BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 110|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 110
Author: Liu (D), et al
Amended: 1/26/10
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 6-0, 4/28/09
AYES: Leno, Cedillo, Hancock, Huff, Steinberg, Wright
NO VOTE RECORDED: Benoit
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-2, 1/21/10
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Leno, Liu, Price, Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham
SUBJECT : People with disabilities: victims of crime
SOURCE : The Arc of California
DIGEST : This bill enacts the Crime Victims with
Disabilities Act of 2010 which (1) requires domestic
violence death review teams to add information about
whether or not a victim had a disability, (2) allows
counties to add dependent adult cases to any elder death
review teams and protocols they may already have, (3)
requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and
Training and the Department of Justice to create a two-hour
"Crime Victims with Disabilities" telecourse for law
enforcement officers and permits that every law enforcement
agency that complies with POST training, provide this
telecourse training for its officers, and (4) creates new
reporting requirements for the Department of Developmental
CONTINUED
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Services.
ANALYSIS : Existing law regulates the investigation and
prosecution of crimes against a dependent adult, which is
defined to include a person who is between 18 and 64 years
of age, inclusive, and who has a physical or mental
limitation which restricts his or her ability, or
substantially restricts his or her ability, to carry out
normal activities or to protect his/her rights, including,
but not limited to, a person who has a physical or
developmental disability or whose physical or mental
abilities have diminished, or significantly diminished,
because of age. Under existing law, the term also includes
any person between 18 and 64 years of age, inclusive, who
is admitted as an inpatient to certain 24-hour health
facilities.
Existing law provides that in order to ensure consistent
and uniform results, data may be collected and summarized
by the domestic violence death review teams to show the
statistical occurrence of domestic violence deaths in the
team's county that occur under the following circumstances:
1. The deceased was a victim of a homicide committed by a
current or former spouse, fianc?, or dating partner.
2. The deceased was the victim of a suicide, was the
current or former spouse, fianc?, or dating partner of
the perpetrator and was also the victim of previous acts
of domestic violence.
3. The deceased was the perpetrator of the homicide of a
former or current spouse, fianc?, or dating partner and
the perpetrator was also the victim of a suicide.
4. The deceased was the perpetrator of the homicide of a
former or current spouse, fianc?, or dating partner and
the perpetrator was also the victim of a homicide
related to the domestic homicide incident.
5. The deceased was a child of either the homicide victim
or the perpetrator, or both.
6. The deceased was a current or former spouse, fianc?, or
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dating partner of the current or former spouse, fianc?,
or dating partner of the perpetrator.
7. The deceased was a law enforcement officer, emergency
medical personnel, or other agency responding to a
domestic violence incident.
8. The deceased was a family member, other than identified
above, of the perpetrator.
9. The deceased was the perpetrator of the homicide of a
family member, other than identified above.
10.The deceased was a person not included in the above
categories and the homicide was related to domestic
violence. (Section 11163.6 of the Penal Code)
This bill provides that data should also be included if the
deceased had a disability and the homicide was related to
domestic violence.
Existing law provides that each county may establish an
interagency elder death team to assist local agencies in
identifying and reviewing suspicious elder deaths and
facilitating communication among persons who perform
autopsies and the various persons and agencies involved in
elder abuse or neglect cases. Each county may develop a
protocol that may be used as a guideline by persons
performing autopsies on elder adults to assist coroners and
other persons who perform autopsies in the identification
of elder abuse, in the determination of whether elder abuse
or neglect contributed to death or whether elder abuse or
neglect had occurred prior to but was not the actual cause
of death, and in the proper written reporting procedures
for elder abuse or neglect, including the designation of
the cause and mode of death. (Section 11174.5 of the Penal
Code)
This bill provides that the interagency death review team
should also apply to review deaths of dependent adults.
Existing law provides an oral or written communication or a
document shared within or produced by an elder death review
team related to an elder death review is confidential and
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not subject to disclosure or discoverable by another third
party. An oral or written communication or a document
provided by a third party to an elder death review team, or
between a third party and an elder death review team, is
confidential and not subject to disclosure or discoverable
by a third party. Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and
(b), recommendations of an elder death review team upon the
completion of a review may be disclosed at the discretion
of a majority of the members of the elder death review
team. (Section 11174.8 of the Penal Code)
This bill provides that this provision applies to elder and
dependent adult death review teams.
Existing law provides generally for mandated and
recommended peace officer training by the Commission on
Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) and
specifically provides that: the Legislature finds and
declares that research, including "Special Report to the
Legislature on Senate Resolution 18: Crimes Committed
Against Homeless Persons" by the Department of Justice
(DOJ) and "Hate, Violence, and Death: A Report on Hate
Crimes Against People Experiencing Homelessness from
1999-2002" by the National Coalition for the Homeless
demonstrate that California has had serious and unaddressed
problems of crime against homeless persons, including
homeless persons with disabilities. (Section 13519.64(a)
of the Penal Code)
This bill adds a number of additional reports to the
findings and declarations in the above sections.
Existing law provides that by July 1, 2005, POST, using
available funding, shall develop a two-hour telecourse to
be made available to all law enforcement agencies in
California on crimes against homeless persons and on how to
deal effectively and humanely with homeless persons,
including homeless persons with disabilities. The
telecourse shall include information on multimission
criminal extremism, as defined in Section 13519.6. In
developing the telecourse, POST shall consult
subject-matter experts including, but not limited to,
homeless and formerly homeless persons in California,
service providers and advocates for homeless persons in
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California, experts on the disabilities that homeless
persons commonly suffer, the California Council of
Churches, the National Coalition for the Homeless, the
Senate Office of Research, and the Criminal Justice
Statistics Center of DOJ. (Section 13519.64 (b) of the
Penal Code)
Existing law provides that every state law enforcement
agency, and every local law enforcement agency, to the
extent that this requirement does not create a
state-mandated local program cost, shall provide the
telecourse to its peace officers. (Section 13519.64(c) of
the Penal Code)
This bill provides that every state law enforcement agency
that participates may provide training to its peace
officers using the telecourse "Crime Victims with
Disabilities," produced by POST and DOJ each time that
POST, DOJ, or both POST and DOJ update the telecourse to
reflect changes in law, standards, and information since
they produced the telecourse in 2002.
This bill provides that every participating local law
enforcement agency may provide training to its officers
using the telecourse "Crime Victims with Disabilities."
Existing law provides for an advisory committee to develop
a course of training for district attorneys in the
investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases, etc.
The course shall include training in the unique emotional
trauma experienced by victims of these crimes. (Section
13836 of the Penal Code)
This bill provides that the course shall also include
training in the special problems of investigating and
prosecuting these crimes when committed against individuals
with disabilities.
Existing law provides that the advisory committee shall
consist of 11 members and shall represent the view of
diverse ethnic and language groups. (Section 13836.1 of
the Penal Code)
This bill further provides that the advisory committee
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shall also represent subject-matter experts on crimes
against individuals with disabilities.
This bill further provides that the requirement that the
Commission on the Status of Women appoint an expert on
crimes against victims with disabilities shall take effect
upon the occurrence of the first vacancy for a member
appointed by the Commission, other than the member who
represents a rape crisis center or the member who is a
medical professional, on or after January 1, 2011.
Existing law provides that the online missing persons'
registry shall accept and generate complete information on
a missing person and that information shall be retrievable
by specified categories. (Section 14203 of the Penal Code)
Existing law provides that "missing person" includes but is
not limited to a child who has been taken, detained,
concealed, enticed away or retained by a parent. It also
includes any child who is missing voluntarily or
involuntary. It further provides that evidence that a
missing person is at risk includes evidence that the
missing person is mentally impaired. (Section 14213 of the
Penal Code)
This bill provides in addition that evidence that a missing
person is at risk includes evidence that the missing person
has a mental or physical disability.
Existing law provides that when the Department of
Developmental Services (DSS) has reason to believe that any
person held in custody as developmentally disabled is
wrongfully deprived of his liberty, or is cruelly or
negligently treated, or that inadequate provision is made
for the skillful medical care, proper supervision, and
safekeeping of any such person, it may ascertain the facts.
It may issue compulsory process for the attendance of
witnesses and the production of papers, and may exercise
the powers conferred upon a referee in a superior court.
It may make such orders for the care and treatment of such
person as it deems proper. Whenever DSS undertakes an
investigation into the general management and
administration of any establishment or place of detention
for the developmentally disabled, it may give notice of
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such investigation to the Attorney General, who shall
appear personally or by deputy, to examine witnesses in
attendance and to assist the department in the exercise of
the powers conferred upon it in this code. DSS may at any
time cause the patients of any county or city almshouse to
be visited and examined, in order to ascertain if
developmentally disabled persons are kept therein.
(Section 4427 of the Welfare and Institutions Code)
This bill provides instead that when DSS has reason to
believe that any person held in custody as developmentally
disabled is wrongfully deprived of liberty, or is cruelly
or negligently treated, or that inadequate provision is
made for the skillful medical care, proper supervision, and
safekeeping of any such person, or is otherwise the victim
of crime, DSS shall do either of the following:
1. Report the case immediately to the local police
department or sheriff's office that has jurisdiction.
2. Ascertain the facts. It may issue compulsory process
for the attendance of witnesses and the production of
papers, and may exercise the powers conferred upon a
referee in a superior court. It may make such orders
for the care and treatment of such person as it deems
proper. If it ascertains that the person is the victim
of a crime, it shall report the case immediately to the
local police department or sheriff's office that has
jurisdiction.
Existing law provides that a developmental center shall
immediately report all resident deaths and serious injuries
of unknown origin to the appropriate law enforcement agency
that may, at its discretion, conduct an independent
investigation. (Section 4427.5 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code)
This bill provides that the reporting requirements of this
subdivision are in addition to, and do not substitute for,
the reporting requirements of mandated reporters.
Existing law provides that each county shall establish an
emergency response adult protective services program that
shall provide in person response, 24 hours per day, seven
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days per week to reports of abuse of an elder or a
dependent adult. (Section 15763 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code)
This bill makes technical changes to that section.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
Unknown with latest amendments.
SUPPORT : (Verified 1/26/10)
The Arc of California (sponsor)
Access to Independence of San Diego
Aging Services of California
Arc of Riverside County
Arc of San Diego
Arc South Bay
Autism Society of America, San Diego Chapter
California Church IMPACT
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault
California Commission on the Status of Women
California Foundation for Independent Living Centers
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
California Police Chiefs Association
California State Council on Developmental Disabilities
Congress of California Seniors
Crime Victims Action Alliance
Crime Victims United of California
Disability Rights California
Housing Now
Loaves and Fishes
Orange County Arc
People First of California
Sacramento Homeless Organizing Committee
San Diego People First
OPPOSITION : (Verified 1/26/10)
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
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"Crime against victims with disabilities has been called
an 'invisible epidemic,' comparable with domestic
violence before society awakened to the horror and
widespread extent of that terrible problem. Children and
elders with disabilities, homeless people with
disabilities, and people with disabilities in care,
treatment, and incarceration facilities are among those
most vulnerable and most often victimized. Women and men
with disabilities also are at high risk of sexual assault
and domestic violence.
"Despite great efforts, California - like the rest of the
country - continues to fall shamefully short of meeting
its responsibility to provide equal protection from crime
to people with disabilities. Research shows that the
current system generally fails to prevent crimes, assist
victims, prosecute perpetrators, or even report most
crimes against victims with disabilities.
"It is unlikely that society would tolerate this level of
violent crime against most other classes of victims
without demanding much more effective action."
RJG:mw 1/27/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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