PRINTER'S NO. 413
No. 379 Session of 1977
INTRODUCED BY CAPUTO, CESSAR, CIANCIULLI AND JONES,
MARCH 1, 1977
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, MARCH 1, 1977
AN ACT
1 Providing for the rights of law enforcement officers concerning
2 certain complaints and grievances.
3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4 hereby enacts as follows:
5 Section 1. Rights of law enforcement officers.
6 When a law enforcement officer of a municipality is
7 investigated or interrogated the rules applicable thereto shall
8 be:
9 (1) The interrogation shall be conducted when the
10 officer is on duty unless the seriousness of the
11 investigation is such that an immediate interrogation is
12 necessary.
13 (2) The investigation shall take place at the office of
14 the command of the investigating officer or the office of the
15 precinct or police unit of the municipality in which the
16 incident allegedly occurred.
17 (3) The officer under investigation shall be informed of
18 the name, rank and command of the officer in charge of the
1 investigation, the interrogating officer and the persons who
2 will be present during the interrogation. All questions shall
3 be made through one interrogator.
4 (4) The officer under investigation shall be informed of
5 the nature of the investigation and the names of the
6 complainants prior to the investigation.
7 (5) No complaint shall be entertained unless it is sworn
8 to by the complainant before an official authorized to
9 administer oaths.
10 (6) Interrogating sessions shall be for reasonable
11 periods and shall be timed to allow for such personal
12 necessities and rest periods as are reasonably necessary.
13 (7) The officer under interrogation shall not be
14 subjected to offensive language or threatened with transfer,
15 dismissal or disciplinary action.
16 (8) The entire interrogation shall be recorded.
17 (9) If the officer under interrogation is under arrest,
18 or is likely to be placed under arrest, he shall be informed
19 of his rights prior to the commencement of the interrogation.
20 (10) The officer under interrogation shall have the
21 right to be represented by counsel or other representative of
22 his choice who shall be present at all times during an
23 interrogation.
24 Section 2. Civil suits by officers.
25 A law enforcement officer shall have the right to sue a
26 person for damages suffered by him and for the abridgment of his
27 civil rights arising out of the performance of his official
28 duties or when complaints filed against him are found to be
29 without merit and made willfully with intent to cause him damage
30 or the loss of his employment.
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1 Section 3. Notice of disciplinary action; polygraphs.
2 (a) No dismissal, demotion, transfer, reassignment or other
3 personnel action which might result in a loss of pay or benefits
4 or which might be considered a punitive measure shall be taken
5 against a law enforcement officer of a municipality unless he is
6 notified thereof and provided with the reasons therefor prior to
7 the effective date of such action.
8 (b) No officer shall have any comment adverse to his
9 interest entered in his personnel file, or any record kept at
10 his place or unit of employment or any other place recording
11 such comments by any person, without the officer having first
12 read and signed the instrument containing the adverse comment
13 indicating he is aware that such comment is being placed in his
14 personnel file or other place of recordation of such comments,
15 except that such entry may be made if after reading such
16 instrument containing any adverse comment the officer refuses to
17 sign it. A witness shall thereafter note that such officer was
18 presented with the opportunity to read and sign such instrument
19 and refused to do so.
20 (c) An officer shall have 30 days within which to file a
21 written response to any adverse comment entered in his personnel
22 file. Such written response shall be attached to, and shall
23 accompany, the adverse comment.
24 (d) No officer shall be compelled to submit to a polygraph
25 examination against his will. No disciplinary action or other
26 recrimination shall be taken against an officer refusing to
27 submit to a polygraph examination, nor shall any comment be
28 entered anywhere in the investigator's notes or anywhere else
29 that the officer refused to take a polygraph examination, nor
30 shall any testimony or evidence be admissible at a subsequent
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1 hearing, trial, or proceeding, judicial or administrative, to
2 the effect that the officer refused to take a polygraph
3 examination.
4 Section 4. Retaliation for exercising rights.
5 (a) No law enforcement officer of a municipality shall be
6 discharged, disciplined, demoted or denied promotion, transfer
7 or reassignment, or be discriminated against in regard to his
8 employment, or be threatened with any such treatment, by reason
9 of the exercise by him or his constitutional rights or the
10 rights granted him by this act.
11 (b) Nothing in this section shall preclude a head of an
12 agency from ordering an officer to cooperate with other agencies
13 involved in criminal investigations. If an officer fails to
14 comply with such an order, the agency may officially charge him
15 with insubordination.
16 (c) No dismissal or demotion, nor denial of promotion, shall
17 be undertaken by any public agency without providing the officer
18 with an opportunity for administrative appeal.
19 Section 5. Grievance procedure.
20 The procedure for handling complaints and grievances of law
21 enforcement officers shall be as follows:
22 (1) Each municipality shall establish a commission
23 composed of an equal number of representatives of government,
24 law enforcement agencies and the general public which shall
25 have the authority and duty to receive, investigate and
26 determine complaints and grievances submitted to it in
27 writing by, or on behalf of, a law enforcement officer of a
28 municipality.
29 (2) A certified or recognized employee organization
30 representing law enforcement officers of the Commonwealth,
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1 municipality or public agency, on written request of a law
2 enforcement officer, may act on his behalf to file and
3 process complaints submitted to such commission. A certified
4 or recognized employee organization may initiate actions with
5 the commission on its own initiative if the complaint or
6 matter in question involves one or more law enforcement
7 officers in its organization.
8 (3) The commission shall be empowered to hold hearings,
9 take testimony under oath, issue subpoenas, issue cease and
10 desist orders and institute actions in an appropriate court
11 for compliance with its orders. Hearings shall be in
12 accordance with the provisions of the act of July 19, 1974
13 (P.L.486, No.175), referred to as the Public Agency Open
14 Meeting Law.
15 (4) The commission may seek to resolve complaints in
16 meetings or procedures other than hearings. The results
17 thereof shall be reported to the commission at the first
18 regularly scheduled meeting after such action is taken.
19 (5) The commission shall hold regular meetings at least
20 quarterly. Such meetings shall be in accordance with the
21 provisions of the act of July 19, 1974 (P.L.486, No.175),
22 referred to as the Public Agency Open Meeting Law.
23 Section 6. Additional remedies.
24 A law enforcement officer may, in addition to the other
25 procedures provided for in this section, institute an action in
26 a court of competent jurisdiction for the adjudication of a
27 complaint or grievance.
28 Section 7. Political activity.
29 Except as otherwise provided by law, or whenever on duty or
30 in uniform, no officer shall be prohibited from engaging or be
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1 coerced or required to engage, in political activity.
2 Section 8. Personal privacy.
3 No officer shall be required or requested for purposes of job
4 assignment or other personnel action to disclose any item of his
5 property, income, assets, source of income, debts or personal or
6 domestic expenditures (including those of any member of his
7 family or household) unless such information is obtained under
8 proper legal procedure, tends to indicate a conflict of interest
9 with respect to the performance of his official duties, or is
10 necessary for the employing agency to ascertain the desirability
11 of assigning the officer to a specialized unit in which there is
12 a strong possibility that bribes or other improper inducements
13 may be offered.
14 Section 9. Search of lockers.
15 No officer shall have his locker, or other space for storage
16 that may be assigned to him searched except in his presence, or
17 with his consent, or unless a valid search warrant has been
18 obtained or where he has been notified that a search will be
19 conducted. This section shall apply only to lockers or other
20 space for storage that is owned by the employing agency. Any
21 person from whom consent is requested shall be told that he has
22 the right to deny the consent.
23 Section 10. Effective date.
24 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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