Our Analysis:

Additionally, this bill raises from $2,000,000 to $3,000,000, the maximum amount of a reward that could be paid pursuant to public advertisements for assistance to the Department of Justice. The offering or awarding of an amount of $250,000 or more will still require the personal approval of the President or the Attorney General and requires written notice to Congress including to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee.

The FBI does not currently have specific statutory authority to assist in the investigation of mass killings, attempted mass killings, or other violent crimes occurring in venues such as schools, colleges, universities, non-federal office buildings, malls and/or other public places. The FBI receives requests for such assistance from State and local law enforcement, and, while this assistance is specifically requested and generally granted, there is the possibility that Federal officers could be found to be acting outside of their scope of employment.

On July 18, 2011, the FBI Agents Association, representing over 12,000 active and retired-duty agents, sent a letter of support for this legislation. Their letter stated in part: `FBI Agents have a long history of working closely with state and local law enforcement officials to investigate crimes. Unfortunately, the current statutory language granting authority to the FBI to provide investigative assistance for certain `non-federal' crimes, such as mass killings, is ambiguous and the FBI must often find indirect grants of authority in order to assist with investigations. H.R. 2076 would help clarify statutory ambiguity by explicitly granting the FBI the authority to provide investigative assistance, when requested by appropriate state or local law enforcement officials, in cases where those officials are investigating violent acts and shootings at venues such as schools, non-federal office buildings, and shopping malls. Absent this statutory change, law enforcement officials face questions about whether the FBI can appropriately provide such aid, often resulting in delay.'

Summary:

11/17/2011--Reported to Senate amended. Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act of 2011 - Authorizes the Attorney General (AG) and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), at the request of an appropriate law enforcement official of a state or political subdivision, to assist in the investigation of violent acts and shootings occurring in venues such as schools, colleges, universities, nonfederal office buildings, malls, and other public places, and in the investigation of mass killings and attempted mass killings. Defines"mass killings"as three or more killings in a single incident. Authorizes the AG to pay rewards up to $3 million (currently, $2 million), subject to exceptions, pursuant to public advertisements for assistance to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Allows funds available to the AG for the FBI for detection, investigation, and prosecution of crimes against the United States to be used to deploy tactical response, command and control, and other crisis-management assets of the FBI, as appropriate. Requires any such conduct or assistance to be presumptively within the scope of federal office or employment.

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