I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4179

To amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of

1968 to encourage States to enact Police Officers’ Bills of Rights, to

provide standards and protections for the conduct of internal police

investigations, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 12, 1994

Mr. STUPAK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe

Streets Act of 1968 to encourage States to enact Police

Officers’ Bills of Rights, to provide standards and protections for the conduct of internal police investigations,

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 ‘‘Police Officers’ Bill

5 of Rights Act of 1994’’.
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1 SEC. 2. RIGHTS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.

2 Part H of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and

3 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3781 et seq.) is

4 amended by adding at the end thereof the following new

5 section:

6 ‘‘RIGHTS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

7 ‘‘SEC. 820. (a) POLITICAL ACTIVITY.—Except when

8 on duty or acting in an official capacity, no law enforce9 ment officer shall be prohibited from engaging in political

10 activity or be denied the right to refrain from engaging

11 in such activity.

12 ‘‘(b) RIGHTS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

13 WHILE UNDER INVESTIGATION.—When a law enforce14 ment officer is under investigation or is subjected to ques15 tioning for any reason, other than in connection with an

16 investigation or action described in subsection (h), under

17 circumstances that could lead to disciplinary action, the

18 following minimum standards shall apply:

19 ‘‘(1) Questioning of the law enforcement officer

20 shall be conducted at a reasonable hour, preferably

21 when the law enforcement officer is on duty, unless

22 exigent circumstances otherwise require.

23 ‘‘(2) Questioning of the law enforcement officer

24 shall take place at the offices of those conducting

25 the investigation or the place where such law en-
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1 forcement officer reports for duty unless the officer

2 consents in writing to being questioned elsewhere.

3 ‘‘(3) The law enforcement officer under inves4 tigation shall be informed, at the commencement of

5 any questioning, of the name, rank, and command of

6 the officer conducting the questioning.

7 ‘‘(4) During any single period of questioning of

8 the law enforcement officer, all questions shall be

9 asked by or through a single investigator.

10 ‘‘(5) The law enforcement officer under inves11 tigation shall be informed in writing of the nature

12 of the investigation prior to any questioning.

13 ‘‘(6) Any questioning of a law enforcement offi14 cer in connection with an investigation shall be for

15 a reasonable period of time and shall allow for rea16 sonable periods for the rest and personal necessities

17 of the law enforcement officer.

18 ‘‘(7) No threat against, harassment of, or

19 promise or reward (except an officer of immunity

20 from prosecution) to any law enforcement officer

21 shall be made in connection with an investigation to

22 induce the answering of any question.

23 ‘‘(8) All questioning of any law enforcement of24 ficer in connection with the investigation shall be re25 corded in full in writing or by electronic device, and
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1 a copy of the transcript shall be made available to

2 the officer under investigation.

3 ‘‘(9) The law enforcement officer under inves4 tigation shall be entitled to the presence of counsel

5 (or any other one person of the officer’s choice) at

6 any questioning of the officer, unless the officer con7 sents in writing to being questioned outside the pres8 ence of counsel.

9 ‘‘(10) At the conclusion of the investigation, the

10 person in charge of the investigation shall inform the

11 law enforcement officer under investigation, in writ12 ing, of the investigative findings and any rec13 ommendation for disciplinary action that the person

14 intends to make.

15 ‘‘(11) A law enforcement officer who brought

16 before a disciplinary hearing shall be provided access

17 to all transcripts, records, written statements, writ18 ten reports and analyses and video tapes pertinent

19 to the case that—

20 ‘‘(A) contain exculpatory information;

21 ‘‘(B) are intended to support any discipli22 nary action; or

23 ‘‘(C) are to be introduced in the discipli24 nary hearing.
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1 ‘‘(c) OPPORTUNITY FOR A HEARING.—(1) Except in

2 a case of summary punishment or emergency suspension

3 described in subsection (d), if an investigation of a law

4 enforcement officer results in a recommendation of dis5 ciplinary action, the law enforcement agency shall notify

6 the law enforcement officer that the officer is entitled to

7 a hearing on the issues by a hearing officer or board.

8 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), a State shall

9 determine the composition of a disciplinary hearing board

10 and the procedures for a disciplinary hearing.

11 ‘‘(B) A disciplinary hearing board that includes em12 ployees of the law enforcement agency of which the officer

13 who is the subject of the hearing is a member shall include

14 at least one law enforcement officer of equal or lesser rank

15 to the officer who is the subject of the hearing.

16 ‘‘(3) A penalty greater than that which was rec17 ommended by the trial board cannot be imposed upon the

18 officer.

19 ‘‘(d) SUMMARY PUNISHMENT AND EMERGENCY SUS20 PENSION.—(1) This section does not preclude a State

21 from providing for summary punishment or emergency

22 suspension for misconduct by a law enforcement officer.

23 ‘‘(2) An emergency suspension shall not affect or in24 fringe on the health benefits of a law enforcement officer.
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1 ‘‘(e) NOTICE OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION.—When dis2 ciplinary action is to be taken against a law enforcement

3 officer, the officer shall be notified of the action and the

4 reasons therefor a reasonable time before the action takes

5 effect.

6 ‘‘(f) RETALIATION FOR EXERCISING RIGHTS.—There

7 shall be no penalty or threat of penalty against a law en8 forcement officer for the exercise of the officer’s rights

9 under this section.

10 ‘‘(g) OTHER REMEDIES NOT IMPAIRED.—(1) Noth11 ing in this section shall be construed to impair any other

12 legal remedy that a law enforcement officer has with re13 spect to any rights under this section.

14 ‘‘(2) A law enforcement officer may waive any of the

15 rights guaranteed by this section.

16 ‘‘(h) APPLICATION OF SECTION.—This section does

17 not apply in the case of—

18 ‘‘(1) an investigation of criminal conduct by a

19 law enforcement officer; or

20 ‘‘(2) a nondisciplinary action taken in good

21 faith on the basis of a law enforcement officer’s em22 ployment-related performance.

23 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this sec24 tion—
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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘disciplinary action’ means the

2 suspension, demotion, reduction in pay or other em3 ployment benefit, dismissal, transfer, or similar ac4 tion taken against a law enforcement officer as pun5 ishment for misconduct;

6 ‘‘(2) the term ‘emergency suspension’ means

7 temporary action imposed by the head of the law en8 forcement agency when that official determines that

9 the action is in the best interests of the public;

10 ‘‘(3) the term ‘summary punishment’ means

11 punishment imposed for a minor violation of a law

12 enforcement agency’s rules and regulations that does

13 not result in disciplinary action;

14 ‘‘(4) the term ‘law enforcement agency’ means

15 a public agency charged by law with the duty to in16 vestigate crimes or apprehend or hold in custody

17 persons charged with or convicted of crimes; and

18 ‘‘(5) the term ‘law enforcement officer’ means

19 a full-time police officer, sheriff, or correctional offi20 cer of a law enforcement agency.

21 ‘‘(j) PROHIBITION OF ADVERSE MATERIAL IN OFFI22 CER’S FILE.—A law enforcement agency shall not insert

23 any adverse material into the file of any law enforcement

24 officer unless the officer has had an opportunity to review

25 and comment in writing on the adverse material.
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1 ‘‘(k) DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL ASSETS.—A law en2 forcement officer shall not be required or requested to dis3 close any item of the officer’s personal property, income,

4 assets, sources of income, debts, personal or domestic ex5 penditures (including those of any member of the officer’s

6 household), unless

7 ‘‘(1) the information is necessary in investigat8 ing a violation of any Federal, State, or local law,

9 rule, or regulation with respect to the performance

10 of official duties; or

11 ‘‘(2) such disclosure is required by Federal,

12 State, or local law.

13 ‘‘(l) ENFORCEMENT OF PROTECTIONS FOR LAW EN14 FORCEMENT OFFICERS.—(1) A State shall have not more

15 than 2 legislative sessions to enact a Law Enforcement

16 Officers’ Bill of Rights that provides rights for law en17 forcement officers that are substantially similar to the

18 rights afforded under this section.

19 ‘‘(2) After the expiration of the time limit described

20 in paragraph (1), a law enforcement officer shall have a

21 cause of action in State court for the recovery of pecuniary

22 and other damages and full reinstatement against a law

23 enforcement agency that materially violates the rights af24 forded by this section.
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1 ‘‘(3) The sovereign immunity of a State shall not

2 apply in the case of a violation of the rights afforded by

3 this section.

4 ‘‘(m) STATES’ RIGHTS.—This section does not pre5 empt State law or collective bargaining agreements or dis6 cussions during the collective bargaining process that pro7 vide rights for law enforcement officers that are substan8 tially similar to the rights afforded by this section.’’.

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