IB

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2092

[Report No. 104–827, Part I]

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 of Georgia (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

SEPTEMBER 24, 1996

Additional sponsors: Mr. SCOTT, Mr. COBLE, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. FILNER, Mr.

OWENS, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Ms. PELOSI, Mr.

FROST, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida, Ms. RIVERS, Mr.

TORRICELLI, Mr. LINDER, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. PACKARD, Mrs. ROUKEMA,

Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. KIM, Mr. DIXON, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr.

MCKEON, Mr. ZIMMER, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. GILCHREST,

Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, and Mr. SENSENBRENNER

Deleted sponsor: Mr. BRYANT of Tennessee (added July 21, 1995; deleted

July 27, 1995)

SEPTEMBER 24, 1996

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 21, 1995]
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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 Officer

5 Quality Assurance Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) employment of private security officers in the

9 United States is growing rapidly;

10 (2) the private security industry provides nu11 merous opportunities for entry-level job applicants,

12 including individuals suffering from unemployment

13 due to economic conditions or dislocations;

14 (3) sworn law enforcement officers provide sig15 nificant services to the citizens of the United States

16 in its public areas, and are only supplemented by

17 private security officers who provide prevention and

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

19 regular sworn police;

20 (4) given the growth of large private shopping

21 malls, and the consequent reduction in the number of
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1 public shopping streets, the American public is more

2 likely to have contact with private security personnel

3 in the course of a day than with sworn law enforce4 ment officers;

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

6 skill, and responsibilities, the public has difficulty in

7 discerning the difference between sworn law enforce8 ment officers and private security personnel; and

9 (6) the American public demands the employ10 ment of qualified, well-trained private security per11 sonnel as an adjunct, but not a replacement for sworn

12 law enforcement officers.

13 SEC. 3. BACKGROUND CHECKS.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—An association of employers of pri15 vate security officers, designated for the purpose of this sec16 tion by the Attorney General, may submit fingerprints or

17 other methods of positive identification approved by the At18 torney General, to the Attorney General on behalf of any

19 applicant for a State license or certificate of registration

20 as a private security officer or employer of private security

21 officers. In response to such a submission, the Attorney Gen22 eral may, to the extent provided by State law conforming

23 to the requirements of the second paragraph under the head24 ing ‘‘Federal Bureau of Investigation’’ and the subheading

25 ‘‘Salaries and Expenses’’ in title II of Public Law 92–544
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1 (86 Stat. 1115), exchange, for licensing and employment

2 purposes, identification and criminal history records with

3 the State governmental agencies to which such applicant

4 has applied.

5 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General may pre6 scribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out

7 this section, including measures relating to the security,

8 confidentiality, accuracy, use, and dissemination of infor9 mation and audits and recordkeeping and the imposition

10 of fees necessary for the recovery of costs.

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

12 Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary 2 years

13 after the date of enactment of this bill on the number of

14 inquiries made by the association of employers under this

15 section and their disposition.

16 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

17 It is the sense of Congress that States should partici18 pate in the background check system established under sec19 tion 3.

20 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

21 As used in this Act—

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

23 for employment;

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

25 that—
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1 (A) employs one or more private security of2 ficers; or

3 (B) provides, as an independent contractor,

4 for consideration, the services of one or more pri5 vate security officers (possibly including oneself);

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

7 (A) means—

8 (i) an individual who performs secu9 rity services, full or part time, for consider10 ation as an independent contractor or an

11 employee, whether armed or unarmed and

12 in uniform or plain clothes whose primary

13 duty is to perform security services, or

14 (ii) an individual who is an employee

15 of an electronic security system company

16 engaged in one or more of the following ac17 tivities in the State: burglar alarm techni18 cian, fire alarm technician, closed circuit

19 television technician, access control techni20 cian, or security system monitor; but

21 (B) does not include—

22 (i) sworn police officers who have law

23 enforcement powers in the State,
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1 (ii) attorneys, accountants, and other

2 professionals who are otherwise licensed in

3 the State,

4 (iii) employees whose duties are pri5 marily internal audit or credit functions,

6 (iv) persons whose duties may inciden7 tally include the reporting or apprehension

8 of shoplifters or trespassers, or

9 (v) an individual on active duty in the

10 military service;

11 (4) the term ‘‘registration permit’’ means a li12 cense, permit, certificate, registration card, or other

13 formal written permission from the State for the per14 son to engage in providing security services;

15 (5) the term ‘‘security services’’ means the per16 formance of one or more of the following:

17 (A) the observation or reporting of intru18 sion, larceny, vandalism, fire or trespass;

19 (B) the deterrence of theft or misappropria20 tion of any goods, money, or other item of value;

21 (C) the observation or reporting of any un22 lawful activity;

23 (D) the protection of individuals or prop24 erty, including proprietary information, from

25 harm or misappropriation;
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1 (E) the control of access to premises being

2 protected;

3 (F) the secure movement of prisoners;

4 (G) the maintenance of order and safety at

5 athletic, entertainment, or other public activities;

6 (H) the provision of canine services for pro7 tecting premises or for the detection of any un8 lawful device or substance; and

9 (I) the transportation of money or other

10 valuables by armored vehicle; and

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

12 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth

13 of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands,

14 American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of

15 the Northern Mariana Islands.

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