BILL NUMBER: AB 2623	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 25, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Allen

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to amend Section 830.38 of the Penal Code, relating to
peace officers.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2623, as amended, Allen. State hospitals: peace officers.
   Under existing law, peace officers of a state hospital under the
jurisdiction of the State Department of Mental Health or the State
Department of Developmental Services are authorized to carry firearms
only as authorized and under terms and conditions specified by their
employing agency.
   This bill would  instead  require  each
department to, by June 30, 2013, adopt a policy for arming 
peace officers of  those  state hospitals 
to carry a firearm   under each department's
jurisdiction  while performing  assigned  
security  functions outside of the secure  treatment
 area of the hospital  , and would require each
department to implement the policy by January 1, 2014  .
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
   
  SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares
all of the following:
   (a) Over the years, the patient population in state hospitals has
changed from virtually all the clients being civil commitments to the
current population of over 92 percent forensic commitments. The
majority of these patients have been committed to the state hospitals
for heinous and violent crimes against other human beings, including
rape, assault with a deadly weapon, and murder.
   (b) Hospital police officers (HPOs) are employed at the following
state hospitals: Patton, Coalinga, Napa, Atascadero, and
Metropolitan. HPOs are peace officers pursuant to Section 830.38 of
the Penal Code, and they perform their duties without a firearm. Each
hospital works under the auspices of the State Department of Mental
Health.
   (c) HPOs at each facility have varying roles. HPOs are responsible
for enforcing the law on hospital grounds 24 hours a day and seven
days a week. Inside each facility is a forensic compound, which is
surrounded by an 18-foot fence. Housed within these compounds are
forensic patients who, among other things, have been found not guilty
by reason of insanity, incompetent to stand trial, and have been
transferred from prison for psychiatric treatment.
   (d) Most HPOs work any one of three shifts during a 24-hour period
and may be assigned duties that include patrolling hospital grounds
in a vehicle, conducting vehicle stops, pursuing and apprehending
escaped patients, providing off-grounds custody to patients,
transporting a patient on a compassionate leave visit, or
transporting patients off grounds.
   (e) At Patton and Coalinga State Hospitals, transportation,
custody, and perimeter patrol functions outside the secure treatment
area are performed by armed correctional officers. HPOs provide these
same functions, as well as mutual aid to local law enforcement
agencies, at Napa, Metropolitan, and Atascadero State Hospitals.
   (f) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
legislation to provide the surrounding communities of Napa,
Metropolitan, and Atascadero State Hospitals with the same level of
protection and security that Patton and Coalinga State Hospitals
currently enjoy. This legislation shall only apply to functions
performed outside the secure treatment area during the prescribed
functions in Section 830.38 of the Penal Code. 
   SEC. 2.   SECTION 1.   Section 830.38 of
the Penal Code is amended to read:
   830.38.  The officers of a state hospital under the jurisdiction
of the State Department of Mental Health or the State Department of
Developmental Services appointed pursuant to Section 4313 or 4493 of
the Welfare and Institutions Code, 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 pursuant to Section 836
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, or pursuant to Section 8597 or 8598 of the Government
Code provided that the primary duty of the peace officers shall be
the enforcement of the law as set forth in Sections 4311, 4313, 4491,
and 4493 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. Those peace officers
 shall   may  carry firearms  while
performing assigned functions outside of the secure treatment area
of the hospital   only if authorized under the terms and
conditions specified by their employing agency. By June 30, 2013,
the State Department of Mental Health and the State Department of
Development Services shall each develop a policy for arming state
hospital peace officers under their jurisdiction while those officers
are performing hospital security functions outside of the secure
area of the hospital. Each department shall implement its policy by
  January 1, 2014  .