Peace Officer's Bill of Rights Act

03/01/06
Congress & Session: 109 - 2
Bill Status:

For the past twelve years, House and Senate Members have introduced legislation that would create a national due process standard for law enforcement officers across the United States. In the 109th Congress, H.R. 354, the State and Local Law Enforcement Discipline, Accountability, and Due Process Act of 2005 was introduced by Congressman Jim Ramstad (R- MN 3). Its companion bill S. 718 was introduced under the same title by Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE). These bills have for at least twelve years served as the standard by which all potential federal due process proposals were measured. In an effort to supplement the advancement of a national due process standard, the National Coalition of Public Safety Officers-Communications Workers of America (NCPSO-CWA) developed and advanced a federal legislative proposal that enhances Congress' current efforts. Entitled, the Peace Officer's Bill of Rights Act, the proposal is modeled after the successful California state due process law that has worked successfully for 30 years.

As State and local officials grapple to balance the needs of the community with the need to provide uninterrupted public safety, officers themselves grapple with the complexities of an increasingly more dangerous world that now includes terrorism, border security, and other homeland security threats. Key to the successful execution of an officer's job is the need for a fair and just system of due process that provides concrete protections not only for them but also provides extended protections for their families.

No one understands this better than the National Coalition of Public Safety Officers of the Communications Workers of America. These frontline officers from major American cities and small localities as well are experts who serve more than two hundred State and local law enforcement agencies throughout the United States.

With federal, State and local officials calling for an extended role for police and corrections officials, it is imperative that proper procedures be in place that keep the lines of demarcation clear as relates to jurisdictional disputes regarding and officer's right's and disciplinary protections on the job.

Components of the NCPSO-CWA POBRA 

The NCPSO-CWA proposal comprises common sense provisions that have been tested across the country.  Key differences remain between legislation previously advanced in the Congress.  The NCPSO Peace Officer's Bill or Rights Act is not designed to compete with current legislation.  CWA authors of the bill simply worked to craft a product that may offer an enhancement to the work previously advanced.  The NCPSO supports all due process legislation that provides for improved benefits for officers. 

The following are some of the key provisions of the NCPSO proposal.  This bill includes, but is not limited to: 

Initiation of investigation of an outside complaint should commence within 15 days  

Interrogation conditions

24 hour notice of nature of investigation

Interrogation should be conducted at a reasonable time

No threats or intimidation

Tape recording permitted by officer under investigation

Right to attorney during criminal investigation

Limits on administrative investigations

Right to representation during an investigation 

Sanctions preclude certain transfers or reassignment, no disciplinary action, denial of promotion or property interest  

30 day administrative appeal  

Constitutional guarantees for officer involved shooting  

Sealed personnel files except during administrative procedures  

No lie detector tests for threats of disciplinary action for refusal to submit  

Added protections for personal records and personal property  

Exclusive Management rights to protect the crime scene  

No preemption for states that confer equal or greater protections.  States that offer fewer or lesser protections shall be preempted  

States or municipalities that operate under mutually agreed upon a collective bargaining agreement that affords equal or greater rights for the officer shall not be preempted.

Crossing the Line: The Expanded Law Enforcement Mission

As law enforcement responsibilities in this contemporary age evolve, the potential for an officer to be confronted with life threatening scenarios and greater threats to public safety while operating outside his or her jurisdiction is becoming more the norm than the exception. This is evidenced by several recent phenomenon. Rarely in our history has the level of extended deployment of officers beyond their local jurisdictions been as dramatic as in 2005.

As Hurricane Katrina ripped through the southern United States, the need for additional assistance in affected communities grew exponentially. With so many citizens, police and corrections officers displaced, and local law enforcement facilities re ndered uninhabitable, the importation of outside public safety officials became critical. CWA law enforcement officers were deployed to southern states from as far away as Austin, Texas and California to help bring order back to struggling communities in Louisiana and Mississippi.

In 2005, Al-Quaeda sponsored terrorism continued as a national crisis. In a 40-minute address to the National Endowment for Democracy on October 6, 2005, President Bush reported that the United States in cooperation with its allies stopped 10 major Al-Quaeda terrorist acts planned to take place on US soil. This undoubtedly was accomplished by federal security agencies working in cooperation with federal, State and local law enforcement officials. This kind of joint cooperation is vital to winning the war on terrorism. Ongoing training programs developed and administered to supervisory level law enforcement officers by the Department of Homeland Security underscore the need to address these growing threats. However, CWA law enforcement officials believe that the government must go farther by helping State and local governments insure that officers in policing and corrections not only have their rights protected but are equipped with adequate equipment to deal with imminent danger. Each police officer and each mobile unit should be equipped with a basic anti-terrorism kit that will provide adequate survivability during emergency responses to a potentially dangerous terrorist related scenario. In order to affect public safety, officers on the scene must themselves be able to function effectively. This can only occur when officers possess adequate body gear, weapons, as well as inter-operative communications equipment and radio frequencies.

Next Steps: Connecting the Dots

These increasing threats to public safety require that US law enforcement operate at maximum efficiency. However, it is also vitally important for officers to expect a superior level of job security for themselves and for their families. NCPSO-CWA joins all national law enforcement agencies in their effort to promote a national standard that will serve and protect frontline law enforcement and corrections officers as they go about their daily routine. Whether at work in their home jurisdiction or on loan in a crisis prevention mode, there must be an adequate due process standard that equally affects officers confronting internal investigations. As the world becomes a more dangerous place, a national due process standard could also guarantee rights of officers involved in life-threatening situations outside of their home jurisdictions.

NCPSO-CWA has developed a legislative proposal that addresses these contemporary issues. We have identified Members of Congress willing to introduce and support our proposal. Our efforts are bi-partisan in nature and again, designed to supplement current legislation. Each of our NCPSO Locals has been involved in the advancement of our issue on Capitol Hill. In 2005, the NCPSO Legislative Committee in cooperation with the CWA Legislative Department and our Due Process Coalition contacted more then fifty Members in House and Senate Leadership as well as Judiciary Committee Members in both chambers. We look forward to introduction of this new legislation as law enforcement works with Congress and other national agencies to craft a modern, effective means of dealing with the problems that confront our officers and the communities they serve.

For more information, contact:
Alfonso M. Pollard, CWA Representative- Legislation
(202) 434-1315
apollard@cwa-union.org
www.cwa-governmentaffairs.org