I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 60

To expedite State reviews of criminal records of applicants for private security

officer employment, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 6, 1999

Mr. BARR of Georgia 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 expedite State reviews of criminal records of applicants

for private security officer employment, 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 ‘‘Private Security Offi5 cer Quality Assurance Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) employment of private security officers in

2 the United States is growing rapidly;

3 (2) the private security industry provides nu4 merous opportunities for entry-level job applicants,

5 including individuals suffering from unemployment

6 due to economic conditions or dislocations;

7 (3) sworn law enforcement officers provide sig8 nificant services to the citizens of the United States

9 in its public areas, and are only supplemented by

10 private security officers who provide prevention and

11 reporting services in support of, but not in place of,

12 regular sworn police;

13 (4) given the growth of large private shopping

14 malls, and the consequent reduction in the number

15 of public shopping streets, the American public is

16 more likely to have contact with private security per17 sonnel in the course of a day than with sworn law

18 enforcement officers;

19 (5) regardless of the differences in their duties,

20 skill, and responsibilities, the public has difficulty in

21 discerning the difference between sworn law enforce22 ment officers and private security personnel; and

23 (6) the American public demands the employ24 ment of qualified, well-trained private security per-
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1 sonnel as an adjunct, but not a replacement for

2 sworn law enforcement officers.

3 SEC. 3. BACKGROUND CHECKS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—An association of employers of

5 private security officers, designated for the purpose of this

6 section by the Attorney General, may submit fingerprints

7 or other methods of positive identification approved by the

8 Attorney General, to the Attorney General on behalf of

9 any applicant for a State license or certificate of registra10 tion as a private security officer or employer of private

11 security officers. In response to such a submission, the At12 torney General may, to the extent provided by State law

13 conforming to the requirements of the second paragraph

14 under the heading ‘‘Federal Bureau of Investigation’’ and

15 the subheading ‘‘Salaries and Expenses’’ in title II of Pub16 lic Law 92–544 (86 Stat. 1115), exchange, for licensing

17 and employment purposes, identification and criminal his18 tory records with the State governmental agencies to

19 which such applicant has applied.

20 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General may pre21 scribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out

22 this section, including measures relating to the security,

23 confidentiality, accuracy, use, and dissemination of infor24 mation and audits and recordkeeping and the imposition

25 of fees necessary for the recovery of costs.
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1 (c) REPORT.—The Attorney General shall report to

2 the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary 2

3 years after the date of enactment of this Act on the num4 ber of inquiries made by the association of employers

5 under this section and their disposition.

6 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

7 It is the sense of Congress that States should partici8 pate in the background check system established under

9 section 3.

10 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

11 As used in this Act—

12 (1) the term ‘‘employee’’ includes an applicant

13 for employment;

14 (2) the term ‘‘employer’’ means any person

15 that—

16 (A) employs one or more private security

17 officers; or

18 (B) provides, as an independent contrac19 tor, for consideration, the services of one or

20 more private security officers (possibly includ21 ing oneself);

22 (3) the term ‘‘private security officer’’—

23 (A) means—

24 (i) an individual who performs secu25 rity services, full or part time, for consider-
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1 ation as an independent contractor or an

2 employee, whether armed or unarmed and

3 in uniform or plain clothes whose primary

4 duty is to perform security services, or

5 (ii) an individual who is an employee

6 of an electronic security system company

7 who is engaged in one or more of the fol8 lowing activities in the State: burglar

9 alarm technician, fire alarm technician,

10 closed circuit television technician, access

11 control technician, or security system mon12 itor; but

13 (B) does not include—

14 (i) sworn police officers who have law

15 enforcement powers in the State,

16 (ii) attorneys, accountants, and other

17 professionals who are otherwise licensed in

18 the State,

19 (iii) employees whose duties are pri20 marily internal audit or credit functions,

21 (iv) persons whose duties may inciden22 tally include the reporting or apprehension

23 of shoplifters or trespassers, or

24 (v) an individual on active duty in the

25 military service;
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1 (4) the term ‘‘certificate of registration’’ means

2 a license, permit, certificate, registration card, or

3 other formal written permission from the State for

4 the person to engage in providing security services;

5 (5) the term ‘‘security services’’ means the per6 formance of one or more of the following:

7 (A) the observation or reporting of intru8 sion, larceny, vandalism, fire or trespass;

9 (B) the deterrence of theft or misappro10 priation of any goods, money, or other item of

11 value;

12 (C) the observation or reporting of any un13 lawful activity;

14 (D) the protection of individuals or prop15 erty, including proprietary information, from

16 harm or misappropriation;

17 (E) the control of access to premises being

18 protected;

19 (F) the secure movement of prisoners;

20 (G) the maintenance of order and safety at

21 athletic, entertainment, or other public activi22 ties;

23 (H) the provision of canine services for

24 protecting premises or for the detection of any

25 unlawful device or substance; and
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1 (I) the transportation of money or other

2 valuables by armored vehicle; and

3 (6) the term ‘‘State’’ means any of the several

4 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth

5 of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands,

6 American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of

7 the Northern Mariana Islands.

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