II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2092

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 26, 1996

Received

AN ACT

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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Private Security Offi3 cer Quality Assurance Act of 1996’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) employment of private security officers in

7 the United States is growing rapidly;

8 (2) the private security industry provides nu9 merous opportunities for entry-level job applicants,

10 including individuals suffering from unemployment

11 due to economic conditions or dislocations;

12 (3) sworn law enforcement officers provide sig13 nificant services to the citizens of the United States

14 in its public areas, and are only supplemented by

15 private security officers who provide prevention and

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

17 regular sworn police;

18 (4) given the growth of large private shopping

19 malls, and the consequent reduction in the number

20 of public shopping streets, the American public is

21 more likely to have contact with private security per22 sonnel in the course of a day than with sworn law

23 enforcement officers;

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

25 skill, and responsibilities, the public has difficulty in
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1 discerning the difference between sworn law enforce2 ment officers and private security personnel; and

3 (6) the American public demands the employ4 ment of qualified, well-trained private security per5 sonnel as an adjunct, but not a replacement for

6 sworn law enforcement officers.

7 SEC. 3. BACKGROUND CHECKS.

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

9 private security officers, designated for the purpose of this

10 section by the Attorney General, may submit fingerprints

11 or other methods of positive identification approved by the

12 Attorney General, to the Attorney General on behalf of

13 any applicant for a State license or certificate of registra14 tion as a private security officer or employer of private

15 security officers. In response to such a submission, the At16 torney General may, to the extent provided by State law

17 conforming to the requirements of the second paragraph

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

19 the subheading ‘‘Salaries and Expenses’’ in title II of Pub20 lic Law 92–544 (86 Stat. 1115), exchange, for licensing

21 and employment purposes, identification and criminal his22 tory records with the State governmental agencies to

23 which such applicant has applied.

24 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General may pre25 scribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out
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1 this section, including measures relating to the security,

2 confidentiality, accuracy, use, and dissemination of infor3 mation and audits and recordkeeping and the imposition

4 of fees necessary for the recovery of costs.

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

6 the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary 2

7 years after the date of enactment of this bill on the num8 ber of inquiries made by the association of employers

9 under this section and their disposition.

10 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

11 It is the sense of Congress that States should partici12 pate in the background check system established under

13 section 3.

14 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

15 As used in this Act—

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

17 for employment;

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

19 that—

20 (A) employs one or more private security

21 officers; or

22 (B) provides, as an independent contrac23 tor, for consideration, the services of one or

24 more private security officers (possibly includ25 ing oneself);
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1 (3) the term ‘‘private security officer’’—

2 (A) means—

3 (i) an individual who performs secu4 rity services, full or part time, for consider5 ation as an independent contractor or an

6 employee, whether armed or unarmed and

7 in uniform or plain clothes whose primary

8 duty is to perform security services, or

9 (ii) an individual who is an employee

10 of an electronic security system company

11 who is engaged in one or more of the fol12 lowing activities in the State: burglar

13 alarm technician, fire alarm technician,

14 closed circuit television technician, access

15 control technician, or security system mon16 itor; but

17 (B) does not include—

18 (i) sworn police officers who have law

19 enforcement powers in the State,

20 (ii) attorneys, accountants, and other

21 professionals who are otherwise licensed in

22 the State,

23 (iii) employees whose duties are pri24 marily internal audit or credit functions,
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1 (iv) persons whose duties may inciden2 tally include the reporting or apprehension

3 of shoplifters or trespassers, or

4 (v) an individual on active duty in the

5 military service;

6 (4) the term ‘‘certificate of registration’’ means

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

8 other formal written permission from the State for

9 the person to engage in providing security services;

10 (5) the term ‘‘security services’’ means the per11 formance of one or more of the following:

12 (A) the observation or reporting of intru13 sion, larceny, vandalism, fire or trespass;

14 (B) the deterrence of theft or misappro15 priation of any goods, money, or other item of

16 value;

17 (C) the observation or reporting of any un18 lawful activity;

19 (D) the protection of individuals or prop20 erty, including proprietary information, from

21 harm or misappropriation;

22 (E) the control of access to premises being

23 protected;

24 (F) the secure movement of prisoners;
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1 (G) the maintenance of order and safety at

2 athletic, entertainment, or other public activi3 ties;

4 (H) the provision of canine services for

5 protecting premises or for the detection of any

6 unlawful device or substance; and

7 (I) the transportation of money or other

8 valuables by armored vehicle; and

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

10 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth

11 of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands,

12 American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of

13 the Northern Mariana Islands.

Passed the House of Representatives September 26,

1996.

Attest: ROBIN H. CARLE,

Clerk.