PRINTER'S NO. 4631
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2975
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY RABB, BULLOCK, WHEATLEY, SHUSTERMAN, SANCHEZ,
HOWARD, HILL-EVANS, MADDEN, GREEN, KENYATTA, BURGOS AND LEE,
NOVEMBER 30, 2020
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020
AN ACT
Providing for public reporting of certain information by police
organizations; requiring police organizations to develop
counseling programs for members; and imposing duties on the
Municipal Police Officers Education and Training Commission.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Short title.
This act shall be known and may be cited as the Law
Enforcement Transparency Act.
Section 2. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Commission." The Municipal Police Officers Education and
Training Commission.
"Police organization." A tax-exempt organization whose
members are required to complete commission certification under
53 Pa.C.S. Ch. 21 Subch. D (relating to municipal police
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education and training) and acts as a collective bargaining
unit.
Section 3. Public reporting.
(a) General rule.--A police organization shall submit an
annual report to the commission by December 31 each year as
provided under this subsection. The commission shall publish the
report on its publicly accessible Internet website. The annual
report shall include the following:
(1) All Federal, State, county and municipal tax filings
that have been timely filed or paid in full as required.
(2) All expenditures totaling over $5,000.
(3) All liabilities or debts held by the police
organization totaling over $5,000.
(4) All contributions received over $200.
(5) All contributions made to campaigns, candidate
committees and political action committees.
(6) All grants received from the Federal Government, the
Commonwealth, a county or a municipality.
(7) Demographic information for the members of the
police organization which shall include race and ethnicity,
sex, age, education, geographic representation of residents
in a municipality, education level and years of service among
each level of employment classification with each collective
bargaining unit and subdivision.
(8) A comparison of the demographic information reported
under paragraph (7) with demographics from the most recent
census data provided by the United States Census Bureau for
the municipalities that the police organization serves. The
census demographics shall include, but not be limited to,
age, sex, race and ethnicity and geographic representation.
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(9) Any conflict of interest of leadership of the police
organization with the county or municipality served.
(b) Posting by police organization.--A police organization
shall provide the information under subsection (a)(7) on its
publicly accessible Internet website.
(c) Timing.--All information required to be reported under
this section shall be posted within one year of the effective
date of this section.
Section 4. Counseling program.
(a) General rule.--A police organization shall develop a
counseling program to prevent future complaints against its
members and identify problematic behavior. A member shall
receive counseling from the program if:
(1) The police organization received a formal complaint
against a member in their duties within the past three years.
(2) The member is included on a disclosure report
created by a district attorney for possible credibility
issues involving law enforcement officers.
(3) An applicant for a position in law enforcement
appears on a hiring report as required under 44 Pa.C.S. ยง
7311 (relating to hiring report).
(4) The member has signed a confidentiality agreement in
their capacity as a law enforcement officer.
(b) Resources.--A police organization shall use Pennsylvania
State Police resources when developing a counseling program
under this section.
Section 5. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 90 days.
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