I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 180 
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 
JANUARY 4, 2013 
Mr. GRIMM (for himself, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. REICHERT, 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. 
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 ‘‘National Blue Alert 
Act of 2013’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:27 Jan 11, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H180.IH
H180
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with
(1) COORDINATOR.—The term ‘‘Coordinator’’ 
means the Blue Alert Coordinator of the Depart-
ment of Justice designated under section 4(a). 
(2) BLUE
ALERT.—The term ‘‘Blue Alert’’ 
means information relating to the serious injury or 
death of a law enforcement officer in the line of duty 
sent through the network. 
(3) BLUE ALERT PLAN.—The term ‘‘Blue Alert 
plan’’ means the plan of a State, unit of local gov-
ernment, or Federal agency participating in the net-
work for the dissemination of information received 
as a Blue Alert. 
(4) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term 
‘‘law enforcement officer’’ shall have the same mean-
ing as in section 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Con-
trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 
3796b(6)). 
(5) NETWORK.—The term ‘‘network’’ means 
the Blue Alert communications network established 
by the Attorney General under section 3. 
(6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 
the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, 
the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 
Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:27 Jan 11, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H180.IH
H180
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with
SEC. 3. BLUE ALERT COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK. 
The Attorney General shall establish a national Blue 
Alert communications network within the Department of 
Justice to issue Blue Alerts through the initiation, facilita-
tion, and promotion of Blue Alert plans, in coordination 
with States, units of local government, law enforcement 
agencies, and other appropriate entities. 
SEC. 4. BLUE ALERT COORDINATOR; GUIDELINES. 
(a) COORDINATION WITHIN DEPARTMENT OF JUS-
TICE.—The Attorney General shall assign an existing offi-
cer of the Department of Justice to act as the national 
coordinator of the Blue Alert communications network. 
(b) DUTIES OF THE COORDINATOR.—The Coordi-
nator shall— 
(1) provide assistance to States and units of 
local government that are using Blue Alert plans; 
(2) establish voluntary guidelines for States and 
units of local government to use in developing Blue 
Alert plans that will promote compatible and inte-
grated Blue Alert plans throughout the United 
States, including— 
(A) a list of the resources necessary to es-
tablish a Blue Alert plan; 
(B) criteria for evaluating whether a situa-
tion warrants issuing a Blue Alert; 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:27 Jan 11, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H180.IH
H180
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with
(C) guidelines to protect the privacy, dig-
nity, independence, and autonomy of any law 
enforcement officer who may be the subject of 
a Blue Alert and the family of the law enforce-
ment officer; 
(D) guidelines that a Blue Alert should 
only be issued with respect to a law enforce-
ment officer if— 
(i) the law enforcement agency in-
volved— 
(I) confirms— 
(aa) the death or serious in-
jury of the law enforcement offi-
cer; or 
(bb) the attack on the law 
enforcement 
officer 
and 
that 
there is an indication of the 
death or serious injury of the of-
ficer; or 
(II) concludes that the law en-
forcement officer is missing in the line 
of duty; 
(ii) there is an indication of serious 
injury to or death of the law enforcement 
officer; 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:27 Jan 11, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H180.IH
H180
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with
(iii) the suspect involved has not been 
apprehended; and 
(iv) there is sufficient descriptive in-
formation of the suspect involved and any 
relevant vehicle and tag numbers; 
(E) guidelines— 
(i) that information relating to a law 
enforcement officer who is seriously in-
jured or killed in the line of duty should be 
provided to the National Crime Informa-
tion Center database operated by the Fed-
eral Bureau of Investigation under section 
534 of title 28, United States Code, and 
any relevant crime information repository 
of the State involved; 
(ii) that a Blue Alert should, to the 
maximum extent practicable (as deter-
mined by the Coordinator in consultation 
with law enforcement agencies of States 
and units of local governments), be limited 
to the geographic areas most likely to fa-
cilitate the apprehension of the suspect in-
volved or which the suspect could reason-
ably reach, which should not be limited to 
State lines; 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:27 Jan 11, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H180.IH
H180
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with
(iii) for law enforcement agencies of 
States or units of local government to de-
velop plans to communicate information to 
neighboring States to provide for seamless 
communication of a Blue Alert; and 
(iv) providing that a Blue Alert 
should be suspended when the suspect in-
volved is apprehended or when the law en-
forcement agency involved determines that 
the Blue Alert is no longer effective; and 
(F) guidelines for— 
(i) the issuance of Blue Alerts 
through the network; and 
(ii) the extent of the dissemination of 
alerts issued through the network; 
(3) develop protocols for efforts to apprehend 
suspects that address activities during the period be-
ginning at the time of the initial notification of a 
law enforcement agency that a suspect has not been 
apprehended and ending at the time of apprehension 
of a suspect or when the law enforcement agency in-
volved determines that the Blue Alert is no longer 
effective, including protocols regulating— 
(A) the use of public safety communica-
tions; 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:27 Jan 11, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H180.IH
H180
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with
(B) command center operations; and 
(C) incident review, evaluation, debriefing, 
and public information procedures; 
(4) work with States to ensure appropriate re-
gional coordination of various elements of the net-
work; 
(5) establish an advisory group to assist States, 
units of local government, law enforcement agencies, 
and other entities involved in the network with initi-
ating, facilitating, and promoting Blue Alert plans, 
which shall include— 
(A) to the maximum extent practicable, 
representation from the various geographic re-
gions of the United States; and 
(B) members who are— 
(i) representatives of a law enforce-
ment organization representing rank-and- 
file officers; 
(ii) representatives of other law en-
forcement agencies and public safety com-
munications; 
(iii) broadcasters, first responders, 
dispatchers, and radio station personnel; 
and 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
23:27 Jan 11, 2013
Jkt 029200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H180.IH
H180
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with