I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2092

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

officer employment, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 21, 1995

Mr. BARR (for himself, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. HEINEMAN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr.

BERMAN, Mr. SERRANO, and Mr. BRYANT of Tennessee) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Economic and

Educational Opportunities, 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 1995’’.

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;

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 (7) the States and employers should be required

4 to determine the qualifications of applicants for em5 ployment as private security personnel;

6 (8) employers should be required to ensure at

7 least minimum training for newly hired private secu8 rity personnel and refresher training for experienced

9 personnel, based upon State-imposed standards;

10 (9) State requirements, if any, for screening

11 and training private security personnel vary widely;

12 (10) public safety would be improved if all

13 States required appropriate screening and training

14 of private security personnel;

15 (11) States should enact laws imposing mini16 mum standards that are uniform nationwide for the

17 screening and training of private security personnel,

18 although States should be allowed to enact stricter

19 or more rigorous standards if they so choose; and

20 (12) State law applicable to private security

21 personnel should apply to all private security person22 nel.

23 SEC. 3. BACKGROUND CHECKS.

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

25 private security officers, designated for the purpose of this
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1 section by the Attorney General, may submit fingerprints

2 or other methods of positive identification approved by the

3 Attorney General, to the Attorney General on behalf of

4 any applicant for a State license or certificate of registra5 tion as a private security officer or employer of private

6 security officers. In response to such a submission, the At7 torney General may, to the extent provided by State law

8 conforming to the requirements of the second paragraph

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

10 the subheading ‘‘Salaries and Expenses’’ in title II of Pub11 lic Law 92–544 (86 Stat. 1115), exchange, for licensing

12 and employment purposes, identification and criminal his13 tory records with the State governmental agencies to

14 which such applicant has applied.

15 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General may pre16 scribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out

17 this section, including measures relating to the security,

18 confidentiality, accuracy, use, and dissemination of infor19 mation and audits and recordkeeping.

20 (c) REPORT.—The Attorney General shall report to

21 the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary 2

22 years after the date of enactment of this bill on the num23 ber of inquiries made by the association of employers

24 under this section and their disposition.
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1 SEC. 4. STATE LICENSING OR REGISTRATION OF SECURITY

2 OFFICERS.

3 For the purpose of assuring that private security offi4 cers are qualified to provide the public with security serv5 ices, it is the sense of the Congress that the several States

6 should enact statutes which would include the following:

7 (1) EMPLOYER LICENSES.—Requirements and

8 procedures for issuing licenses to, and reviewing se9 curity services, of employers. A State could require

10 an employer to name an individual holder of such li11 cense:

12 (A) FEES.—Fees on licenses of employers

13 of private security officers should compensate

14 the State for its direct costs of implementing

15 and enforcing the program. Revenues from such

16 fees should be dedicated to this regulatory pro17 gram.

18 (B) ASSIGNMENT TO DUTY.—Procedures

19 should require that employers may assign an

20 employee to duty as an unarmed private secu21 rity officer prior to the State’s approval of the

22 employee’s registration as a private security of23 ficer only after the employer has—

24 (i) submitted an application for a

25 criminal records background check,
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1 (ii) initiated verification of the em2 ployee’s personal references and 5 year em3 ployment history, and

4 (iii) verified that the employee has

5 successfully completed the classroom train6 ing required by paragraph (3).

7 (2) REGISTRATION PERMITS.—Requirements

8 for issuance of registration permits by the State reg9 ulatory authority to private security officers, includ10 ing the following provisions:

11 (A) Permits should be valid for 3 years.

12 (B) Applicants who have been convicted of

13 committing a felony or a misdemeanor, either of

14 which the State Regulatory Agency determines

15 relevant to the performance of security services

16 should be denied a registration permit. States

17 should utilize the criminal records forwarded by

18 the Department of Justice in addition to State

19 police records in making this determination.

20 (C) Employers must certify that the em21 ployees have completed classroom and on the

22 job training.

23 (3) TRAINING REQUIREMENTS.—Each State

24 should have in effect training requirements for pri-
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1 vate security officers that consist of the following, at

2 a minimum:

3 (A) For unarmed security officers, the fol4 lowing:

5 (i) Eight hours of basic classroom in6 struction, successful completion of a writ7 ten examination, and four hours of on the

8 job training.

9 (ii) Such classroom training should in10 clude, at a minimum, the following:

11 (I) The legal powers and limita12 tions of a private security officer, in13 cluding instruction in the law of ar14 rest, search and seizure, and the use

15 of force as related to security services.

16 (II) Safety and fire detection and

17 reporting.

18 (III) When and how to notify

19 public authorities.

20 (IV) The techniques of observa21 tion and reporting of incidents, and

22 how to prepare an incident report.

23 (V) The fundamentals of patrol24 ling.

25 (VI) Deportment and ethics.
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1 (B) For armored car personnel, the State

2 should have in effect training and testing that

3 appropriately reflects the nature of their duties

4 rather than the classroom instruction required

5 by subparagraph (A).

6 (C) For electronic security officers, the

7 State should require training and testing that

8 adequately prepares the registrant for duties in

9 the fields of burglar alarms, fire alarms, closed

10 circuit television, access control, or system mon11 itoring.

12 (D) For armed private security officers, in

13 addition to the training required by paragraph

14 (1) or (2), the following:

15 (i) Fifteen hours of weapons instruc16 tions (including the marksmanship de17 scribed in clause (ii)) and successful com18 pletion of a written examination on—

19 (I) the legal limitations on the

20 use of,

21 (II) weapons handling, and

22 (III) safety and maintenance.

23 (ii) A minimum marksmanship quali24 fication of 70 percent attained on any sil-
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1 houette target course approved by the

2 State regulatory agency.

3 (E) Each State should have in effect a re4 quirement for an annual refresher course in the

5 subjects listed in this section. Armed private se6 curity officers should be required to requalify

7 on the range.

8 (4) WAIVER.—On the request of an employer,

9 a State should waive the preassignment screening

10 requirements and training requirement if the secu11 rity officer holds a valid registration certificate of

12 that State, or is a sworn law enforcement officer.

13 (5) RECOGNITION OF OUT-OF-STATE LI14 CENSES.—A State should accept proof of licensure

15 of registration (accompanied by an appropriate fee)

16 from other States as valid licenses providing the

17 State’s training and screening requirements are con18 sistent.

19 (6) EMPLOYEE PROTECTION.—A State should

20 have in effect a law that makes invalid and unen21 forceable any unreasonable limitation imposed by an

22 employer on the right of an employee to seek or ob23 tain subsequent employment as a private security of24 ficer after voluntary or involuntary termination of

25 employment by such employer.
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1 (7) ADVISORY BOARDS.—States should use ad2 visory boards to provide information to regulators

3 enforcing the statute. Such boards should include

4 persons engaged in the business of providing secu5 rity, security managers, law enforcement officials,

6 and members of the public.

7 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

8 As used in this Act—

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

10 for employment;

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

12 that—

13 (A) employs one or more private security

14 officers; or

15 (B) provides, as an independent contrac16 tor, for consideration, the services of one or

17 more private security officers (possibly includ18 ing oneself);

19 (3) the term ‘‘felony’’ means an offense for

20 which a term of imprisonment exceeding one year

21 may be imposed;

22 (4) the term ‘‘misdemeanor’’ means an offense

23 for which a maximum term of imprisonment of one

24 year or less may be imposed;

25 (5) the term ‘‘private security officer’’
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1 (A) means—

2 (i) an individual who performs secu3 rity services, full or part time, for consider4 ation as an independent contractor or an

5 employee, whether armed or unarmed and

6 in uniform or plain clothes whose primary

7 duty is to perform security services, or

8 (ii) an individual who is an employee

9 of an electronic security system company

10 engaged in one or more of the following ac11 tivities in the State: burglar alarm techni12 cian, fire alarm technician, closed circuit

13 television technician, access control techni14 cian, or security system monitor; but

15 (B) does not include—

16 (i) sworn police officers who have law

17 enforcement powers in the State,

18 (ii) attorneys, accountants, and other

19 professionals who are otherwise licensed in

20 the State,

21 (iii) employees whose duties are pri22 marily internal audit or credit functions,

23 (iv) persons whose duties may inciden24 tally include the reporting or apprehension

25 of shoplifters or trespassers, or
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1 (v) an individual on active duty in the

2 military service;

3 (6) the term ‘‘registration permit’’ means a li4 cense, permit, certificate, registration card, or other

5 formal written permission from the State for the

6 person to engage in providing security services;

7 (7) the term ‘‘security services’’ means the per8 formance of one or more of the following:

9 (A) the observation or reporting of intru10 sion, larceny, vandalism, fire or trespass;

11 (B) the deterrence of theft or misappro12 priation of any goods, money, or other item of

13 value;

14 (C) the observation or reporting of any un15 lawful activity;

16 (D) the protection of individuals or prop17 erty, including proprietary information, from

18 harm or misappropriation;

19 (E) the control of access to premises being

20 protected;

21 (F) the secure movement of prisoners;

22 (G) the maintenance of order and safety at

23 athletic, entertainment, or other public activi24 ties;
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1 (H) the provision of canine services for

2 protecting premises or for the detection of any

3 unlawful device or substance; and

4 (I) the transportation of money or other

5 valuables by armored vehicle;

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

7 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth

8 of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands,

9 American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of

10 the Northern Mariana Islands; and

11 (9) the term ‘‘State Regulatory Agency’’ means

12 an appropriate State regulatory entity.

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