WHEREAS, there is currently no system in place in Delaware to
expedite the apprehension of violent criminals who seriously injure or kill
local, state, or federal law enforcement officers; and
WHEREAS,
three other states have recently adopted “Blue Alert” programs to achieve this
objective; and
WHEREAS,
the General Assembly hereby declares that it is necessary to create a statewide
“Blue Alert” system to speed the apprehension of violent criminals who kill or
seriously injure local, state, or federal law enforcement officers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section
1. Amend Title 11, Chapter 85 of the
Delaware Code by inserting a new Subchapter VIII reading as follows:
“Subchapter VIII. Blue
Alert Program for Apprehension of Persons Suspected of Killing or Injuring Law
Enforcement Officers.
§ 8584 Definitions.
(1) ‘ACIM Alert Program’ means the ‘A Child Is Missing
Alert Program’, a national rapid-response communication network that offers
free assistance to law-enforcement agencies to aid in the recovery, identity,
or apprehension of missing persons through the use of immediate public
notification and dissemination of information via telephone in a targeted
community.
(2) ‘Law enforcement agency’ means a government agency
or any subunit thereof which performs the administration of criminal justice
pursuant to statute or executive order, and which allocates a substantial part
of its annual budget to the administration of criminal justice. For the purposes of this subchapter, such
agencies shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
a. The Delaware State Police;
b. All
law-enforcement agencies and police departments of any political subdivision of
this State;
c. The Department
of Correction; and
d. The Department
of Justice.
(3) ‘Gold Alert Program’ means the program established
in Subchapter VII of this Chapter to aid in the identification and location of
certain missing persons.
(4) ‘Law enforcement officer’ includes police officers,
the Attorney General and the Attorney General's deputies, sheriffs and their
regular deputies, agents of the State Division of Alcohol and Tobacco
Enforcement, correctional officers, state fire marshals, municipal fire
marshals that are graduates of a Delaware Police Academy which is
accredited/authorized by the Council on Police Training, sworn members of the
City of Wilmington Fire Department who have graduated from a Delaware Police
Academy which is authorized/accredited by the Council on Police Training,
environmental protection officers, enforcement agents of the Department of
Natural Resources and Environmental Control, and constables. For purposes of this Subchapter, “law
enforcement officer” also includes an employee of a federal governmental agency
who is authorized by law to engage in or supervise the prevention, detection,
investigation, or prosecution of, or the incarceration of any person for, any
violation of law, and who has statutory powers of arrest.
(5) ‘Investigating
law enforcement agency’ means the law enforcement agency that has primary
jurisdiction over the area in which a law enforcement officer has been injured
or killed.
§
8585 Establishment of the Delaware
Blue Alert Program
(a) Each
investigating law enforcement agency shall implement an alert program,
consistent with the ACIM Alert Program and the Gold Alert Program, for the
apprehension of persons suspected of killing or seriously injuring law
enforcement officers, and may promulgate necessary rules and regulations for
implementing the program. The rules and
regulations shall include the following:
(1) Procedures
for the use of the Delaware Information Analysis Center (DIAC) to provide
support to the investigating law-enforcement agency as a resource for the
receipt, analysis, and dissemination of information regarding the suspect and
the suspect’s whereabouts and/or method of escape;
(2) The
process for reporting the information to designated media outlets in Delaware; and
(3) Procedures
for the investigating law enforcement agency to determine quickly whether an
officer has been ‘seriously injured or killed’ and a Blue Alert therefore needs
to be activated.
§ 8586 Activation of the Blue Alert Program
(a) The Blue Alert
Program shall be activated when a suspect for a crime involving the death or
serious injury of a law enforcement officer.
Upon notification by an investigating law enforcement agency that a
suspect in a case involving the death or serious injury of a peace officer has
not been apprehended and may be a serious threat to the public, the
investigating law enforcement agency shall activate the Blue Alert system and
shall notify appropriate participants in the Blue Alert system, as established
by regulations promulgated pursuant to this subchapter, when the investigating
law enforcement agency believes that:
(1) a suspect
has not been apprehended;
(2) a suspect
may be a serious threat to the public; and
(3) sufficient
information is available to disseminate to the public that could assist in
locating and apprehending the suspect.
(b) When a
Blue Alert is activated pursuant to Subsection (a) of this Section, the
investigating law enforcement agency shall provide the descriptive information
to the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System (DELJIS) and the National
Crime Information Center (NCIC) system. The investigating law enforcement
agency shall also notify the Delaware Information Analysis Center (DIAC), which
shall make all necessary notifications and provide appropriate assistance to
the investigating law enforcement agency.
(c) When an
investigating law enforcement agency receives notice that a law enforcement
officer has been seriously injured or killed, the agency shall send an alert to
designated media outlets in Delaware. The alert must include all appropriate
information that may assist in the speedy apprehension of the suspect,
including a statement instructing any person with information relating to the
incident causing the serious injury or death of the law enforcement officer to
contact the investigating law enforcement agency.
(d) The
investigating law enforcement agency shall assess the appropriate boundaries of
the Blue Alert based on the nature of the suspect and the circumstances surrounding
the crime. The Blue Alert area may be
less than statewide if the investigating law enforcement agency determines that
the nature of the event makes it probable that the suspect did not leave a
designated geographic location.
§
8587 Termination of a Blue Alert.
(a) The
investigating law enforcement agency shall terminate the Blue Alert with
respect to a particular suspect when the suspect is located or the incident is
otherwise resolved, or when the investigating law enforcement agency determines
that the Blue Alert system is no longer an effective tool for locating and
apprehending the suspect.
(b) The
investigating law enforcement agency shall notify other law enforcement
agencies, DELJIS, NCIC, the DIAC, and other appropriate participants in the
Blue Alert system, when a Blue Alert for a particular suspect has been
terminated. The investigating law enforcement agency shall also notify the
designated media outlets when a Blue Alert for a particular suspect has been
terminated.”.
Section
2. Severability. If any provision of this Subchapter or its application to any
person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other
provisions or applications of this Subchapter which can be given effect without
the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this
Subchapter are severable.
Section
3. Effective Date. This Act shall take
effect on January 1, 2011.
