I
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 97
To establish a rapid deployment force.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 4, 1995
Mrs. KENNELLY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
FEBRUARY 10, 1995
Additional sponsors: Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. FROST,
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. EVANS, Mr.
GEJDENSON, and Mr. ACKERMAN
A BILL
To establish a rapid deployment force.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rapid Deployment
Strike Force Act’’.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall estab-
lish in the Federal Bureau of Investigation a unit, to be
known as the Rapid Deployment Force, which shall be
made available to assist units of local government in com-
bating crime in accordance with this Act.
(b) ASSISTANT DIRECTOR.—The Rapid Deployment
Force shall be headed by a Deputy Assistant Director of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (referred to as ‘‘Dep-
uty Assistant Director’’).
(c) PERSONNEL.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Rapid Deployment
Force shall be comprised of approximately 2,500
Federal law enforcement officers with training and
experience in—
(A) investigation of violent crime, drug-re-
lated crime, criminal gangs, and juvenile delin-
quency; and
(B) community action to prevent crime.
(2) REPLACEMENT.—To the extent that the
Rapid Deployment Force is staffed through the
transfer of personnel from other entities in the De-
partment of Justice or any other Federal agency,
such personnel of that entity or agency shall be re-
placed through the hiring of additional law enforce-
ment officers.
SEC. 3. DEPLOYMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—On application of the Governor of
a State and the chief executive officer of the affected local
government or governments (or, in the case of the District
of Columbia, the mayor) and upon finding that the occur-
rence of criminal activity in a particular jurisdiction is
being exacerbated by the interstate flow of drugs, guns,
and criminals, the Deputy Assistant Director may deploy
on a temporary basis a unit of the Rapid Deployment
Force of an appropriate number of law enforcement offi-
cers to the jurisdiction to assist State and local law en-
forcement agencies in the investigation of criminal activ-
ity. For the purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘State’’ shall
be deemed to include the District of Columbia and any
United States territory or possession.
(b) APPLICATION.—An application for assistance
under this section shall—
(1) describe the nature of the crime problem
that a local jurisdiction is experiencing;
(2) describe, in quantitative and qualitative
terms, the State and local law enforcement forces
that are available and will be made available to com-
bat the crime problem;
(3) demonstrate that such State and local law
enforcement forces have been organized and coordi-
nated so as to make the most effective use of the re-
sources that are available to them, and of the assist-
ance of the Rapid Deployment Force, to combat
crime;
(4) demonstrate a willingness to assist in pro-
viding temporary housing facilities for members of
the Rapid Deployment Force;
(5) delineate opportunities for training and edu-
cation of local law enforcement and community rep-
resentatives in anticrime strategies by the Rapid De-
ployment Force;
(6) include a plan by which the local jurisdic-
tion will prevent a rebound in the crime level follow-
ing departure of the Rapid Deployment Force from
the jurisdiction; and
(7) such other information as the Deputy As-
sistant Director may reasonably require.
(c) CONDITIONS OF DEPLOYMENT.—The Deputy As-
sistant Director, upon consultation with the Attorney Gen-
eral, may agree to deploy a unit of the Rapid Deployment
Force to a State or local jurisdiction on such conditions
as the Deputy Assistant Director considers to be appro-
priate, including a condition that more State or local law
enforcement officers or other resources be committed to
dealing with the crime problem. The unit shall serve under
the overall control of the senior State or local law enforce-
ment authority in the deployment area, pursuant to a
clearly delineated command and operational deployment
agreement reached prior to the deployment by the Deputy
Assistant Director and such senior State or local author-
ity.
(d) DEPUTIZATION.—Members of the Rapid Deploy-
ment Force who are deployed to a jurisdiction shall be
deputized in accordance with State law so as to empower
such officers to make arrests and participate in the pros-
ecution of criminal offenses under State law.
SEC. 4. LEAVE SYSTEM.
Notwithstanding subchapter I of chapter 63 of title
5, United States Code, the Attorney General of the United
States shall, after consultation with the Director of the
Office of Personnel Management, establish, and admin-
ister an annual leave system applicable to the Federal law
enforcement officers serving in the Rapid Deployment
Force.
SEC. 5. LOCATION OF UNITS AND FUNCTIONS WHEN NOT
DEPLOYED.
(a) LOCATION.—Units of the Rapid Deployment
Force shall be based in the Nation’s major regions at loca-
tions and in facilities determined by the Attorney General.
Members of the Rapid Deployment Force shall receive
training and education in the regional crime problems of
the region where they are based. The Deputy Assistant