BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 2285
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 17, 2012
          Counsel:                Milena Blake


                         ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
                                 Tom Ammiano, Chair

                     AB 2285 (Eng) - As Amended:  April 11, 2012
                       As Proposed to be Amended in Committee
           

          SUMMARY  :   States that any peace officer trainee who knowingly 
          cheats, assists in cheating, or aids, abets or knowingly 
          conceals efforts by others to cheat on a test mandated by the 
          Commission on Peace Officer Training and Standards (POST) is 
          liable for a civil fine up to $5,000 per occurrence.   
          Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Requires that, in addition to the above fine, any peace 
            officer trainee found to be cheating must reimburse POST for 
            the cost of reconstructing and securing tests that have been 
            compromised by the act of cheating, as determined by POST.  
            This amount is not to exceed $25,000.  

          2)States that any peace officer trainee found to be cheating is 
            disqualified from future eligibility as a peace officer in 
            California.

          3)Requires that POST place the following in the commission's 
            training record for that person: "THIS PERSON IS INELGIBLE TO 
            BE A PEACE OFFICER IN CALIFORNIA PUSUANT TO SECTION 13510.3 OF 
            THE PENAL CODE."  

          4)Defines a "peace officer trainee" as an applicant for a basic 
            course examination who has not been hired by a department or 
            agency, and who has not been sworn as a peace officer.  

           EXISTING LAW  :  

           1)Requires all peace officers to complete an introductory course 
            of training prescribed by POST, demonstrated by passage of an 
            appropriate examination developed by POST.  ÝPenal Code 
            Section 832(a).]

          2)Establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Training and 








                                                                  AB 2285
                                                                  Page  2

            Standards.  (Penal Code Section 13500.)

          3)Empowers POST to develop and implement programs to increase 
            the effectiveness of law enforcement.  (Penal Code Section 
            13503.)

          4)Authorizes POST, for the purpose of raising the level of 
            competence of local law enforcement officers, to adopt rules 
            establishing minimum standards related to physical, mental and 
            moral fitness and training that shall govern the recruitment 
            of any peace officers in California.  ÝPenal Code Section 
            13510(a).]

          5)Requires POST to conduct research concerning job-related 
            educational standards and job-related selection standards to 
            include vision, hearing, physical ability, and emotional 
            stability and adopt standards supported by this research.  
            ÝPenal Code Section 13510(b).]

          6)Requires POST to establish a certification program for peace 
            officers, which shall be considered professional certificates. 
             ÝPenal Code Section 13510.1(a).]

          7)States that any person who knowingly commits any of the 
            following acts is guilty of a misdemeanor, and for each 
            offense is punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 or 
            imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or by 
            both a fine and imprisonment (Penal Code Section 13510.2):

             a)   Presents or attempts to present as the person's own the 
               certificate of another;

             b)   Knowingly permits another to use his or her certificate;

             c)   Knowingly give false evidence of any material kind to 
               POST, or any member thereof, including the staff, in 
               obtaining the certificate; or, 

             d)   Uses, or attempts to use, a canceled certificate.

          8)States that any person holding a POST certificate, as 
            specified, is determined to be disqualified from holding 
            office or being employed as a peace officer, as specified, 
            POST shall cause the following to be entered in the 
            commission's training record for that person: "THIS PERSON IS 








                                                                  AB 2285
                                                                  Page  3

            INELIGIBLE TO BE A PEACE OFFICER IN CALIFORNIA PURSUANT TO 
            GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 1029(a)."  ÝPenal Code Section 
            13510.3(a).]

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   Unknown

           COMMENTS  :   

           1)Author's Statement  :  According to the author, "AB 2285 creates 
            a zero-tolerance for the breach of examinations administered 
            within POST-certified basic course academies.  This 
            legislation will deter test compromise, hold culpable parties 
            accountable, and enable reimbursement for actual damages 
            suffered by POST.  Specifically, AB 2285 would make a person 
            who knowingly cheats, assists in cheating, or aids, abets, or 
            knowingly conceals any effort by others to cheat in any manner 
            on a test mandate by POST, guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable 
            by a fine of not more than $5,000 per occurrence or 
            imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed one year, or 
            both that fine and imprisonment.  Additionally, the bill would 
            require the person to reimburse POST for the cost of 
            reconstructing and securing tests that have been compromised 
            by the act of cheating in an amount determined by POST, but 
            not to exceed $25,000.  Finally, the bill would disqualify a 
            person convicted of cheating from future eligibility as a 
            police officer and would require POST to note that 
            disqualification in the person's training record."

           2)Background  :  According to information provided by the author, 
            "As part of its mission to enhance California law enforcement 
            and as a service to its stakeholders, POST develops, maintains 
            and disseminates high-stakes tests required to be administered 
            to students within the network of 40 POST certified basic 
            course academies.  Academy students are required to pass 26 
            high-stakes tests that measure mastery of units of knowledge 
            called Learning Domains (LD) during basic training. These 
            tests are referred to as 'high-stakes' because failure to 
            successfully pass any of these tests results in the 
            termination of training.

          "Over the past few years, POST staff has noted a steady 
            undercurrent of test security violations throughout the POST 
            academy network.  These violations have ranged from minor to 
            major infractions identified by academy staff, brought to the 
            attention of POST and resolved through changes in academy 








                                                                  AB 2285
                                                                  Page  4

            policy, guidelines or procedures.  Some violations were simply 
            honest mistakes and some were caused by unanticipated 
            circumstances.  To the credit of the academy personnel 
            involved in these incidents they were promptly and adequately 
            resolved.   Nonetheless, these incidents highlight the fact 
            that POST's current testing processes are antiquated and 
            vulnerable.

          "Hence, in February 2011, POST convened the Test Task Force 
            Committee to conduct a comprehensive review of existing test 
            security procedures and policies to clarify and strengthen 
            security practices.  One of the recommendations of this group 
            is to consider criminal sanctions for future violations of 
            test security.

          "A test security breach has far-reaching implications for the 
            law enforcement community. The more costly damage may occur 
            when the honesty and integrity of a peace officer is 
            questioned because the officer graduated from an academy that 
            had a cheating scandal.  This proposal is intended to 
            safeguard a peace officer's credibility, which is the 
            cornerstone of community trust, by imposing criminal sanctions 
            and disqualifying a person convicted of cheating from future 
            eligibility as a peace officer."

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training

           Opposition 
           
          None
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Milena Blake / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744