II 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 365 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
MAY 16, 2012 
Received 
AN ACT 
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, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Blue Alert 
Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(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. 
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(6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 
the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 
Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Common-
wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 
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-
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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; 
(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 
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(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; 
(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 
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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; 
(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 
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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; 
(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; 
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(ii) representatives of other law en-
forcement agencies and public safety com-
munications; 
(iii) broadcasters, first responders, 
dispatchers, and radio station personnel; 
and 
(iv) representatives of any other indi-
viduals or organizations that the Coordi-
nator determines are necessary to the suc-
cess of the network; 
(6) act as the nationwide point of contact for— 
(A) the development of the network; and 
(B) regional coordination of Blue Alerts 
through the network; and 
(7) determine— 
(A) what procedures and practices are in 
use for notifying law enforcement and the pub-
lic when a law enforcement officer is killed or 
seriously injured in the line of duty; and 
(B) which of the procedures and practices 
are effective and that do not require the ex-
penditure of additional resources to implement. 
(c) LIMITATIONS.— 
(1) VOLUNTARY
PARTICIPATION.—The guide-
lines established under subsection (b)(2), protocols 
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developed under subsection (b)(3), and other pro-
grams established under subsection (b), shall not be 
mandatory. 
(2) DISSEMINATION
OF
INFORMATION.—The 
guidelines established under subsection (b)(2) shall, 
to the maximum extent practicable (as determined 
by the Coordinator in consultation with law enforce-
ment agencies of States and units of local govern-
ment), provide that appropriate information relating 
to a Blue Alert is disseminated to the appropriate 
officials of law enforcement agencies, public health 
agencies, and other agencies. 
(3) PRIVACY
AND
CIVIL
LIBERTIES
PROTEC-
TIONS.—The guidelines established under subsection 
(b) shall— 
(A) provide mechanisms that ensure that 
Blue Alerts comply with all applicable Federal, 
State, and local privacy laws and regulations; 
and 
(B) include standards that specifically pro-
vide for the protection of the civil liberties, in-
cluding the privacy, of law enforcement officers 
who are seriously injured or killed in the line of 
duty and the families of the officers. 
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(d) COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES.—The 
Coordinator shall cooperate with the Secretary of Home-
land Security, the Secretary of Transportation, the Chair-
man of the Federal Communications Commission, and ap-
propriate offices of the Department of Justice in carrying 
out activities under this Act. 
(e) RESTRICTIONS ON COORDINATOR.—The Coordi-
nator may not— 
(1) perform any official travel for the sole pur-
pose of carrying out the duties of the Coordinator; 
(2) lobby any officer of a State regarding the 
funding or implementation of a Blue Alert plan; or 
(3) host a conference focused solely on the Blue 
Alert program that requires the expenditure of Fed-
eral funds. 
(f) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Co-
ordinator shall submit to Congress a report on the activi-
ties of the Coordinator and the effectiveness and status 
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of the Blue Alert plans that are in effect or being devel-
oped. 
Passed the House of Representatives May 15, 2012. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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