IN THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF FIRESTONE
JUNE 8, 2022
Ms. Automationeer (for herself, Mr. dannybec, Mr. Hmmm_Poul, Mr. ADMIRAL_RICKY, and Mr. urdadcaleb) introduced the following bill:
A BILL
To reform public safety unification.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Firestone in Congress assembled,
§ 1. TITLE
(a) This Act shall be known as, and may be cited as, the “Act to Reform Public Safety Unification”.
(b) This Act may be cited as the “Public Safety Reform Act”.
§ 2. ENACTMENT
(a) This Bill shall go into effect as an Act of Congress upon the completion of the constitutionally required processes.
§ 3. SEVERABILITY
(a) Should any part of this Act be stuck down and/or declared unenforceable, then that part shall be severed with the rest remaining in full force and effect unless all is struck down and/or declared unenforceable.
§ 4. ENFORCEMENT
(a) This Act shall be enforced by any relevant parties.
§ 5. DEFINITIONS
(a) For the purposes of this Act, ‘Public Safety Unification Act’ shall be defined as: https://forums.stateoffirestone.com/t/8481
§ 6. REPEALMENTS
(a) The Public Safety Unification Act shall be repealed in its entirety, and declared null and void.
§ 7. AMENDMENTS
(a) This Act makes no amendments.
PART I
THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
§ 8. THE DEPARTMENT
(a) The Department of Public Safety (the “Department”) shall hereby be established.
(b) The Department shall be a department of the State of Firestone Executive Branch, under the oversight of the Governor.
(c) The Roblox group, enumerated with the ID of 2809133, shall be viewed as the official Roblox group of the Department.
(i) Ranks, roles, etc. of the aforementioned Roblox group shall not correlate with any sort of employment or powers detailed by this Act.
(d) The Department shall be a legal entity and therefore may be subject to lawsuit where permitted by other applicable legislation.
(e) All documentation and matters relating to investigations and other relevant information about the Department must be always public excluding the identities of those who provide information to the Department in a confidential fashion.
§ 9. THE SECRETARY
(a) The Department shall be headed by the Secretary of Public Safety (the “Secretary”), who shall be recognised as the department head and a member of the Governor’s Cabinet. There shall only be a singular Secretary at any one time.
(b) The Secretary shall only enter office subsequent to nomination by the Governor and confirmation by the Senate, as defined by other applicable legislation.
(c) In order to be nominated or to hold the position of Secretary, an individual must meet all of the following requirements:
(i) A ‘POST Certification’, as issued by Firestone Peace Officer Standards and Training;
(ii) No unexpunged or unsealed arrests or convictions - except for those arrests or convictions in the process of legal dispute on the basis of falsehood;
(iii) No felony arrests or convictions, that have not been struck down as false by a court and are not in the process of legal dispute on the basis of falsehood, within the prior nine months;
(iv) Citizenship for at least 9 months;
(v) Prior employment in a primary law enforcement department or the Firestone National Guard.
(d) In order to be nominated or to hold the position of Secretary, an individual must meet at least one of the following additional requirements:
(i) A ‘Bar Certification’, authorizing an individual to practice law, as issued by the appropriate authority, designated by the relevant legislation;
(ii) A paramedicine or firefighting certification issued by the Firestone Department of Health or Firestone Fire Academy;
(iii) Citizenship for at least 12 months.
(e) In the event that an individual already holding the office of Secretary no-longer meets the requirements outlined by sub-sections (c) and (d), such shall be grounds for their impeachment.
(f) The Governor may remove an individual from the position of Secretary at any time, bypassing any employment rights legislation. It shall be at the Governor’s discretion if a removed Secretary retains employment with the Department.
(g) The Secretary shall never be employed by any Subordinate Department while they hold office.
§ 10. THE DEPUTY SECRETARY
(a) The Deputy Secretary of Public Safety (the “Deputy Secretary”), who shall be recognised as the deputy department head and a member of the sub-cabinet. There shall only be a singular Deputy Secretary at any one time.
(b) The Deputy Secretary shall only enter office subsequent to appointment by the Secretary with approval of the Governor.
(c) In order to hold the position of Deputy Secretary, an individual must meet all of the following requirements:
(i) A ‘POST Certification’, as issued by Firestone Peace Officer Standards and Training;
(ii) No unexpunged or unsealed arrests or convictions - except for those arrests or convictions in the process of legal dispute on the basis of falsehood;
(iii) No felony arrests or convictions, that have not been struck down as false by a court and are not in the process of legal dispute on the basis of falsehood, within the prior nine months;
(iv) Prior employment in any law enforcement department.
(d) In the event that an individual already holding the office of Deputy Secretary no-longer meets the requirements outlined by sub-sections (c) and (d), they shall automatically vacate the office of Deputy Secretary immediately and return to a position in the Department that is not Deputy Secretary or be terminated from employment with the Department at the discretion of the Secretary.
(e) The Governor may remove an individual from the position of Deputy Secretary at any time, bypassing any employment rights legislation. It shall be at the Governor’s discretion if a removed Deputy Secretary retains employment with the Department.
(f) Should the individual currently holding the office of Deputy Secretary fail to meet the requirements outlined by this Section at the time of passage, they shall be grandfathered and retain their position, however if they cease to meet any requirements that they previously met at the point of passage, they shall vacate the office as outlined by sub-section (d).
(g) The Deputy Secretary shall never be employed by any Subordinate Department while they hold office.
(h) The Governor or Lieutenant Governor may designate the Deputy Secretary as Acting Secretary where appropriate, whereas the Deputy Secretary would bear all powers and duties of the office of Secretary, excluding the statutory requirements for holding the position of Secretary, for the period that they are considered Acting Secretary.
§ 11. EMPLOYMENT
(a) The Department shall be free to employ non-investigative personnel, such as support and administrative staff. Said non-investigative personnel may not be involved in investigations beyond supporting investigators in their duties.
(b) In order to be considered an Investigator (including more senior Investigative employees but not including the Secretary or Deputy Secretary), an individual must meet the following requirements:
(i) Either a ‘POST Certification’, as issued by Firestone Peace Officer Standards and Training, or a ‘Bar Certification’, authorizing an individual to practice law, as issued by the appropriate authority, designated by the relevant legislation;
(iii) No unexpunged or unsealed arrests or convictions - except for those arrests or convictions in the process of legal dispute on the basis of falsehood;
(iv) No felony arrests or convictions, that have not been struck down as false by a court and are not in the process of legal dispute on the basis of falsehood, within the prior six months.
(c) Should an individual cease to meet the aforementioned requirements, their status as an Investigator shall be indefinitely suspended until such a time that they do meet the requirements. The Department shall be permitted to, bypassing any employment rights legislation, terminate any Investigator who does not meet the aforementioned requirements.
(d) The Secretary acting with authorization of the Governor may, bypassing any employment rights legislation, terminate any Investigator whereas there is a plausible belief that said Investigator is incapable of maintaining their duties.
§ 12. SUBORDINATE DEPARTMENTS
(a) Only the following departments shall be considered as “Subordinate Departments” to the Department:
(i) The Stapleton County Sheriff’s Office;
(i) The Firestone State Patrol;
(ii) The Stapleton County Fire Department;
(iii) The Department of Public Works;
(iv) The Department of Transportation;
(v) Firestone Peace Officer Standards and Training;
(vi) The Firestone Fire Academy;
(vii) The Department of Corrections.
(b) Nothing except statute may supersede this designation.
PART II
POWERS OF THE DEPARTMENT
§ 13. PUBLIC SAFETY DIRECTIVES
(a) The Department, with the signature of the Secretary only, may issue, amend, or nullify “Public Safety Directives” (or singularly a “Public Safety Directive”), which must be followed by all Subordinate Departments.
(b) Public Safety Directives may be overturned with a passing joint resolution of Congress.
(c) For Public Safety Directives to take affect, they must have the approval of the Governor with the views of the County Executive taken into consideration if reasonably possible.
(i) Amendments to existing Public Safety Directives, or the nullification of a Public Safety Directive shall not necessitate the Governor’s approval or the County Executive’s opinion.
(d) The Governor and Secretary may suspend or nullify a Public Safety Directive at any time.
(e) The Deputy Secretary may suspend a Public Safety Directive for up to 24 consecutive hours.
(i) The Secretary may limit the scope of this power via a written declaration or Department policy.
(f) Any enactments, amendments, nullifications, suspensions, or un-suspensions of any Public Safety Directive must be publicised in any reasonable manner, whereas a clear attempt has been made to inform Subordinate Department heads, subordinate employees, and the general public.
§ 14. SUBORDINATE EMPLOYMENT
(a) The Department shall be forbidden from establishing any sort of mandate relating to the employment status of a Subordinate Department (such as mandatory hiring, reinstatement, or blacklist) excluding those terminations issued in accordance with this Act or other applicable legislation.
(b) The Department may establish a list of individuals whom they believe Subordinate Departments may not wish to hire, however compliance with such list shall not be mandatory to any entity under any circumstances.
(c) The Public Safety Blacklist system established by prior legislation nullified by this Act shall be abolished in its entirety; however, any certifications revoked as a result of the issuance of a Public Safety Blacklist shall stay revoked unless reinstated by the issuing authority or other applicable authority.
PART III
PUBLIC SAFETY INVESTIGATIONS
§ 15. PUBLIC SAFETY COMPLAINTS
(a) The Secretary shall be required to maintain and publicly display a location where all Citizens of the State of Firestone may submit complaints to the Department of Public Safety. All complaints must be visible on the public record from the point of submission however the identity of those who submit complaints may be withheld by the Department and accordingly shall be exempt from public release as it is not collected with such intention.
(i) It shall be at the Secretary’s discretion if those that are not Citizens may submit complaints. Further, those complaints submitted by non Citizens are not required to be investigated.
(b) Prior to launching an investigation pertaining to a violation of airspace and/or aircraft regulations set by the Department of Aviation, medical malpractice, or the commission of a criminal offense, the Department of Aviation, Department of Health, and/or Department of Justice respectively must be consulted prior, and the respective department head (or designee thereof) given 48 hours to respond.
(i) Unless the respective department head or designee thereof does not respond within the 48 hour time period, the Department may only launch an investigation on these aforementioned matters with the consent of the respective department head or designee thereof or the Governor.
(c) The Department may not launch an investigation relating to a member of the Cabinet or Sub-Cabinet or any other department head (including the county executive and county department heads) without the express consent of the Governor.
(d) The Department shall be required to investigate any complaint they receive from any Citizen unless the complaint clearly has no merit or is out of the Departments scope or whereas it has been transferred to the appropriate department(s) with the agreement of the appropriate department(s) administration. Complaints may only be declined, dismissed, or transferred by the Secretary or Deputy Secretary personally.
(e) For an investigation to be launched subsequent to a complaint, the Deputy Secretary or Secretary must give approval and assign an investigator. Investigators may not launch investigations themselves nor assign themselves or others without approval, nor may the Department launch an investigation without receipt of a complaint.
(i) Only the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and any Investigator designated by the Secretary may reassign any investigation at any time.
(ii) Only the Secretary or Deputy Secretary may dismiss any investigation at any time only for the same reasons that a public safety complaint may be dismissed.
(f) Upon the launch of an investigation, the Secretary of Deputy Secretary must cite a particular and appropriate department policy, executive order of either the state or county government, Public Safety Directive, law, or other official document enumerating the allegations against the employee(s) which shall be referred to as the ‘object’ of the investigation.
(i) The Investigator assigned, Deputy Secretary, or Secretary may change this investigation object at any time.
§ 16. OFFICIAL CONDUCT OF INVESTIGATORS
(a) Investigators shall be forbidden from investigating those that they hold a conflict of interest (either positive or negative) with. Further, Investigators shall be forbidden from investigating matters concerning departments that they currently are in or were in within the past four months.
(b) Investigators may face disciplinary action from the Department whereas they violate this subsection for they shall be forbidden from publicly (or in a reasonably public setting), except for in the official capacity as an investigator, discussing matters that they are currently investigating or have investigated.
(c) Whereas an Investigator is no-longer able to render a clear and neutral judgement on the basis of facts and merits alone, they shall recuse themselves from an investigation and inform the Secretary and/or Deputy Secretary of such so that the investigation may be reassigned.
(d) The Secretary shall be required to establish, maintain, and review no less than once every two months a set of clear, uniform ethical guidelines that all Investigators must follow in the course of their official duties. The Secretary and Deputy Secretary shall be required to, through the enactment of disciplinary measures, enforce the aforementioned uniform ethical guidelines.
§ 17. ACTION OF INVESTIGATION OUTCOMES
(a) Upon the conclusion of an Investigation, the Investigator shall present a report detailing the evidence and their findings. This investigation report must be on the public record.
(b) Whereas the Department intends to enact disciplinary measures in response to an investigation, the views of the appropriate department head(s) or designee thereof must be consulted prior to the enactment of official measures. Such department head(s) or designee thereof shall have 24 hours to provide their views else it be considered waived.
(c) An employee subject to proposed disciplinary action shall have the right for them or their attorney to provide a statement in mitigation within 24 hours to the Secretary or Acting Secretary of which the Secretary must take into consideration before enacting official disciplinary measures.
(d) With the Secretary or Acting Secretary’s approval subsequent to an investigation and the requirements set by this Act or other applicable legislation met, disciplinary action may be taken against an employee whereas it is found that they have violated policy.
(c) The Governor or County Executive (variable as to whether the department in question is under the State or County) may overrule disciplinary action the Department intends to or has taken before or within 48 hours of enactment of official disciplinary measures.
(d) The Department shall be forbidden from issuing any sort of punishment that exceeds official disciplinary measures or retaining (with the consent of the appropriate body the Department wishes to conduct said training). Accordingly, the Department may not revoke or suspend certifications (however awarding bodies shall not be forbidden from revoking or suspending certifications themselves in response to an investigation, in line with appropriate legislation or regulations).