BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1682
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 21, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Joe Coto, Chair
AB 1682 (Torres) - As Amended: April 14, 2010
SUBJECT : Police reports: confidential personal information
SUMMARY : Authorizes city and county governing bodies to
authorize their sheriffs or police chiefs to establish a
procedure to protect the confidential personal information of a
victim or alleged victim of a crime. Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes the board of supervisors of a county or the city
council of a city may, by resolution, authorize the sheriff,
in the case of a county, or the chief of police, in the case
of a city, to establish a procedure to protect confidential
personal information contained in a police report, arrest
report, or investigative report regarding a victim where
access to that information would reveal the identity of a
victim or alleged victim of a crime, as specified.
a) Defines "confidential personal information," for
purposes of this bill, to include, but not be limited to
the following:
i) Address;
ii) Telephone number;
iii) Driver's license or California identification card
number;
iv) Social security number;
v) Date of birth;
vi) Place of employment;
vii) Employee identification number;
viii) Mother's maiden name;
ix) Demand deposit account number;
x) Checking or savings account number; or,
xi) Credit card number.
b) Clarifies that this authorization shall not be construed
with altering provisions of the California Public Records
Act and portions of the Penal Code that deal with pleadings
and proceedings before trial and the Evidence Code that
deals with sealed search warrant affidavits as provided by
People v. Hobbs (1994) 7 Cal.4th 948 .
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2)Clarifies that this section shall not be construed to impair
or affect a criminal defense counsel's access to unredacted
reports otherwise authorized by law, or the submission of
documents in support of a civil complaint.
3)Clarifies that this section shall apply as an exception to
paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Rule 2.550 of the
California Rules of Court referring to sealed records.
4)Provides findings and declarations which state that this bill
is consistent within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of
the California Constitution referring to the declaration of
rights.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides, under Section 3 of Article I of the California
Constitution, that the people have the right to instruct their
representatives, petition government for redress of
grievances, and assemble freely to consult for the common
good.
2)Provides, under paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Rule 2.550
of the California Rules of Court, that the standard and
procedures for courts to use when a request is made to seal a
record under Rules 2.550 - 2.551do not apply to records that
are required to be kept confidential by law under NBC
Subsidiary (KNBC-TV), Inc. v. Superior Court (1999) 20 Cal.4th
1178 .
3)Establishes the California Public Records Act and requires
public records to be open to inspection by the public except
as specifically exempted from disclosure.
4)Requires, subject to certain exceptions under the California
Public Records Act, state and local law enforcement agencies
to provide the current address of every individual arrested by
a law enforcement agency and the current address of the victim
of a crime, where the requester declares under penalty of
perjury that the request is made for scholarly, journalistic,
political, or governmental purpose, or that the request is
made for investigation by a private investigator.
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5)Prohibits any law enforcement officer or employee of a law
enforcement agency from disclosing to any arrested person, or
to any person who may be a defendant in a criminal action, the
address or telephone number of any person who is victim or
witness of the alleged offense.
6)Provides certain protections under existing law to ensure that
the address of the victim of any crime remains confidential
when the crime relates to the following offenses-
a) Assaults with intent to commit a felony, other than
assaults with intent to commit murder;
b) False imprisonment;
c) Sexual assault; and
d) Stalking and domestic violence.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : The purpose of this bill is to help protect the
privacy and safety of victim's privacy and to reduce any
perceived uncertainty about what information can be withheld
from public release.
Background . According to the author, victims of crime are
increasingly susceptible to being re-victimized as a result of
retaliatory violence, intimidation or harassment. Developments
in technology and the Internet have made it relatively easy for
an assailant to acquire all of their victim's private
information, including home address, telephone number, driver's
license, social security number, date of birth, and place of
employment.
In 1995, law enforcement and newspaper associations worked
together to craft a law that would address what was, then, a
growing problem of "boilerplate" requests to law enforcement
agencies under the California Public Records Act. These
"boilerplate" requests were use to obtain the name and addresses
of victims and arrestees for the purpose of solicitation of all
sorts of services, making law enforcement agencies a one stop
shop for telemarketers, defense attorneys seeking clients and
others to obtain confidential personal identifying information
about crime victims and arrestees. A compromise was crafted
that limited access to crime victims and arrestee personal
information to those who needed it for "scholarly, journalistic,
political, or governmental purpose." A "journalist" is
traditionally known as an individual who worked for a known
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media outlet such as a newspaper service, magazine, and a radio
or television network.
With today's technology and the popularity of electronic blog
sites and expansion of news media on the Internet, journalists
are not easy to identify. Any individual who creates a their
own website could be considered a "journalist" and under
existing state law, a law enforcement agency must provide the
name, date of birth, phone number, home and work address of
almost every crime victim whenever someone identifies themselves
as a journalist and comes into a law enforcement agency and
requests this information.
For example, there is a web site titled " Who's a Rat " that posts
the personal information of law enforcement agents, informants,
and victims ( www.whoisarat.com ).
Author maintains that victims should not lose their rights to
privacy for the fact that they became victims. Author says that
they should be given the right to protect their information if
they think doing so will protect them and their families.
In support . According to this bill's sponsor, Los Angeles
County Sheriff Lee Baca, this bill is intended to provide the
victim with the option to keep their information private.
Sponsor states that the potential for this type of information
to be abused could be great and poses a risk to public safety.
In addition, sponsor says, "Releasing the address and other
information of crime victims, specifically involving gang
related crimes, could result in further violence. Victims have
a right to privacy, and their address and other information
should not be released by law enforcement agencies if the victim
wants privacy."
In opposition . California Newspaper Publishers Association
(CNPA) opposes to this bill because, "Precise address
information allows individual members of the public to determine
for themselves just how safe or dangerous their neighborhood,
school, place of business or public park is, and allows them to
make individual decisions about their personal public safety,
the safety of their families and their property." CNPA says
passage of this bill would further restrict public access to law
enforcement records.
Prior legislation . SB 359 (Romero, Chapter 584, Statutes of
AB 1682
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2009) updates the statute within the California Public Records
Act that contains an alphabetical list of records that are
exempt from disclosure. This law also requires that a standing
committee of the Legislature introduce a bill at the beginning
of each two-year session that updates this alphabetical list of
records exempt from disclosure under the California Public
Records Act.
AB 1209 (Nakano, Chapter 8, Statutes of 2004) extends the
California Public Records Act exemptions to records prepared for
state or local public agencies that assess vulnerability to
terrorist attacks and emergency response plans prepared to
address those assessments. This law adds to those law
enforcement records that are exempt from the California Public
Records Act, customer lists that are provided by an alarm or
security company to a state or local police agency at the
request of the agency.
AB 1933 (Pacheco, Chapter 937, Statutes of 2004) clarifies an
existing prohibition on obtaining addresses from crime reports
for marketing purposes by specifying that such information may
not be obtained and shared with another person or entity for
marketing purposes.
Double-referral . This bill is double-referred to the Assembly
Public Safety Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California District Attorneys Association
California Peace Officers Association
California Police Chiefs Association
California Probation Parole and Correctional Association
Crime Victims United of California
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (sponsor)
Opposition
California Newspaper Publishers Association
Analysis Prepared by : Rod Brewer / G. O. / (916) 319-2531