LAW ENFORCEMENT TECHNOLOGY S.B. 364:
SUMMARY OF INTRODUCED BILL
IN COMMITTEE
Senate Bill 364 (as introduced 5-4-17)
CONTENT
The bill would create the "Law Enforcement Technology, Active Shooter, and Officer Safety Act" to do the following:
-- Create the "Law Enforcement Technology, Active Shooter, and Officer Safety Fund" and require the Michigan Department of State Police (MSP) to spend Fund money for grants to local units of government for law enforcement technology.
-- Create the Law Enforcement Technology, Active Shooter, and Officer Safety Program to assist local units with implementing law enforcement technology.
-- Allow a local unit of government to apply to the MSP to participate in the Program.
-- Require a local unit applying to participate in the Program to provide the MSP with a written plan for the installation and implementation of law enforcement technology.
-- Specify the purposes for which local units could use grant funds.
The bill would take effect 90 days after its enactment.
Definitions
"Law enforcement technology" would mean acoustic technological devices that have been demonstrated to successfully detect and prevent terrorist acts and active shooter situations and that triangulate the geographic location of a gunshot. The term would include acoustic gunshot detection technology that has the capacity to differentiate between ambient urban noise and the explosive noise of a gunshot. Law enforcement technology also would provide law enforcement officers live access to the audio and geographic location of a detected gunshot and the number of gunshots fired, allow for real time 24-hour monitoring by law enforcement officers and a mobile application for use by law enforcement officers, and provide for the measurement of gunshot statistics on a year-to-year basis.
"Local unit of government" would mean a village, city, township, county, or public safety department. "Public safety department" would be defined as a public safety department established by a community college or a public university, or a private security force established by a private college.
Law Enforcement Technology, Active Shooter, & Officer Safety Fund
The Law Enforcement Technology, Active Shooter, and Officer Safety Fund would be created within the State Treasury. The State Treasurer could receive money or other assets from any
source for deposit into the Fund, including General Fund appropriations, gifts, State and Federal grants, and bequests. The Treasurer would have to direct the investment of the Law Enforcement Technology, Active Shooter, and Officer Safety Fund, and credit to it interest and earnings from Fund investments. Money in the Fund at the close of the fiscal year would have to remain in the Fund and not lapse to the General Fund. The MSP would be the administrator of the Law Enforcement Technology, Active Shooter, and Officer Safety Fund for auditing purposes.
The Department would have to spend money from the Fund, upon appropriation, only to provide grants to local units of government for the installation and implementation of law enforcement technology and related purposes, and to carry out its duties under the proposed Act.
Law Enforcement Technology, Active Shooter, & Officer Safety Program
The Law Enforcement Technology, Active Shooter, and Officer Safety Program would be created within the MSP. The Program would have to assist local units of government in implementing law enforcement technology by providing any necessary funding from the Fund to install and implement that technology within the local unit of government.
A local unit of government could apply to the MSP to participate in the Program. In its application, a local unit would have to provide the MSP with a written plan for the installation and implementation of law enforcement technology within the geographic area of, or served by, the local unit of government. The plan would have to include both of the following: a) any agreement made between the local unit of government and a private entity for the installation and implementation of law enforcement technology; and b) a recommendation from the appropriate local law enforcement agency regarding the most beneficial and efficient geographic locations for use of the technology. If the application included these items, the MSP would have to approve it.
Program Grants
A grant awarded to a local unit of government under the proposed Act would be for one year. A local unit could reapply every two years.
A local unit of government could use the grant funds only for the following purposes:
-- The installation and implementation of law enforcement technology.
-- Training on the use of the technology for law enforcement officers and other individuals working with the local unit.
-- Reimbursement to a private entity that had spent money by partnering with a local unit of government to install and implement technology within the geographic area of, or served by, the local unit.
Legislative Analyst: Jeff Mann
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on State and local government. The cost of grants provided under the bill to local units of government could vary widely in amount and cannot be known at this time. Further, these grants would have to be paid from the proposed
Law Enforcement Technology, Active Shooter, and Officer Safety Fund, which could not
disburse funds without first having received revenue. To date, no General Fund support has been proposed, and the likelihood of other potential sources of revenue being deposited into the Fund is not known at this time.
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.