BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    







                      SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
                             Senator Mark Leno, Chair                S
                             2009-2010 Regular Session               B

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          SB 839 (Runner)                                             
          As Amended February 24, 2010 
          Hearing date:  March 23, 2010
          Government Code
          AA:dl

                       EMERGENCY SERVICES:  "BLUE ALERT" SYSTEM
                                           
                                       HISTORY

          Sources:  Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff; California  
          State Sheriffs'                                              
          Association; California Broadcasters Association; Peace Officers  
          Research            Association of California; California  
          Association of Highway Patrolmen

          Prior Legislation: SB 38 (Alquist) - (2009) pending in Assembly  
          Appropriations Committee
                       AB 415 (Runner and Maddox) - Ch. 517, Stats. 2002
                       HR 8 (Runner) - adopted by the Assembly, 2001
                       SB 6 (Rainey) - Ch. 579, Stats. 1999

          Support: Riverside Police Officers' Association; Los Angeles  
          Police Protective League; Los           Angeles Probation  
          Officers'Union, AFSCME, Local 685; Riverside  
          Sheriffs'Association; Los Angeles Police Protective League;  
          Orange County Board of Supervisors; California Correctional  
          Supervisors Organization; California State Sheriffs'  
          Association; Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety

          Opposition:None Known






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                                                            SB 839 (Runner)
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                                         KEY ISSUE
           
          SHOULD A "BLUE ALERT" SYSTEM SIMILAR TO THE "AMBER ALERT" SYSTEM BE  
          CREATED TO NOTIFY THE PUBLIC WHEN A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER HAS BEEN  
          ATTACKED, AS SPECIFIED?




                                       PURPOSE

          The purpose of this bill is to create a "blue alert" system  
          similar to the "Amber Alert" system to notify the public when a  
          law enforcement officer has been attacked, as specified.

           Existing law  , commonly known as "Amber Alert," provides that if  
          an abduction has been reported to a law enforcement agency and  
          the agency determines that a child 17 years of age or younger,  
          or an individual with a proven mental or physical disability,  
          has been abducted and is in imminent danger of serious bodily  
          injury or death and there is information available that, if  
          disseminated to the general public, could assist in the safe  
          recovery of the victim, the agency, shall request the activation  
          of the Emergency Alert System within the appropriate local area.  
          (Government Code  8594 (a).)

           Existing law  provides that the California Highway Patrol (CHP)  
          in consultation with the Department of Justice (DOJ) as well as  
          a representative from the California State Sheriffs'  
          Association, the California Police Chiefs' Association and the  
          California Peace Officers' Association shall develop policies  
          and procedures providing instruction specifying how law  
          enforcement agencies, broadcasters participating in the  
          Emergency Alert System, and where appropriate, other  
          supplemental warning systems, shall proceed after a qualifying  
          abduction has been reported to a law enforcement agency.   
          (Government Code  8594 (b).)





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                                                            SB 839 (Runner)
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           This bill  would establish a "Blue Alert" system of public  
          notification relating to emergencies endangering law enforcement  
          officers modeled after Amber Alert, with the following specific  
          features:


                 "Blue alert" would be defined to mean "a quick response  
               system designed to issue and coordinate alerts following an  
               attack upon a law enforcement officer," as specified;

                 Upon the request of an authorized person at a law  
               enforcement agency that is investigating an attack upon a  
               law enforcement officer, the California Highway Patrol  
               would be required to activate the Emergency Alert System  
               and issue a blue alert if all of the following conditions  
               are met:

                   (1) A law enforcement officer has been killed, suffers  
                   serious bodily injury, or is assaulted with a deadly  
                   weapon, and the suspect has fled the scene of the  
                   offense.

                   (2) A law enforcement agency investigating the offense  
                   has determined that the suspect poses an imminent  
                   threat to the public or other law enforcement  
                   personnel.

                   (3) A detailed description of the suspect's vehicle or  
                   license plate is available for broadcast.

                   (4) Public dissemination of available information may  
                   help avert further harm or accelerate apprehension of  
                   the suspect.

                   (5) The California Highway Patrol has been designated  
                   to use the federally authorized Emergency Alert System  
                   for the issuance of blue alerts.







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                                                            SB 839 (Runner)
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           This bill  would require that the blue alert response system  
          "employ the Emergency Alert System, as available, the Emergency  
          Digital Information Service, local digital signs, focused text  
          alerts, and other appropriate technologies."



           This bill  would require, on or before December 31, 2011, the  
          California Highway Patrol to "augment the department's public  
          Internet Web site to include a blue alert link that describes  
          the "blue alert" process, objectives, and available quick  
          responses.  The Internet Web site shall explain that the term  
          blue alert will communicate that a peace officer has been  
          attacked or killed and that the scope of an alert will be  
          tailored to the circumstances of the offense and available  
          technologies."

              RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION IMPLICATIONS
                                           
          The severe prison overcrowding problem California has  
          experienced for the last several years has not been solved.  In  
          December of 2006 plaintiffs in two federal lawsuits against the  
          Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sought a  
          court-ordered limit on the prison population pursuant to the  
          federal Prison Litigation Reform Act.  On January 12, 2010, a  
          federal three-judge panel issued an order requiring the state to  
          reduce its inmate population to 137.5 percent of design capacity  
          -- a reduction of roughly 40,000 inmates -- within two years.   
          In a prior, related 184-page Opinion and Order dated August 4,  
          2009, that court stated in part:

               "California's correctional system is in a tailspin,"  
               the state's independent oversight agency has reported.  
               . . .  (Jan. 2007 Little Hoover Commission Report,  
               "Solving California's Corrections Crisis: Time Is  
               Running Out").  Tough-on-crime politics have increased  
               the population of California's prisons dramatically  
               while making necessary reforms impossible. . . .  As a  
               result, the state's prisons have become places "of  
               extreme peril to the safety of persons" they house, .  




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                                                            SB 839 (Runner)
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               . .  (Governor Schwarzenegger's Oct. 4, 2006 Prison  
               Overcrowding State of Emergency Declaration), while  
               contributing little to the safety of California's  
               residents, . . . .   California "spends more on  
               corrections than most countries in the world," but the  
               state "reaps fewer public safety benefits." . . .  .   
               Although California's existing prison system serves  
               neither the public nor the inmates well, the state has  
               for years been unable or unwilling to implement the  
               reforms necessary to reverse its continuing  
               deterioration.  (Some citations omitted.)

               . . .

               The massive 750% increase in the California prison  
               population since the mid-1970s is the result of  
               political decisions made over three decades, including  
               the shift to inflexible determinate sentencing and the  
               passage of harsh mandatory minimum and three-strikes  
               laws, as well as the state's counterproductive parole  
               system.  Unfortunately, as California's prison  
               population has grown, California's political  
               decision-makers have failed to provide the resources  
               and facilities required to meet the additional need  
               for space and for other necessities of prison  
               existence.  Likewise, although state-appointed experts  
               have repeatedly provided numerous methods by which the  
               state could safely reduce its prison population, their  
               recommendations have been ignored, underfunded, or  
               postponed indefinitely.  The convergence of  
               tough-on-crime policies and an unwillingness to expend  
               the necessary funds to support the population growth  
               has brought California's prisons to the breaking  
               point.  The state of emergency declared by Governor  
               Schwarzenegger almost three years ago continues to  
               this day, California's prisons remain severely  
               overcrowded, and inmates in the California prison  
               system continue to languish without constitutionally  






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                                                            SB 839 (Runner)
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               adequate medical and mental health care.<1>

          The court stayed implementation of its January 12, 2010, ruling  
          pending the state's appeal of the decision to the U.S. Supreme  
          Court.  That appeal, and the final outcome of this litigation,  
          is not anticipated until later this year or 2011.

           This bill  does not appear to aggravate the prison overcrowding  
          crisis described above.


                                      COMMENTS

          1.  Stated Need for This Bill

           The author states:

               SB 839 would allow the California Highway Patrol to  
               issue a Blue Alert, which is a quick response system  
               designed to issue and coordinate alerts following an  
               attack upon a law enforcement officer if the following  
               conditions are met: 
                
                 A law enforcement officer has been killed, suffers  
               serious bodily injury, or is assaulted with a deadly  
               weapon, and the suspect has fled the scene of the  
               offense; 
                 A law enforcement agency investigating the offense  
               has determined that the suspect poses an imminent  
               threat to the public or other law enforcement  
               personnel;
                 A detailed description of the suspect's vehicle or  
               license plate is available for broadcast;
             -----------------------
          <1>   Three Judge Court Opinion and Order, Coleman v.  
          Schwarzenegger, Plata v. Schwarzenegger, in the United States  
          District Courts for the Eastern District of California and the  
          Northern District of California United States District Court  
          composed of three judges pursuant to Section 2284, Title 28  
          United States Code (August 4, 2009).




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                                                            SB 839 (Runner)
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                 Public dissemination of available information may  
               help avert further harm or accelerate apprehension of  
               the suspect; and
                 The California Highway Patrol has been designated  
               to use the federally authorized Emergency Alert System  
               (EAS) for the issuance of "blue alerts."

               Additionally, the Blue Alert response system shall  
               employ the broad-based EAS after the federal  
               government has established a Blue Alert code, as well  
               as Emergency Digital Information Services (EDIS),  
               local digital signs, focused cell phone text alerts,  
               and all other appropriate technologies.

               The proposed Blue Alert would serve the same function  
               as the highly successful AMBER Alert, namely, it would  
               quickly and effectively get many pairs of eyes looking  
               for a criminal who kills or assaults a law enforcement  
               officer.

























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               It is common for law enforcement personnel at these  
               crime scenes to have some information about these  
               violent individuals, including a general description  
               or a partial license plate number, which emphasizes  
               the need to use California's existing emergency alert  
               system to allow the public to partner with law  
               enforcement officials in the hunt for criminals who  
               are clearly a threat to society.

               As the AMBER Alert system has demonstrated time and  
               again throughout the United States, a quick response  
               is vital. 
               
               Currently, Texas is the only state using Blue Alerts.  
               Oklahoma has legislation ready to be introduced.

               Allowing the CHP to employ the broad-based EAS, after  
               the federal government has established a Blue Alert  
               code as well as EDIS, local digital signs, focused  
               cell phone text alerts, or other appropriate  
               technologies to activate a Blue Alert will ensure that  
               its rare use is an efficient and cost effective way to  
               bring together the necessary resources to assist in  
               quickly locating cop killers who often flee the scene  
               of the crime in a vehicle, as evidenced by the number  
               of multiple officers killed in Oakland and Seattle  
               last year.

          2.  Existing Alert System for Missing Children  

          Existing law creates an emergency alert system for law  
          enforcement to alert the public when a child has been abducted  
          and is believed to be in imminent danger.  This is commonly  
          known as the "Amber Alert" system.  CHP along with DOJ and law  
          enforcement groups create the policies that set forth how and  
          when the alert system is activated.

          According to the CHP Web site:





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                                                            SB 839 (Runner)
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            AMBER ALERT empowers law enforcement, the media and the  
            public to combat abduction by sending out immediate,  
            up-to-date information that aids in the child's safe  
            recovery.  Using radio, television, the Internet,  
            highway information signs, and even cell phone  
            networks, AMBER ALERT gives the public the information  
            needed to locate abducted children.

            The AMBER ALERT Program has helped in successfully  
            recovering over one hundred children since it was  
            established statewide in California on July 31, 2002.  
            (  http://www.chp.ca.gov/amber/index.html#Guidelines  )

          Members and the author may wish to discuss how the "Blue Alert"  
          proposed by this bill can be expected to impact the existing  
          Amber Alert program.

          HOW WOULD THE "BLUE ALERT" SYSTEM PROPOSED BY THIS BILL IMPACT  
          THE EXISTING AMBER ALERT PROGRAM?

          3.  Related Legislation  

          Last year, this Committee passed SB 38 (Alquist), which would  
          create a "silver alert" system similar to the "Amber Alert"  
          system to notify the public when a senior person who has an  
          impaired mental condition goes missing.  That bill currently is  
          pending in Assembly Appropriations Committee.


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