14 U.S.C. § 2519: Prevention of and response…

Summary

Requires the Secretary who oversees the Coast Guard, working with the Secretary of Defense, to use the data system from section 549 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (10 U.S.C. 113 note) to collect reports, including anonymous ones, about hazing and bullying. The Commandant must work to make training better so Coast Guard members at all levels can spot, stop, and respond to hazing and bullying. By May 31, 2026, and then once a year for five years, the Secretary must send a report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The report must cover prevention and response efforts; steps to track and encourage reporting (including anonymous reporting); the Coast Guard’s policies, data systems, and methods for identifying and counting incidents; training given; numbers and details of alleged and confirmed incidents (initial report covers the prior 3 fiscal years; later reports cover the prior year); the Commandant’s judgments on training and tracking (including whether performance was satisfactory); recommendations to improve policies, data systems, processes, training, and military justice rules; findings on how common hazing and bullying are; investigation outcomes; and plans for the next year.

Title 14, §2519

Coast Guard, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Anti-hazing and Anti-bullying Database.—

The Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall cooperate in the establishment and use of a comprehensive and consistent data-collection system described in section 549 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (10 U.S.C. 113 note) for the collection of reports, including anonymous reports, of incidents of hazing or bullying.

(b)Improved Training.—

The Commandant shall seek to improve training to assist members of the Coast Guard to better recognize, prevent, and respond to hazing and bullying at all command levels.

(c)Annual Reports on Hazing and Bullying.—

Not later than May 31, 2026, and annually thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives a report containing the following:

(1)a description of efforts during the previous fiscal year—

(A)to prevent and to respond to incidents of hazing or bullying involving members of the Coast Guard;

(B)to track and encourage reporting, including reporting anonymously, incidents of hazing in the Coast Guard; and

(C)to ensure the consistent implementation of anti-hazing and anti-bullying policies.

(2)A discussion of the policies of the Coast Guard for preventing and responding to incidents of hazing.

(3)A description of comprehensive data collection systems of the Coast Guard for collecting hazing or bullying reports involving a member of the Coast Guard.

(4)A description of processes of the Coast Guard to identify, document, and report alleged instances of hazing or bullying. Such description shall include the methodology the Coast Guard uses to categorize and count potential instances of hazing or bullying.

(5)A description of any training provided to members of the Coast Guard on recognizing and preventing hazing.

(6)For the preceding 3 fiscal years in the initial report and preceding fiscal year in subsequent reports—

(A)the number of alleged and substantiated incidents of hazing involving members of the Coast Guard;

(B)a description of the nature of each such incident; and

(C)a description of the actions taken to address each such incident through nonjudicial and judicial actions.

(7)With respect to training for members of the Coast Guard on recognizing and preventing hazing and bullying, an assessment by the Commandant of—

(A)the quality of such training;

(B)the need for modifications to such training; and

(C)the need to require additional such training.

(8)An assessment by the Commandant of—

(A)the effectiveness of the Coast Guard in tracking and reporting instances of hazing or bullying; and

(B)whether the performance of the Coast Guard with respect to such tracking and reporting was satisfactory or unsatisfactory during the preceding fiscal year.

(9)Recommendations of the Commandant to improve—

(A)the policies described in paragraph (4) ;

(B)the comprehensive data collection systems described in paragraph (5) ;

(C)the processes described in paragraph (6) ;

(D)the training described in paragraph (9) ; and

(E)the Uniform Code of Military Justice or the Manual for Courts-Martial to improve the prosecution of persons alleged to have committed hazing or bullying in the Coast Guard.

(10)The status of efforts of the Commandant to evaluate the prevalence of hazing and bullying in the Coast Guard.

(11)Data on allegations of hazing and bullying in the Coast Guard, including final disposition of investigations.

(12)Plans of the Commandant to improve hazing and bullying prevention and response during the next reporting year.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 549 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, referred to in subsec. (a), is section 549 of Pub. L. 114–328, which is set out as a note under section 113 of Title 10, Armed Forces. The Uniform Code of Military Justice, referred to in subsec. (c)(9)(E), is chapter 47 (§ 801 et seq.) of Title 10, Armed Forces.

§2519 Prevention of and Response to Hazing and Bullying

Summary

Title 14, §2519

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Citations & Metadata