IB
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 2092
[Report No. 104–827, Part I]
To expedite State reviews of criminal records of applicants for private security
officer employment, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 21, 1995
Mr. BARR of Georgia (for himself, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. HEINEMAN, Mr.
SCHIFF, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. SERRANO, and Mr. BRYANT of Tennessee) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Eco-
nomic and Educational Opportunities, 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
SEPTEMBER 24, 1996
Additional sponsors: Mr. SCOTT, Mr. COBLE, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. FILNER, Mr.
OWENS, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO´, Ms. PELOSI, Mr.
FROST, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida, Ms. RIVERS, Mr.
TORRICELLI, Mr. LINDER, Mr. BONILLA, Mr. PACKARD, Mrs. ROUKEMA,
Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. KIM, Mr. DIXON, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr.
MCKEON, Mr. ZIMMER, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. GILCHREST,
Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, and Mr. SENSENBRENNER
Deleted sponsor: Mr. BRYANT of Tennessee (added July 21, 1995; deleted
July 27, 1995)
SEPTEMBER 24, 1996
Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 21, 1995]
A BILL
To expedite State 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 Officer
Quality Assurance Act of 1996’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) employment of private security officers in the
United States is growing rapidly;
(2) the private security industry provides nu-
merous opportunities for entry-level job applicants,
including individuals suffering from unemployment
due to economic conditions or dislocations;
(3) 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;
(4) 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 personnel
in the course of a day than with sworn law enforce-
ment officers;
(5) 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; and
(6) 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.
SEC. 3. BACKGROUND CHECKS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—An association of employers of pri-
vate security officers, designated for the purpose of this sec-
tion by the Attorney General, may submit fingerprints or
other methods of positive identification approved by the At-
torney General, to the Attorney General on behalf of any
applicant for a State license or certificate of registration
as a private security officer or employer of private security
officers. In response to such a submission, the Attorney Gen-
eral may, to the extent provided by State law conforming
to the requirements of the second paragraph under the head-
ing ‘‘Federal Bureau of Investigation’’ and the subheading
‘‘Salaries and Expenses’’ in title II of Public Law 92–544
(86 Stat. 1115), exchange, for licensing and employment
purposes, identification and criminal history records with
the State governmental agencies to which such applicant
has applied.
(b) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney General may pre-
scribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out
this section, including measures relating to the security,
confidentiality, accuracy, use, and dissemination of infor-
mation and audits and recordkeeping and the imposition
of fees necessary for the recovery of costs.
(c) REPORT.—The Attorney General shall report to the
Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary 2 years
after the date of enactment of this bill on the number of
inquiries made by the association of employers under this
section and their disposition.
SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that States should partici-
pate in the background check system established under sec-
tion 3.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘employee’’ includes an applicant
for employment;
(2) the term ‘‘employer’’ means any person
that—
(A) employs one or more private security of-
ficers; or
(B) provides, as an independent contractor,
for consideration, the services of one or more pri-
vate security officers (possibly including oneself);
(3) the term ‘‘private security officer’’—
(A) means—
(i) an individual who performs secu-
rity services, full or part time, for consider-
ation as an independent contractor or an
employee, whether armed or unarmed and
in uniform or plain clothes whose primary
duty is to perform security services, or
(ii) an individual who is an employee
of an electronic security system company
engaged in one or more of the following ac-
tivities in the State: burglar alarm techni-
cian, fire alarm technician, closed circuit
television technician, access control techni-
cian, or security system monitor; but
(B) does not include—
(i) sworn police officers who have law
enforcement powers in the State,