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