BILL NUMBER: AB 2393	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Davis

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to amend Section 13879.80 of the Penal Code, relating to
law enforcement.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2393, as introduced, Davis. Law enforcement: drug-endangered
children.
   Existing law encourages every law enforcement and social services
agency to develop, adopt, and implement written policies and
standards for their response to narcotics crime scenes where a child
is present or where there is evidence that a child lives, by January
1, 2005.
   This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to these
provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 13879.80 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   13879.80.  (a) Every law enforcement and social services agency in
this state is encouraged to develop, adopt, and implement written
policies and standards for their response to narcotics crime scenes
where a child is either immediately present or where there is
evidence that a child lives, by January 1, 2005. These policies shall
reflect the fact that exposing a child to the manufacturing,
trafficking, and  the  use of narcotics is criminal conduct
 ,  and that a response coordinated by law enforcement and
social services agencies is essential to the child's health and
welfare.
   (b) The needs of a drug endangered child are best served with
written policies encouraging the arrest of an individual for child
endangerment where there is probable cause that an offense has been
committed coordinated with an appropriate investigation of the child'
s welfare by child protective agencies. Protocols that encourage a
dependency investigation contemporaneous with a law enforcement
investigation at a narcotics crime scene, when appropriate, are
consistent with a child's best interest.