I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2184
To permit reviews of criminal records of applicants for private security officer
employment, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 17, 1997
Mr. BRYANT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Commit-
tee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee
on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To permit reviews of criminal records of applicants for
private security officer employment, and for other purposes.
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 ‘‘Private Security Offi-
cer Quality Assurance Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) employment of private security officers in
the United States is growing rapidly;
(2) private security officers function as an ad-
junct to public law enforcement by helping to reduce
and prevent crime;
(3) the private security industry provides nu-
merous opportunities for entry-level job applicants,
including individuals suffering from unemployment
due to economic conditions or dislocations;
(4) such private security officers protect indi-
viduals, tangible and intangible property and propri-
etary information and provide protection to such di-
verse operations as banks, hospitals, chemical com-
panies, oil and gas refineries, airports, communica-
tion facilities and operations, office complexes,
schools, residential properties, apartment complexes,
gated communities and many others;
(5) sworn law enforcement officers provide sig-
nificant services to the citizens of the United States
in its public areas, and are only supplemented by
private security officers who provide prevention and
reporting services in support of, but not in place of,
regular sworn police;
(6) given the growth of large private shopping
malls, and the consequent reduction in the number
of public shopping streets, the American public is
more likely to have contact with private security per-
sonnel in the course of a day than with sworn law
enforcement officers;
(7) the trend in the Nation toward growth in
such security services has accelerated rapidly as the
per capita number of public sector law enforcement
officers has decreased;
(8) such growth serves important public policy
goals in making available more public sector law en-
forcement officers to combat serious and violent
crimes;
(9) regardless of the differences in their duties,
skill, and responsibilities, the public has difficulty in
discerning the difference between sworn law enforce-
ment officers and private security personnel;
(10) the American public demands the employ-
ment of qualified, well-trained private security per-
sonnel as an adjunct, but not a replacement for
sworn law enforcement officers; and
(11) private security officers and applicants for
private security officer positions should be screened
as thoroughly as possible, particularly since many
private security officers bear weapons.
SEC. 3. BACKGROUND CHECKS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) At the request of an employer
of private security officers, an association of employers of
private security officers, designated for the purpose of this
section by the Attorney General, must submit to the Attor-
ney General fingerprints or other methods of positive iden-
tification of an employee of such employer for purposes
of a background check.
(2) An employer may seek authorization from its em-
ployees to submit their fingerprints for purposes of a back-
ground check.
(3) Upon receipt of fingerprints from an association
designated under this section, the Attorney General shall
search the records of the Interstate Information Index of
the National Crime Information Center and the Identifica-
tion Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and
shall provide any identification and criminal history
records corresponding to the fingerprints to the requesting
association within 30 business days.
(4) The Attorney General shall, to the maximum ex-
tent possible, encourage the use of the best technology
available in compiling criminal history information and in
responding to requests under this section.
(5) An association designated under this section shall
submit employee fingerprints to the Attorney General for
identification and appropriate processing within one busi-
ness day of receiving them. Such an association shall also
transfer a copy of the identification and criminal history