BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY Senator Loni Hancock, Chair A 2011-2012 Regular Session B 2 2 8 AB 2285 ( Eng) 5 As Amended May 23, 2012 Hearing date: July 3, 2012 Penal Code SM:dl PEACE OFFICER EXAMINATIONS: CHEATING HISTORY Source: Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Prior Legislation: None Support: Unknown Opposition:None Known Assembly Floor Vote: Ayes 74 - Noes 0 KEY ISSUE SHOULD A PEACE OFFICER TRAINEE WHO KNOWINGLY CHEATS, ASSISTS IN CHEATING, OR AIDS, ABETS, OR KNOWINGLY CONCEALS EFFORTS BY OTHERS TO CHEAT IN ANY MANNER ON A BASIC COURSE EXAMINATION MANDATED BY THE COMMISSION ON PEACE OFFICERS STANDARDS AND TRAINING AS SPECIFIED BE LIABLE FOR A CIVIL FINE OF NOT MORE THAN $1,000 PER OCCURRENCE? (More) AB 2285 (Eng) Page 2 PURPOSE The purpose of this bill is to (1) provide that a peace officer trainee, as defined, who, based on investigative findings of the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, knowingly cheats, assists in cheating, or aids, abets, or knowingly conceals efforts by others to cheat in any manner on a basic course examination mandated by the commission shall be liable for a civil fine of not more than $1,000 per occurrence; and (2) define "cheating" as any attempt or act by a peace officer trainee to gain an unfair advantage or give an unfair advantage to another peace officer trainee or group of trainees taking a POST-mandated basic course examination. Current law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Training and Standards (POST). (Penal Code Section 13500.) (More) Current law requires all peace officers to complete an introductory course of training prescribed by POST, demonstrated by passage of an appropriate examination developed by POST. (Penal Code Section 832(a).) Current law empowers POST to develop and implement programs to increase the effectiveness of law enforcement. (Penal Code Section 13503.) Current law 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. (Penal Code Section 13510(a).) Current law 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. (Penal Code Section 13510(b).) Current law requires POST to establish a certification program for peace officers, which shall be considered professional certificates. (Penal Code Section 13510.1(a).) Current law 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): Presents or attempts to present as the person's own the certificate of another; Knowingly permits another to use his or her certificate; Knowingly give false evidence of any material kind to POST, or any member thereof, including the staff, in obtaining the certificate; or, Uses, or attempts to use, a canceled certificate. (More) AB 2285 (Eng) Page 4 Current law 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 INELIGIBLE TO BE A PEACE OFFICER IN CALIFORNIA PURSUANT TO GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 1029(a)." (Penal Code Section 13510.3(a).) This bill would provide that a peace officer trainee who, based on POST'S investigative findings, knowingly cheats, assists in cheating, or aids, abets, or knowingly conceals efforts by others to cheat in any manner on a basic course examination mandated by POST shall be liable for a civil fine of not more than $1,000 per occurrence. This bill defines "cheating" as any attempt or act by a peace officer trainee to gain an unfair advantage or give an unfair advantage to another peace officer trainee or group of trainees taking a POST-mandated basic course examination. This bill defines "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. RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION ("ROCA") In response to the unresolved prison capacity crisis, since early 2007 it has been the policy of the chair of the Senate Committee on Public Safety and the Senate President pro Tem to hold legislative proposals which could further aggravate prison overcrowding through new or expanded felony prosecutions. Under the resulting policy known as "ROCA" (which stands for "Receivership/Overcrowding Crisis Aggravation"), the Committee has held measures which create a new felony, expand the scope or penalty of an existing felony, or otherwise increase the application of a felony in a manner which could exacerbate the prison overcrowding crisis by expanding the availability or AB 2285 (Eng) Page 5 length of prison terms (such as extending the statute of limitations for felonies or constricting statutory parole standards). In addition, proposed expansions to the classification of felonies enacted last year by AB 109 (the 2011 Public Safety Realignment) which may be punishable in jail and not prison (Penal Code section 1170(h)) would be subject to ROCA because an offender's criminal record could make the offender ineligible for jail and therefore subject to state prison. Under these principles, ROCA has been applied as a content-neutral, provisional measure necessary to ensure that the Legislature does not erode progress towards reducing prison overcrowding by passing legislation which could increase the prison population. ROCA will continue until prison overcrowding is resolved. For the last several years, severe overcrowding in California's prisons has been the focus of evolving and expensive litigation. On June 30, 2005, in a class action lawsuit filed four years earlier, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California established a Receivership to take control of the delivery of medical services to all California state prisoners confined by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation ("CDCR"). In December of 2006, plaintiffs in two federal lawsuits against CDCR sought a court-ordered limit on the prison population pursuant to the federal Prison Litigation Reform Act. On January 12, 2010, a three-judge federal panel issued an order requiring California to reduce its inmate population to 137.5 percent of design capacity -- a reduction at that time of roughly 40,000 inmates -- within two years. The court stayed implementation of its ruling pending the state's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. On May 23, 2011, the United States Supreme Court upheld the decision of the three-judge panel in its entirety, giving California two years from the date of its ruling to reduce its prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity, subject to the right of the state to seek modifications in appropriate circumstances. Design capacity is the number of inmates a prison can house based on one inmate per cell, single-level AB 2285 (Eng) Page 6 bunks in dormitories, and no beds in places not designed for housing. Current design capacity in CDCR's 33 institutions is 79,650. On January 6, 2012, CDCR announced that California had cut prison overcrowding by more than 11,000 inmates over the last six months, a reduction largely accomplished by the passage of Assembly Bill 109. Under the prisoner-reduction order, the inmate population in California's 33 prisons must be no more than the following: 167 percent of design capacity by December 27, 2011 (133,016 inmates); 155 percent by June 27, 2012; 147 percent by December 27, 2012; and 137.5 percent by June 27, 2013. This Bill does not aggravate the prison overcrowding crisis described above under ROCA. COMMENTS 1. Need for the Bill 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 punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000 per occurrence. 2. What this Bill Will Do AB 2285 (Eng) Page 7 This bill would provide that, if an applicant for a basic POST course examination is found, based on an investigation by POST, to have made any attempt to gain an unfair advantage for themselves or others or aids anyone else in doing this, they would be liable for a civil fine of up to $1,000, per occurrence. POST has informed the Committee that a compromised test, for example, where cadets somehow gain access to test answers prior to the test, can be very costly in terms of having to redesign and re-administer the entire test. They explain that this civil fine is intended to deter cheating before the test is compromised. ***************