PRINTER'S NO. 1157
No. 6 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY PERZEL, MARCH 23, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, MARCH 23, 1999
AN ACT
1 Authorizing certain officers in the Department of Corrections to
2 perform certain peace officer duties.
3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4 hereby enacts as follows:
5 Section 1. Short title.
6 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Peace Officer
7 Law.
8 Section 2. Definitions.
9 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
10 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
11 context clearly indicates otherwise:
12 "Correctional officer." A person who is employed by the
13 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Corrections and who
14 works at a State correctional institution or a State boot camp
15 to guard and protect inmates or the properties of the
16 Commonwealth.
17 Section 3. Peace officer duties.
1 All superintendents, deputy superintendents of operation and
2 correctional officers of all ranks, while acting within the
3 scope of their employment and during their normal working hours
4 within the Department of Corrections, shall have the authority
5 and may exercise the powers of peace officers. Such duties shall
6 include the following:
7 (1) Guarding, protecting and delivering prisoners.
8 (2) Enforcing the laws of this Commonwealth on any
9 property owned or operated under the jurisdiction of the
10 Department of Corrections.
11 Section 4. Educational program.
12 (a) General rule.--The Department of Corrections and the
13 Pennsylvania State Police shall establish a committee consisting
14 of three persons from each agency to formulate a mandatory basic
15 course of peace officer study, which shall include a minimum of
16 200 hours of classroom study, for the officers identified in
17 section 3. Courses shall begin one year from the date of final
18 enactment of this section.
19 (b) Applicability.--The officers identified in section 3 who
20 are employed prior to the passage of this act shall not be
21 required to take the basic course of study in subsection (a).
22 Those officers employed prior to the passage of this act shall
23 complete 40 hours of appropriate peace officer training as
24 prescribed and administered by the Pennsylvania State Police.
25 Section 5. Effective date.
26 This act shall take effect as follows:
27 (1) Section 3 shall take effect in 60 days.
28 (2) The remainder of this act shall take effect
29 immediately.
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