BILL ANALYSIS SB 839 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 839 (Runner) As Amended June 14, 2010 Majority vote SENATE VOTE :36-0 PUBLIC SAFETY 6-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Ammiano, Hagman, Beall, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Conway, | | |Gilmore, Hill, Portantino | |Bradford, | | | | |Charles Calderon, Coto, | | | | |Davis, De Leon, Gatto, | | | | |Hall, Harkey, Miller, | | | | |Nielsen, Norby, Skinner, | | | | |Solorio, Torlakson, | | | | |Torrico | ----------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY : Requires the California Highway Patrol (CHP), at the request of an authorized person at a law enforcement agency, to activate the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and issue a "blue alert", as defined, if a law enforcement officer has been killed, suffers serious bodily injury, or is assaulted with a deadly weapon, the suspect has fled the scene of the offense, and other specified conditions are met. Specifically, this bill : 1)Defines "blue alert" as a quick response system designed to issue and coordinate alerts following an attack upon a law enforcement officer, as specified. 2)Provides that in addition to the circumstances described under existing law, upon the request of an authorized person at a law enforcement agency that is investigating an offense, the CHP shall activate the EAS and issue a blue alert if all of the following conditions are met: a) 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; b) A law enforcement agency investigating the offense has SB 839 Page 2 determined that the suspect poses an imminent threat to the public or other law enforcement personnel; c) A detailed description of the suspect's vehicle or license plate is available for broadcast; d) Public dissemination of available information may help avert further harm or accelerate apprehension of the suspect; and, e) The CHP has been designated to use the federally authorized EAS for the issuance of blue alerts. 3)Provides that the blue alert system incorporates a variety of notification resources and developing technologies that may be tailored to the circumstances and geography of the underlying attack. The blue alert system shall utilize the state-controlled Emergency Digital Information System (EDIS), local digital signs, focused text, or other technologies, as appropriate, in addition to the federal EAS, if authorized and under conditions permitted by the Federal Government. 4)Directs, on or before December 31, 2011, the CHP to augment the CHP'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 law enforcement 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. FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee analysis, minor, if any, new state costs for blue alerts. According to the CHP, the process prescribed by this bill is current practice. In essence, this bill creates a name - "blue alert" - for current practice. According to the CHP, there have been two blue alerts in the past five years. Based on Amber Alert experience, the average cost of an alert is about $45,000. COMMENTS : According to the author of this bill, "SB 839 would allow the CHP to issue a Blue Alert, which is a quick response system designed to issue and coordinate alerts following an SB 839 Page 3 attack upon a law enforcement officer if 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; and, 5)"The CHP has been designated to use the federally authorized 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 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. "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. Okalahoma has legislation ready to be introduced. SB 839 Page 4 "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." Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this bill. Analysis Prepared by : Nicole J. Hanson / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN: 0005675