I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6235 

To encourage, enhance, and integrate Blue Alert plans throughout the United 

States in order to disseminate information when a law enforcement 

officer is seriously injured or killed in the line of duty. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2010 

Mr. MCMAHON (for himself, Mr. HOYER, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. HALL of New 

York, Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mrs. MALONEY, Ms. 

BORDALLO, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, and Mr. 

PIERLUISI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To encourage, enhance, and integrate Blue Alert plans 

throughout the United States in order to disseminate 

information when a law enforcement officer is seriously 

injured or killed in the line of duty. 

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 Blue Alert 

5 Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BLUE ALERT COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK. 

2 The Attorney General shall, subject to the availability 

3 of appropriations pursuant to section 6, establish a na4 tional Blue Alert communications network within the De5 partment of Justice to disseminate information when a 

6 law enforcement officer is seriously injured or killed in the 

7 line of duty through the initiation, facilitation, and pro8 motion of local elements of the network (known as Blue 

9 Alert plans) in coordination with States, units of local gov10 ernment, law enforcement agencies, and other appropriate 

11 entities. 

12 SEC. 3. BLUE ALERT COORDINATOR; GUIDELINES. 

13 (a) COORDINATION WITHIN DEPARTMENT OF JUS14 TICE.—The Attorney General shall assign an officer of the 

15 Department of Justice to act as the national coordinator 

16 of the Blue Alert communications network. The officer so 

17 designated shall be known as the Blue Alert Coordinator 

18 of the Department of Justice (referred to in this Act as 

19 the ‘‘Coordinator’’). 

20 (b) DUTIES OF THE COORDINATOR.—In acting as the 

21 national coordinator of the Blue Alert communications 

22 network, the Coordinator shall— 

23 (1) work with States to encourage the develop24 ment of additional Blue Alert plans in the network; 

25 (2) establish voluntary guidelines for States to 

26 use in developing Blue Alert plans that will promote 


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1 compatible and integrated Blue Alert plans through2 out the United States, including— 

3 (A) a list of the resources necessary to es4 tablish a Blue Alert plan; 

5 (B) criteria for evaluating whether a situa6 tion warrants issuing a Blue Alert; 

7 (C) guidelines to protect the privacy, dig8 nity, independence, and autonomy of any law 

9 enforcement officer who may be the subject of 

10 a Blue Alert or family of such law enforcement 

11 officer; 

12 (D) guidelines that, before a Blue Alert is 

13 issued and with respect to a law enforcement 

14 officer who is seriously injured or killed in the 

15 line of duty— 

16 (i) the law enforcement agency in17 volved confirms the death, injury, or attack 

18 on of the law enforcement officer; 

19 (ii) there is an indication of serious 

20 injury to or death of the law enforcement 

21 officer; 

22 (iii) the suspect involved has not been 

23 apprehended; and 


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1 (iv) there is sufficient descriptive in2 formation of the suspect involved and any 

3 relevant vehicle and tag numbers; 

4 (E) guidelines— 

5 (i) that information related to a law 

6 enforcement officer who is seriously in7 jured or killed in the line of duty would be 

8 provided to the National Crime Informa9 tion Center database operated by the Fed10 eral Bureau of Investigation pursuant to 

11 section 534 of title 28, United States 

12 Code, and any relevant crime information 

13 repository of the State involved; 

14 (ii) that a Blue Alert would be, to the 

15 maximum extent practicable (as deter16 mined by the Coordinator in consultation 

17 with State and local law enforcement agen18 cies) limited to the geographic areas most 

19 likely to facilitate the apprehension of the 

20 suspect involved or which such suspect 

21 could reasonably reach, but not limited to 

22 State lines; 

23 (iii) for State law enforcement agen24 cies to develop plans to communicate inforVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:34 Oct 05, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6235.IH H6235

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1 mation to neighboring States to provide for 

2 seamless communication of Blue Alert; and 

3 (iv) providing that a Blue Alert will be 

4 suspended when the suspect involved is ap5 prehended or when the law enforcement 

6 agency involved determines that the Blue 

7 Alert is no longer effective; and 

8 (F) guidelines for— 

9 (i) the issuance of alerts through the 

10 Blue Alert communications network; and 

11 (ii) the extent of the dissemination of 

12 alerts issued through the network; 

13 (3) develop proposed protocols for efforts to ap14 prehend suspects, including protocols that are need15 ed from the time of the initial notification of a law 

16 enforcement agency that a suspect has not been ap17 prehended through the time of apprehension of a 

18 suspect or when the law enforcement agency involved 

19 determines that the Blue Alert is no longer effective, 

20 including— 

21 (A) public safety communications; 

22 (B) command center operations; and 

23 (C) incident review, evaluation, debriefing, 

24 and public information procedures; 


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1 (4) work with States to ensure appropriate re2 gional coordination of various elements of the net3 work; 

4 (5) establish an advisory group to assist States, 

5 units of local government, law enforcement agencies, 

6 and other entities involved in the Blue Alert commu7 nications network with initiating, facilitating, and 

8 promoting Blue Alert plans, which shall include— 

9 (A) to the maximum extent practicable, 

10 representation from the various geographic re11 gions of the United States; and 

12 (B) members who are— 

13 (i) representatives of law enforcement 

14 organizations, law enforcement agencies, 

15 and public safety communications, 

16 (ii) broadcasters, first responders, dis17 patchers, and radio station personnel; and 

18 (iii) representatives of any other indi19 viduals or organizations that the Coordi20 nator determines are necessary to the suc21 cess of the Blue Alert communications net22 work; and 

23 (6) act as the nationwide point of contact for— 

24 (A) the development of the network; and 


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1 (B) regional coordination of alerts through 

2 the network for law enforcement officers who 

3 are seriously injured or killed in the line of 

4 duty. 

5 (c) LIMITATIONS APPLICABLE TO GUIDELINES AND

6 OTHER DUTIES.—In establishing the guidelines and car7 rying out other duties under subsection (b), the following 

8 shall apply: 

9 (1) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.—The guide10 lines established under paragraph (2) of such sub11 section, protocols developed under paragraph (3) of 

12 such subsection, and other programs established 

13 under such subsection, shall be adoptable by a State 

14 on a voluntary basis only. 

15 (2) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The 

16 guidelines shall, to the maximum extent practicable 

17 (as determined by the Coordinator in consultation 

18 with State and local law enforcement agencies), pro19 vide that appropriate information relating to a 

20 wounding assault or fatal injury on a law enforce21 ment officer is disseminated to the appropriate law 

22 enforcement, public health, and other public officials. 

23 (3) PRIVACY AND CIVIL LIBERTIES PROTEC24 TIONS.—The guidelines shall— 


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1 (A) ensure that alerts issued through the 

2 Blue Alert communications network comply 

3 with all applicable Federal, State, and local pri4 vacy laws and regulations; and 

5 (B) include standards that specifically pro6 vide for the protection of the civil liberties, in7 cluding the privacy, of law enforcement officers 

8 who are seriously injured or killed in the line of 

9 duty and the families of such officers. 

10 (d) COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES.—The 

11 Coordinator shall cooperate with the Secretary of Home12 land Security, the Secretary of Transportation, the Fed13 eral Communications Commission, and appropriate offices 

14 of the Department of Justice in carrying out activities 

15 under this Act. 

16 (e) REPORTS.—Not later than one year after the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

18 Coordinator shall submit to Congress a report on the ac19 tivities of the Coordinator and the effectiveness and status 

20 of the Blue Alert plans of each State that has established 

21 or is in the process of establishing such a plan. 

22 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM FOR SUPPORT OF BLUE ALERT 

23 PLANS. 

24 (a) GRANT PROGRAM.—Subject to the availability of 

25 appropriations to carry out this section, the Attorney GenVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:34 Oct 05, 2010 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6235.IH H6235

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1 eral shall carry out a program to provide grants to States 

2 for the development or enhancement of programs and ac3 tivities for the support of Blue Alert plans and the Blue 

4 Alert communications network. 

5 (b) ACTIVITIES.—Activities funded by grants under 

6 the program under subsection (a) may include— 

7 (1) the development and implementation of edu8 cation and training programs, and associated mate9 rials, relating to Blue Alert plans; 

10 (2) the development and implementation of law 

11 enforcement programs, and associated equipment, 

12 relating to Blue Alert plans; 

13 (3) the development and implementation of new 

14 technologies to improve Blue Alert communications; 

15 and 

16 (4) such other activities as the Attorney Gen17 eral considers appropriate for supporting the Blue 

18 Alert communications network. 

19 (c) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 

20 of any activities funded by a grant under the program 

21 under subsection (a) may not exceed 50 percent. 

22 (d) DISTRIBUTION OF GRANT AMOUNTS ON GEO23 GRAPHIC BASIS.—The Attorney General shall, to the max24 imum extent practicable, ensure the distribution of grants 


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1 under the program under subsection (a) on an equitable 

2 basis throughout the various regions of the United States. 

3 (e) ADMINISTRATION.—The Attorney General shall 

4 prescribe requirements, including application require5 ments, for grants under the program under subsection (a). 

6 SEC. 5. DEFINITION. 

7 For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ means 

8 each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com9 monwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Is10 lands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 

11 Northern Mariana Islands, and any federally recognized 

12 Indian tribe. 

13 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro15 priated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 

16 Act (other than for purposes described in subparagraph 

17 (A) or (B) of subsection (b)(1)). 

18 (b) GRANT FUNDING.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

20 appropriated for fiscal year 2011— 

21 (A) $5,000,000 for grants under section 4; 

22 and 

23 (B) an additional $5,000,000 for such 

24 grants to carry out activities described in sec25 tion 4(b)(3). 


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1 (2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro2 priated pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain 

3 available until expended. 

Æ 


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