BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2368
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Date of Hearing: April 11, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 2368 (Block) - As Amended: March 29, 2012
SUBJECT : School security: security departments: school
police departments
SUMMARY : Strikes language expressing the intent of the
Legislature that a school district police department is
supplementary to city and county law enforcement agencies and is
not vested with general police powers. Specifically, this bill :
1)Strikes the reference to police department in the provision
authorizing a governing board to establish a security and
police department and instead establishes a new subdivision
authorizing a governing board to establish a school police
department under the supervision of a school chief of police.
Authorizes the governing board to employ personnel as
necessary to enforce the law on or about the properties of the
school district or when performing necessary duties with
respect to pupils, school district personnel, and properties
of the school district.
2)Strikes the provision authorizing a school district to assign
a school police reserve officer to a schoolsite to supplement
the duties of school police personnel.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the governing board of any school district to
establish a security department under the supervision of a
chief of security or a police department under the supervision
of a chief of police, as designated by, and under the
direction of, the superintendent of the school district.
Expresses the intent of the Legislature that a school district
police or security department is supplementary to city and
county law enforcement agencies and is not vested with general
police powers. (Education Code (EC) Section 38000)
2)Specifies that persons employed and compensated as members of
a police department of a school district, when appointed and
duly sworn, are peace officers. (EC Section 38001)
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3)Provides that persons employed the by California Community
College police department and school district police
department are peace officers whose authority extends to any
place in the state for the purpose of performing their primary
duty or when making an arrest as to any public offense with
respect to which there is immediate danger to person or
property, or of the escape of the perpetrator of that offense.
Authorizes those peace officers to carry firearms only if
authorized and under terms and conditions specified by their
employing agency. (Penal Code Section 830.32)
4)Defines "school security officer" as any person primarily
employed or assigned to provide security services as a
watchperson, security guard, or patrolperson on or about
premises owned or operated by a school district to protect
persons or property or to prevent the theft or unlawful taking
of district property of any kind or to report any unlawful
activity to the district and local law enforcement agencies.
(EC Section 38001.5)
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Legislative Counsel, this bill
is non-fiscal
COMMENTS : Background . Governing boards are authorized to
establish security departments headed by a Chief of Security and
a police department headed by a chief of police. Security
departments are considered supplementary to city and county law
enforcement agencies and are not vested with general police
powers. Individuals employed and compensated as members of a
police department of a school district, when appointed and duly
sworn, are considered peace officers. The Penal Code specifies
that the authority of persons employed by school district police
departments extends to any place in the state and authorizes
these types of peace officers to carry a firearm only if
authorized by the employing agency.
There is no data on the number of districts that have security
or police departments. Larger districts are more likely than
smaller districts to have police departments.
Purpose of the bill. The author states that this bill is simply
a technical cleanup bill. The Education Code expresses the
intent of the Legislature that school district police or
security department is supplementary to city and county law
enforcement agencies and is not vested with general police
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powers, even though EC Section 38001 and Penal Code Section
830.32 give members of school police departments peace officer
status with general police powers. This bill strikes the
reference to school "police" department in the intent language.
A review of the legislative history did not reveal any
explanation for the conflict between the intent language and
other sections of the law.
The author states that the bill eliminates any confusion
regarding the powers of school law enforcement. According to
the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC),
whose membership includes school police officers, some local
governing boards have raised questions about the powers of
school police officers, which may stem from the October 2011
shooting of a Twin Rivers Unified School District Police
Department officer during a traffic stop. A man who was
arrested during the incident died on the way to the local police
station. The Coroner did not conclude cause of death; however,
the incident has raised questions about why the school police
officer was making a non-school related traffic stop and sparked
community allegations that the Twin Rivers Police Department
frequently overstep its mandate.
This bill separates the reference to school police departments
from the provision authorizing the establishment of a school
security department and establishes a new subdivision giving
school districts authority to establish police departments. The
bill adds language giving governing boards the authority to
employ personnel "as necessary to enforce the law on or about
the properties of the school district or when performing
necessary duties with respect to pupils, school district
personnel, and properties of the school district." This
narrower focus of the duties of school police personnel is
modeled after existing law authorizing the establishment of a
community college police department. This language will help
clarify the intended jurisdiction of school police department.
Committee amendment . The bill strikes the provision giving
governing boards the authority to assign a school police reserve
officer to a schoolsite to supplement the duties of school
police personnel. According to the San Diego Schools Police
Officers Association, this language is duplicative of another
section of law authorizing school districts to establish a
school police reserve officer corps and is not necessary. Staff
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recommends reinstating the language as it is an appropriate
reference in this section of law.
Arguments in support . The San Diego Schools Police Officers
Association states, "When Education Code 38000 was created, it
was the intent of the Legislature for School Police Officers to
work on or about our schools, protect school district property
and protect our students at our schools or as they travel to
compete throughout the State of California. With the evolution
of law enforcement, as a whole, the role and training of School
Police Officer grew to the same level as municipal peace
officers with additional training in the area of working with
juveniles and within the same school environment while still
maintaining the original intent of the Legislature?.This bill
will maintain the original intent of the Legislature while
defining the distinctive role between a School Police Department
and the limited role of a School Security Department."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
San Diego Schools Police Officers Association
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087