BILL ANALYSIS
AB 504
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 504 (Furutani)
As Introduced June 1, 2009
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Solorio, Hagman, |Ayes:|De Leon, Nielsen, Ammiano, |
| |Furutani, Gilmore, Hill, | | |
| |Ma, Skinner | |Charles Calderon, Davis, |
| | | |Duvall, Fuentes, Hall, |
| | | |Harkey, Miller, |
| | | |John A. Perez, Price, |
| | | |Skinner, Solorio, Audra |
| | | |Strickland, Torlakson, |
| | | |Krekorian |
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SUMMARY : Requires the Commission on Peace Office Standards and
Training (CPOST) to create and make available to all law
enforcement agencies a training component on how to recognize
and interact with a person carrying a "kirpan." Specifically,
this bill :
1)Finds and declares the following:
a) The United States was founded on the core principles of
religious freedom, diversity, and equality for all.
b) Sikh Americans form a vibrant, peaceful, and law-abiding
part of the United States community. California was one of
the first places that Sikhs settled in this country over
100 years ago. Today, California is home to a large number
of the Nation's 500,000 Sikhs.
c) Sikhs are mandated by their religion to keep five
articles of faith on, or as part of, their person at all
times. These articles of faith are physical manifestations
and reminders of core Sikh spiritual values which include
honesty, remembering God, and providing service to
humanity.
d) The five Sikh articles of faith include the kirpan. A
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kirpan is a religious article resembling a sword, which is
integral to the practice of the Sikh faith. The kirpan is
carried in a shoulder strap known as a gatra, as mandated
by the Sikh Code of Conduct. The kirpan acts as a constant
reminder to its bearer of a Sikh's solemn duty to protect
the weak and promote justice for all. The kirpan is also an
allusion to spiritual knowledge that "cuts through
ignorance and sin."
e) In the years since the attacks of September 11, 2001,
Sikhs have experienced an unprecedented increase in arrests
for carrying kirpans.
f) State and local resources are unnecessarily burdened
when law enforcement officers detain law-abiding Sikhs for
carrying a kirpan when its possession is in accordance with
their faith.
g) It is the responsibility of the Legislature to protect
religious freedoms, while ensuring public safety. Keeping
those obligations in mind, it is the Legislature's goal to
promote education and awareness of the carrying of the
kirpan by Sikhs in California when its possession is in
accordance with an integral part of the recognized
religious practice of the person carrying it and there is a
benign intent in carrying it.
2)Demands CPOST, upon the next regularly scheduled update of
training content relating to weapons violations and cultural
diversity, create and add training content on how to recognize
and interact with Sikhs possessing articles of faith,
including a kirpan. The training content shall be designed
for, and made available, to peace officers employed by law
enforcement agencies that participate in training that
complies with standards set forth by CPOST.
3)Defines "kirpan" as a blade that resembles a sword and is
required to be carried as an integral part of the practice of
the Sikh faith.
4)Requires training content to include instruction on how
arrests with Sikhs carrying a kirpan have historically been
treated by the criminal justice system in California,
including the alternatives to arrest and detention, that have
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been successfully used by law enforcement officers when coming
into contact with a Sikh carrying a kirpan who has a benign
intent and in accordance with an integral part of his or her
recognized religious practice.
5)Requires that the training content shall be developed by CPOST
in consultation with appropriate subject matter experts.
CPOST shall make the content available to California law
enforcement agencies that participate in, and comply with,
training standards set forth by CPOST.
6)Provides that CPOST shall electronically distribute, as
necessary, a training bulletin on the topic of the kirpan to
law enforcement agencies participating in the CPOST's program.
EXISTING LAW requires CPOST to develop and disseminate
guidelines and training for all law enforcement officers in
California and who adhere to the standards approved by CPOST, on
the racial and cultural differences among the residents of
California. The course or courses of instruction and the
guidelines shall stress understanding and respect for racial and
cultural differences, and development of effective,
non-combative methods of carrying out law enforcement duties in
a racially and culturally diverse environment.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor absorbable costs to CPOST.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "In the years since the
attacks of September 11, 2001, Sikhs have become the objects of
increased and uninformed scrutiny by some members of law
enforcement for carrying the kirpan. In the past seven years,
the Sikh Coalition, a national community-based civil rights
organization formed the day after the attacks of September 11,
has successfully resolved over 20 criminal cases nationwide
involving the carrying of the kirpan. In each case, prosecutors
have either agreed not to bring charges or a judge has dismissed
the case because they recognized the religious significance
of-and benign intent in carrying-the kirpan.
"Initiated Sikhs are mandated by their religion to keep five
articles of faith on or as part of their person at all times.
These articles of faith are physical manifestations and
reminders of core Sikh spiritual values, which include honesty,
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generosity, compassion, and service to humanity.
"The five Sikh articles of faith include the kirpan, which is an
article resembling a sword. It varies in length and the portion
representative of a 'blade' is often not sharp. As a matter of
practice, the kirpan is kept in a tight sheath and worn using a
shoulder strap. Carrying the kirpan for initiated Sikhs is
integral to the practice of the Sikh faith, as it is mandated by
the Rehat Maryada (Sikh Code of Conduct). The kirpan acts as a
constant reminder to its bearer of a Sikh's solemn duty to
protect the weak and promote justice for all.
"Assembly Bill 504 recognizes the responsibility of the
Legislature to protect religious freedoms, while ensuring public
safety. AB 504 seeks to promote education and awareness of the
Sikh faith, specifically the carrying of the kirpan by Sikhs in
California when its possession is in accordance with the
recognized religious practice of the person carrying it, by
enhancing peace officers' training.
"Sikhs are vibrant, peaceful, and law-abiding members of our
state and communities, and they should not live in fear of
arrest or prosecution for carrying the kirpan, which is an
integral part of their religious faith. Furthermore, when law
enforcement agents arrest or detain individuals for carrying the
kirpan (when its possession is in accordance with the Sikh
faith), they unnecessarily burden state and local resources, not
to mention humiliate Sikhs whose carrying of the kirpan has no
criminal intent."
Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this
bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Nicole J. Hanson / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0001275