be con22 strued to provide that a participating agency, or an officer, 

23 employee, or agent thereof, shall be liable for any act or 

24 omission pertaining to the Network. 


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1 (b) STATE OR OTHER FEDERAL LAW.— Nothing in 

2 this section may be construed to limit the application of 

3 any State or other Federal law providing for liability for 

4 any act or omission pertaining to the Network. 

Æ 


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