BILL ANALYSIS Ó Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair SB 1047 (Alquist) - Emergency services: missing persons - Silver Alert. Amended: April 16, 2012 Policy Vote: Public Safety 6-1 Urgency: No Mandate: Yes Hearing Date: May 24, 2012 Consultant: Jolie Onodera SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED. Bill Summary: SB 1047 would establish a "Silver Alert" notification system to inform the public when a person who is 65 years of age or older is reported missing, as specified. This bill would require the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to, upon activation of a Silver Alert, take certain actions to assist the local law enforcement agency investigating the disappearance. The program would remain in effect until January 1, 2016. Fiscal Impact: One-time costs in the range of $150,000 (Motor Vehicle Account) for the CHP to develop policies and procedures, provide training and develop resource materials for staff and local law enforcement agencies. To the extent the number of Silver Alert requests and activations exceeds the number of Endangered Missing Advisories (EMAs) currently issued for missing seniors, the CHP would incur ongoing increased workload for staffing Silver Alerts of an unknown, but potentially significant amount (Motor Vehicle Account). Unknown, potential indirect cost pressure on the Emergency Digital Information System (EDIS) message system to the extent there are a significant number of Silver Alert activations, thereby increasing the volume of EDIS messages generated. Background: Existing law provides for an emergency alert system, commonly known as the "Amber Alert" system, authorizing law enforcement to request the activation of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) when a child 17 years of age or younger, or an individual with a proven mental or physical disability, has been reported as abducted, and is in imminent danger of serious SB 1047 (Alquist) Page 1 bodily injury or death, and there is information available that, if disseminated to the public, could assist in the safe recovery of the individual. The CHP in consultation with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and law enforcement groups developed the policies and procedures that set forth how and under what conditions the system is activated. According to the CHP website, the Amber Alert system has assisted in the successful recovery of over one hundred children and the apprehension of over 120 suspects since it was established statewide in California on July 31, 2002. There have been 194 Amber Alerts activated as of April 2012 since the program was established (approximately 19 alerts per year). In order to maintain the program's credibility and integrity, the criteria for activation are narrowly tailored. Over 360 requests to activate Amber Alerts have been received but did not qualify for the activation of such an alert. In addition to the Amber Alert system, current law provides for a "Blue Alert" system to notify the public using a quick response system designed to issue and coordinate alerts following an attack upon a law enforcement officer. The CHP has not received a Blue Alert request since its establishment in January 2011. In cases where the statutory criteria for an Amber Alert are not met and an agency has reason to believe a person is at risk or endangered, and distributing information to help to locate the person is sought, an Endangered Missing Advisory (EMA) can be issued. An EMA involves many of the same alert/notification measures utilized during an Amber Alert, except there is no activation of the EAS (the EAS message pre-empts radio and television broadcasts and is preceded and concluded with alert tones) and typically Changeable Message Signs (CMS) are not utilized. An EMA generally consists of an Emergency Digital Information Service (EDIS) message, Critical Reach flyer, be-on-the-lookout broadcasts, and border notifications (if appropriate). Proposed Law: This bill would provide that a "Silver Alert" means a notification system designed to issue and coordinate alerts with respect to a person who is 65 years of age or older who is reported missing. If a person is reported missing to a law enforcement agency, that agency shall request the CHP SB 1047 (Alquist) Page 2 activate a Silver Alert if the law enforcement agency determines that all of the following conditions are met: The missing person is 65 years of age or older. The investigating law enforcement agency has utilized all available local resources. The law enforcement agency determines that the person has gone missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances. The law enforcement agency believes that the person is in danger because of age, health, mental or physical disability, environment or weather conditions, that the person is in the company of a potentially dangerous person, or that there are other factors indicating that the person may be in peril. There is information available that, if disseminated to the public, could assist in the safe recovery of the missing person. This bill would require the CHP to activate a Silver Alert within the geographical area requested by the investigating law enforcement agency. Upon activation of a Silver Alert, the CHP would be required to assist the law enforcement agency by issuing a be-on-the-lookout, an EDIS message, or an electronic flyer. Further, radio, television, cable, and satellite systems would be encouraged to, but not required to, cooperate with disseminating the information in a Silver Alert. The provisions of the bill would be in effect until January 1, 2016, unless a later enacted statute deletes or extends that date. Related Legislation: SB 839 (Runner) Chapter 31/2010 established a "Blue Alert" system of public notification relating to emergencies endangering law enforcement officers modeled after the Amber Alert system. SB 38 (Alquist) 2009 required the CHP to develop policies regarding a missing senior person alert program and to activate an Emergency Alert System (EAS) for a missing senior, as specified. This bill was held on the Assembly Appropriations Suspense File. Federal Legislation: H.R. 112 proposes to encourage, enhance, SB 1047 (Alquist) Page 3 and integrate Silver Alert plans throughout the United States, to authorize $4 million in grants for the assistance of organizations to find missing seniors. This measure has been pending in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security since January 2011. S. 1263 proposes to encourage, enhance, and integrate Silver Alert plans throughout the United States and authorizes $500,000 to be appropriated to the Department of Justice to establish a Silver Alert communications network. This measure has been pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee since June 2011. Staff Comments: The establishment of a Silver Alert statewide plan notification system for missing seniors will likely result in increased workload to the CHP and local law enforcement agencies. The Silver Alert system proposed under the provisions of this bill would utilize the same CHP resources required under the existing alert systems, with the exception that a Silver Alert would not activate the EAS. The criteria for a Silver Alert would mirror that for an EMA with the exception that a Silver Alert would be specific to persons 65 years of age or older. According to the CHP, the criterion for a Silver Alert requiring the investigating law enforcement agency to utilize all available resources is current practice and is done prior to an EMA being activated. Requests for EMA activation are at law enforcement agencies' discretion in determining what resources would be the most appropriate for transmitting information to other law enforcement agencies, the media, and the public. Because the provisions of this bill mandate that law enforcement request activation of a Silver Alert if certain criteria are met, more requests and subsequent activations could result. One-time costs potentially in excess of $150,000 would be incurred for CHP personnel time to rewrite policies/procedures, provide training to staff and local law enforcement, and develop/distribute reference materials such as manuals and brochures related to the Silver Alert. It is unknown how many Silver Alerts would be activated each year under the specified criteria, but local law enforcement and the CHP would be required to review each request for activation, requiring existing resources to be redirected for this workload. SB 1047 (Alquist) Page 4 The California DOJ Missing Adults Report indicated over 2,100 dependent adults (defined as any adult who has a physical or mental limitation that restricts his/her ability to carry out normal activities, i.e., Alzheimer's) were reported missing to law enforcement in 2010. Although the data is not age specific, if five percent met the specified criteria, over 100 Silver Alerts could potentially be activated in one year. This would be a significant increase over the 17 and 26 EMAs activated in 2010 and 2011, respectively. This bill could result in annual ongoing state-reimbursable local mandate costs for law enforcement procedures and training to the extent the provisions of this bill require additional workload above the processes in place for EMAs. At a minimum, it appears training on the new Silver Alert designation and criteria would be required. The magnitude of costs would be dependent on the number of alert requests and activations. Upon activation of a Silver Alert, the CHP is required to assist the investigating law enforcement agency by issuing a be-on-the-lookout, an EDIS message, or an electronic flyer. EDIS messages are activated by the California Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA). CalEMA indicates there would be no direct costs to activate or generate an EDIS message, however, indirect costs for maintaining the current system are approximately $200,000 annually. To the extent the provisions of this bill result in a significant increase in the number of EDIS activations required could have an unknown effect on the existing system, resulting in cost pressure for additional system maintenance. Author's amendments remove the mandate on local law enforcement and instead make the request to the CHP to activate a Silver Alert permissive.