II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1424

To amend chapter 4 of title 23, United States Code, to establish a national

program concerning motor vehicle pursuits by law enforcement officers,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 6 (legislative day, JUNE 30), 1993

Mr. DORGAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To amend chapter 4 of title 23, United States Code, to

establish a national program concerning motor vehicle

pursuits by law enforcement officers, 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 ‘‘National Police Pur5 suit Policy Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) accidents occurring as a result of high speed

2 motor vehicle pursuits by law enforcement officers

3 are becoming increasingly common across the United

4 States;

5 (2) the extent of this problem, which is evident

6 despite significant underreporting, makes it essential

7 for all law enforcement agencies to develop and im8 plement both policies and training procedures for

9 dealing with these pursuits;

10 (3) a high speed motor vehicle pursuit by a law

11 enforcement officer should be treated like the firing

12 of a police firearm because it involves the use in the

13 community of a deadly force with the potential for

14 causing harm or death to pedestrians and motorists;

15 (4) to demonstrate leadership in response to

16 this national problem, all Federal law enforcement

17 agencies must develop policies and procedures gov18 erning motor vehicle pursuits, and provide assistance

19 to State and local law enforcement agencies in insti20 tuting such policies and training; and

21 (5) such policies should reasonably balance the

22 need for prompt apprehension of dangerous crimi23 nals with the threat to the safety of the general pub24 lic posed by high speed pursuits.
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1 SEC. 3. MOTOR VEHICLE PURSUIT REQUIREMENTS FOR

2 STATE HIGHWAY SAFETY PROGRAMS.

3 Section 402(b)(1) of title 23, United States Code, is

4 amended by adding at the end the following new subpara5 graph:

6 ‘‘(F) on and after July 31, 1995, have in effect

7 throughout the State—

8 ‘‘(i) a law (I) that makes it unlawful for

9 the driver of a motor vehicle to increase speed

10 or take any other evasive action if a law en11 forcement officer signals the driver to stop the

12 motor vehicle, and (II) that provides, for that

13 any driver who commits such an unlawful act,

14 a minimum penalty of imprisonment for 3

15 months and seizure of the driver’s vehicle; and

16 ‘‘(ii) a requirement that each public agency

17 in the State which employs law enforcement of18 ficers who in the course of employment may

19 conduct a motor vehicle pursuit (I) shall have

20 in effect a policy, which meets the requirements

21 established by the Secretary, concerning the

22 manner and circumstances in which such a pur23 suit should be conducted, (II) shall train all law

24 enforcement officers of the agency in accord25 ance with such policy, and (III) shall transmit

26 to the State in such fiscal year a report con-
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1 taining information on each motor vehicle pur2 suit conducted by a law enforcement officer of

3 the agency.’’.

4 SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENT.

5 Not later than one hundred and eighty days after the

6 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, the

7 Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, the

8 Secretary of the Treasury, the Chief of the Capitol Police,

9 and the Administrator of General Services shall each

10 transmit to Congress a report containing—

11 (1) the policy of the respective department or

12 agency on motor vehicle pursuits by law enforcement

13 officers of the department or agency; and

14 (2) a description of procedures being used to

15 train law enforcement officers of the department or

16 agency in implementation of such policy.

17 The policy of a department or agency contained in a report

18 required by this section shall meet the requirements of sec19 tion 402(b)(1)(F) of title 23, United States Code, as

20 added by section 3 of this Act.

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