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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 962 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 962

To extend the same Federal benefits to law enforcement officers serving 
 private institutions of higher education and rail carriers that apply 
     to law enforcement officers serving units of State and local 
                              government.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 15, 2015

 Mr. Reed (for himself, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Whitehouse, and Mr. 
    Markey) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To extend the same Federal benefits to law enforcement officers serving 
 private institutions of higher education and rail carriers that apply 
     to law enforcement officers serving units of State and local 
                              government.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Equity in Law Enforcement Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. LINE-OF-DUTY DEATH AND DISABILITY BENEFITS.

    (a) Amendments.--Section 1204(9) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796b(9)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (C)(ii), by striking ``or'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) an individual who is--
                            ``(i) serving a private institution of 
                        higher education in an official capacity, with 
                        or without compensation, as a law enforcement 
                        officer; and
                            ``(ii) sworn, licensed, or certified under 
                        the laws of a State for the purposes of law 
                        enforcement (and trained to meet the training 
                        standards for law enforcement officers 
                        established by the relevant governmental 
                        appointing authority); or
                    ``(F) a rail police officer who is--
                            ``(i) employed by a rail carrier; and
                            ``(ii) sworn, licensed, or certified under 
                        the laws of a State for the purposes of law 
                        enforcement (and trained to meet the training 
                        standards for law enforcement officers 
                        established by the relevant governmental 
                        appointing authority).''.
    (b) Applicability of Amendments.--The amendments made by this 
section shall apply to a personal injury sustained in the line of duty 
by an individual described in subparagraph (E) or (F) of section 
1204(9) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796b(9)), as added by subsection (a), on or after 
April 15, 2013.

SEC. 3. LAW ENFORCEMENT ARMOR VESTS.

    (a) Grant Program.--Section 2501 of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796ll) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``and Indian tribes'' and inserting 
                ``Indian tribes, private institutions of higher 
                education, and rail carriers''; and
                    (B) by inserting before the period at the end the 
                following: ``and law enforcement officers serving 
                private institutions of higher education and rail 
                carriers who are sworn, licensed, or certified under 
                the laws of a State for the purposes of law enforcement 
                (and trained to meet the training standards for law 
                enforcement officers established by the relevant 
                governmental appointing authority)'';
            (2) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``or Indian tribe'' 
        and inserting ``Indian tribe, private institution of higher 
        education, or rail carrier''; and
            (3) in subsection (e), by striking ``or Indian tribe'' and 
        inserting ``Indian tribe, private institution of higher 
        education, or rail carrier''.
    (b) Applications.--Section 2502 of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796ll-1) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``or Indian tribe'' and 
        inserting ``Indian tribe, private institution of higher 
        education, or rail carrier''; and
            (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``and Indian tribes'' 
        and inserting ``Indian tribes, private institutions of higher 
        education, and rail carriers''.
    (c) Definitions.--Section 2503(6) of title I of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796ll-2(6)) is amended 
by striking ``or Indian tribe'' and inserting ``Indian tribe, private 
institution of higher education, or rail carrier''.

SEC. 4. BYRNE GRANTS.

    Section 501(b)(2) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3751(b)(2)) is amended by inserting 
after ``units of local government'' the following: ``, private 
institutions of higher education, and rail carriers''.
                                 <all>
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