BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1522
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1522 (Leno)
As Amended August 22, 2012
2/3 vote. Urgency
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
HUMAN SERVICES 6-0 PUBLIC SAFETY 6-0
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|Ayes:|Beall, Jones, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Ammiano, Knight, Cedillo, |
| |Grove, Hall, Portantino | |Hagman, Mitchell, Skinner |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, | | |
| |Blumenfield, Bradford, | | |
| |Charles Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, | | |
| |Hall, Hill, Lara, | | |
| |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, | | |
| |Solorio, Wagner | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires a state developmental center (DC) to report
to local law enforcement all deaths, sexual assaults, assaults
with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily
injury, and other specified incidents. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a DC to report the following incidents to the local
law enforcement agency, regardless of whether the Office of
Protective Services (OPS) has investigated the facts and
circumstance of the case:
a) A death;
b) A sexual assault, as defined in the Elder Abuse and
Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, Welfare &
Institutions (W&I) Code Section 15600 et seq.;
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c) An assault with a deadly weapon, as described in the
Penal Code, by a nonresident of the DC;
d) An assault with force likely to produce great bodily
injury, as described in the Penal Code;
e) An injury to the genitals when the cause of the injury
is undetermined; and,
f) A broken bone, when the cause of the break is
undetermined.
2)Requires that if the incident is reported to the law
enforcement agency by telephone, a written report of the
incident shall also be submitted to the agency within two
working days.
3)Provides that this bill's reporting requirements are in
addition to, and do not substitute for, existing reporting and
investigative duties of the DC and the Department of
Developmental Services (DDS) required by law.
4)Provides that the reporting requirements of this bill shall
not be interpreted to prevent the DC from reporting to law
enforcement any other criminal act constituting a danger to
the health or safety of DC residents.
5)Double joints this measure with SB 1051 (Liu and Emmerson) to
address potential chaptering out conflicts regarding proposed
changes to Welfare and Institutions Code Section 4427.5.
6)Contains an urgency clause requiring it to take effect
immediately.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, costs associated with this legislation should be
minor and absorbable within existing DDS.
COMMENTS :
Background : California Watch/The Center for Investigative
Reporting recently issued a report that was very critical of the
investigation of crimes that have occurred in the state's
Developmental Centers. (Available at:
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http://californiawatch.org/broken-shield ) The investigation
concluded that incidents were not properly investigated by the
DC's in-house investigative unit, OPS, and its law enforcement
staff were not adequately trained or supervised.
The author relates the following examples from the California
Watch investigation:
1)The 2005 death of a consumer at the Sonoma Developmental
Center where OPS assigned the case to a detective more than 24
hours after a caregiver discovered the consumer lying on the
floor and bleeding from his mouth. By then, any evidence at
the scene of the consumer's death was gone.
2)The 2007 death of a patient at Fairview Developmental Center
in which a consumer was found lying on the floor of his room
with a caregiver standing over him. OPS officers failed to
collect blood samples, fingerprints and other physical
specimens from his room. The lead detective, a former nurse,
had minimal police training and no experience investigating
suspicious deaths. Homicide detectives from the Seattle and
Chicago police departments reviewed the investigation and
identified half a dozen mistakes by officers and detectives at
Fairview, including the failure to secure the scene, failure
to promptly interview witnesses, and failure to obtain medical
evidence that the consumer's fatal injury (a broken neck) was
inconsistent with the caregiver's explanation of the incident.
3)The 2010 sexual assault of a female consumer at the Sonoma
Developmental Center. OPS investigated the case but made no
arrests.
Purpose of this bill : According to the author, in other states,
local or state police are generally responsible for
investigating crimes at state institutions. The author says that
"Ýt]he status quo situation at DCs in California in which crimes
go uninvestigated and not prosecuted is an unacceptable
violation of the rights of developmentally disabled consumers to
equal protection of the law."
Current California law (W&I Code Section 4427.5) requires a
developmental center to immediately report "all resident deaths
and serious injuries of unknown origin to the appropriate local
law enforcement agency, which may, at its discretion, conduct an
independent investigation." (Emphasis added). According to the
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author, DDS has an internal policy-which has not been adopted as
a formal regulation as required by California law-about which
type of "serious injuries of unknown origin" must be reported to
local law enforcement.
Following the release of the California Watch report, the Senate
Human Services Committee held an informational hearing titled,
Examining Law Enforcement Practices within State Developmental
Centers (March 13, 2012). Citing testimony from that hearing,
the author says that DDS' internal policy calls for reporting of
virtually all injuries of unknown origin, even relatively minor
ones that require only five sutures for treatment, to local law
enforcement. The number of reports transmitted to local law
enforcement agencies, the author says, may dilute the
effectiveness of this reporting requirement. Disability Rights
California (DRC), the sponsor of this bill, similarly says that
"Ýi]nundating local law enforcement with reports of minor
injuries may temper law enforcements' response to critical
incidents warranting their immediate attention and expertise."
Therefore, the author says, this bill is an effort to prioritize
serious crimes for investigation by local law enforcement so
they get the attention and investigation they deserve. DRC
notes that this bill narrows the reportable injuries to those
critical incidents suggestive of abuse or criminal conduct.
DRC also points out that current reporting does not include
allegations of sexual assault or assaults with a deadly weapon
or force likely to produce great bodily injury. Thus, this bill
requires a DC to immediately report serious crimes-including a
death, a sexual assault, an assault with a deadly weapon by a
nonresident of the DC, or an assault with force likely to
produce great bodily injury-to the local law enforcement agency,
regardless of whether OPS has investigated the facts and
circumstances relating to the incident. It also requires the DC
to submit a written report of the incident within two working
days of any telephone report to that local law enforcement
agency.
Prior and related legislation : SB 1051 (Liu) of 2012 - if
passed, would establish qualifications for the chief of OPS and
describes reporting requirements for DCs and state mental
hospitals.
AB 430 (Cardenas), Chapter 171, Statutes of 2001) - mandated
that each DC immediately report all resident deaths and serious
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injuries of unknown origin to the appropriate law enforcement
agency, which may, at its discretion, conduct an independent
investigation.
Analysis Prepared by : Chris Reefe / HUM. S. / (916) 319-2089
FN: 0005316