BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1390
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 28, 2009
Counsel: Gabriel Caswell
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Jose Solorio, Chair
AB 1390 (Blumenfield) - As Amended: April 16, 2009
As Proposed to be Amended in Committee
SUMMARY : Requires an authorized school security department or
school police department to make a written report, within 24
hours of any act by a pupil or non-pupil taking place on a
school site to the appropriate county or city law enforcement
agency having jurisdiction over the area in which the incident
occurred, involving specified acts relating to firearms or the
possession of explosives.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States that the principal of a school or the principal's
designee shall, prior to the suspension or expulsion of any
pupil, notify the appropriate law enforcement authorities of
the county or city in which the school is situated, of any
acts of the pupil that may violate Penal Code Section 245.
[Education Code Section 48902(a).]
2)Requires that the principal of a school or the principal's
designee shall, within one school day after suspension or
expulsion of any pupil, notify, by telephone or any other
appropriate method chosen by the school, the appropriate law
enforcement authority of the county or the school district in
which the school is situated of any acts of the pupils that
may violate in specified sections. [Education Code Section
48902(b).]
3)States that the principal of a school or the principal's
designee shall notify the appropriate law enforcement
authorities of the county or city in which the school is
located of any acts of a student that may involve the
possession or sale of narcotics or of a controlled substance
or a violation of specified weapons offenses. [Education Code
Section 48902(c).]
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4)Specifies that a principal, the principal's designee, or any
other person reporting a known or suspected act described
herein is not civilly or criminally liable as a result of
making any report authorized by this article unless it can be
proven that a false report was made and that the person knew
the report was false or the report was made with reckless
disregard for the truth or falsity of the report. [Education
Code Section 48902(d).]
5)Provides that the willful failure to make any report required
by this section is an infraction punishable by a fine to be
paid by the principal or principal's designee who is
responsible for the failure of not more than $500. [Education
Code Section 48902(e).]
6)The principal of a school or the principal's designee
reporting a criminal act committed by a school age individual
with exceptional needs, as defined, shall ensure that copies
of the special education and disciplinary records of the pupil
are transmitted, as described, for consideration by the
appropriate authorities to whom he or she reports the criminal
act. Any copies of the pupil's special education and
disciplinary records may be transmitted only to the extent
permissible under the federal Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act of 1974. [Education Code Section 48902(f).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "Prompt,
accurate and transparent reporting of school-related crimes is
a critical first step toward the development of effective
early warning, prevention and intervention strategies for
at-risk youth. This is particularly important in large urban
settings where school police and city police departments share
some concurrent responsibilities and one or both may be
involved in the investigation of a school incident depending
on the nature of the crime. To effectively address school
crime, districts must first acknowledge it exists
(transparency) and principals and school police must cross
report all serious crime to local law enforcement at the
earliest possible stage to assist in early intervention
strategies.
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"Under current law [Education Code section 48902 (a)-(c)],
school principals or their designees shall notify the
appropriate law enforcement authorities of the county or city
in which the school is located of certain offenses.
"In large jurisdictions, where district security/police respond
to calls for service on campus and have investigative and
arrest powers, principals often mistake school police as 'the
appropriate law enforcement authority' within the meaning of
Education Code 48902. Frequently, this is not the case and
local law enforcement agencies are left out of the loop.
"AB 1390 would require a school security department or school
police department having knowledge of an incident, within 24
hours of a criminal act involving a firearm or other serious
offenses occurring on campus to be reported to the appropriate
local law enforcement agency.
" 'School Crime Reporting and School Crime Underreporting'
(National School Safety and Security Services
() states that state crimes are underreported to police,
states, and to the public. Document attached.
"Clarifying and strengthening mandates for school police to
report serious crime to local law enforcement agencies allows
for analysis of school crime data by both the school police
and county or city agency. This, in turn, leads to the
identification of patterns and behaviors within the broader
context of the community around the school and makes it
possible to more immediately identify opportunities to work
collaboratively on effective prevention and intervention
strategies.
"The National Association of Attorney's General launched a Task
Force on School and Campus Safety in 2007. They released the
Task Force's Report and Recommendations September 2007, one of
their recommendations states:
"Both the federal government and the states should have crime
and violence reporting requirements for schools and colleges
that promote accuracy, full disclosure and accountability.
Mechanisms by which compliance with such reporting
requirements are monitored, such as under the federal Clery
Act, should be strengthened.
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"The LAO conducted a review of 'School Crime Reporting' in 2002.
One of their recommendations was to increase the accuracy of
crime reporting by establishing state law that would focus on
incidents that generally require suspension or expulsion from
school."
2)Background : According to the background submitted by the
author, "Incidents involving firearms and other serious crimes
in K-12 schools are a matter of grave concern, not only to
school districts, but to the surrounding community as well.
More than one million high school students across America take
a weapon to school at least once every 30 days. Nationwide,
more than 357,000 student expulsions and suspensions for
firearm and other serious incidents took place in 2007-08
alone. Yet, under existing law, many such crimes, deemed
serious enough to trigger expulsion proceedings are not
reported to local law enforcement. Under current law
[Education Code section 48902 (a)-(c)], school principals are
required to notify the appropriate law enforcement authorities
of the county or city in which the school is located of
certain offenses. In large jurisdictions, where district
security/police respond to calls for service on campus,
principals often mistake school police as 'the appropriate law
enforcement authority' within the meaning of Education Code
48902. As a result, local law enforcement agencies are left
out of the loop. AB 1390 seeks to clarify and strengthen
reporting requirements for school police to notify local law
enforcement agencies of serious crime incidents on campus.
This, in turn, leads to the identification of patterns and
behaviors within the broader context of the community around
the school and makes it possible to more immediately identify
opportunities to work collaboratively on effective prevention
and intervention strategies. This bill does not require or
trigger prosecution, it is merely a reporting requirement."
3)School Security and Police Departments : Governing boards are
authorized to establish security departments headed by a chief
of security and a police department headed by a chief of
police. Security departments are considered supplementary to
city and county law enforcement agencies and are not vested
with general police powers. Individuals employed and
compensated as members of a police department of a school
district, when appointed and duly sworn, are considered peace
officers with arrest powers. There is no data on the number
AB 1390
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of districts that have security or police departments. Larger
districts are more likely than smaller districts to have
police departments.
4)School Resource Officers : Those districts that do not have
security or police department partner with their local city or
county law enforcement agencies through the School Resource
Officer Program (SRO). The SRO program assigns one or more
police officers to work with school districts to create and
maintain a safe environment and provide support and training
to school and district officials on crime prevention, gang
intervention and school safety. Some SROs may assign one
officer to each middle and/or high school or one officer to
work with several middle and/or high schools, while others may
assign one officer to work with the whole district. Some SROs
are on campuses daily.
5)Is Reporting Already Taking Place ? Current law already
requires a principal or the principal's designee, frequently a
vice principal, to notify law enforcement authorities of
crimes involving assault with a firearm, an assault weapon, or
a deadly weapon or instrument and possession or sale of
controlled substances prior to or after suspending or
expelling a pupil. Current law also specifies that the
willful failure to make a report is an infraction punishable
by a fine of up to $500 to be paid by the principal or
principal's designee. Moreover, district police departments
may likely already have working relationships with their
counterparts at the city and county levels. For example, the
Los Angeles School Police Department already submits copies of
crime reports to the appropriate law enforcement agencies for
statistical and information sharing purposes.
6)Argument in Support : According to the Los Angeles City
Attorney's Office , "[p]rompt, accurate and transparent
reporting of school related crimes is a critical first step
toward the development of effective early warning, prevention
and intervention strategies for at-risk youth. This is
particularly important in large urban settings where school
police and city police departments share some concurrent
responsibilities and one or both may be involved in the
investigation of a school incident depending on the nature of
the crime. To effectively address school crime, districts
must first acknowledge it exists (transparency) and principals
and school police must cross report all serious crime to local
AB 1390
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law enforcement at the earliest possible stage to assist in
early intervention strategies.
"In large jurisdictions, where district security/police respond
to calls for service on campus and have investigative and
arrest powers, principals often mistake school police as the
appropriate law enforcement authority within the meaning of
Education Code 48902. Frequently, this is not the case and
local law enforcement agencies are left out of the loop.
"Clarifying and strengthening mandates for school police to
report serious crime to local law enforcement agencies allows
for immediate analysis of crime data by both the school police
and county or municipal law enforcement agencies. This would
lead to immediate identification of patterns and behaviors and
identity opportunities to work collaboratively on effective
prevention and intervention strategies."
7)Argument in Opposition : According to the California Public
Defenders Association , "Requiring a report when a firearm is
either seized or surrendered might indeed discourage students
from surrendering or reporting the presence of a firearm as
school. Schools already have the discretion, in appropriate
situations, to contact law enforcement. In fact, research
shows that the drastic limitation on the school officials'
discretion to respond to incidents -'zero-tolerance policies'
-have done damage to youth and contributed to 'the school to
prison pipeline.' "
8)Related Legislation: AB 1511 (De Leon) authorizes a governing
board of a school district or county superintendent of schools
to enter into a memorandum of understanding with a prosecuting
city attorney's office or district attorney's office to
facilitate the placement of one or more prosecutors on school
district campuses to promote public safety. AB 1511 is
scheduled to be heard by this Committee today.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Los Angeles City Attorney's Office
Los Angeles School Police Department
Los Angeles Unified School District
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Opposition
California Public Defenders Association
Analysis Prepared by : Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744