AB 47, as amended, Gatto. Emergency telephone system: abuse.
Under existing law, any person who knowingly allows the use of, or who uses, the 911 telephone system for any reason other than because of an emergency is guilty of an infraction. Any person who uses the 911 telephone system with the intent to annoy or harass another person is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not exceeding $1,000, by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than 6 months, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
This bill wouldbegin delete provide thatend deletebegin insert makeend insert any person who calls the 911 telephone system to dispatch a police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical servicebegin insert
personnelend insert response to a residence or place of business where there is no emergency, with the intent to annoy or harass another person, and police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical service personnel are dispatched as a result of the call,begin delete isend delete guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceedingbegin delete $10,000end deletebegin insert $2,000end insert, by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment. Under the bill, the person responsible for that call is guilty ofbegin delete a felonyend deletebegin insert an offenseend insert
punishable by a fine not exceeding $10,000, by imprisonment in a county jailbegin delete for not more than 2 yearsend deletebegin insert not exceeding one year, or for 16 months, or 2 or 3 yearsend insert, or by both that fine and imprisonment, if any person sustained bodily injury as a result of conduct arising out of and in the course of the police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical service dispatch.begin delete Under the bill, the person responsible for that call is guilty of involuntary manslaughter, punishable as specified, if any person sustained death as a result of conduct arising out of and in the course of the police,
sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical service personnel dispatch.end delete This bill would require, upon conviction, that the person shall also be liable for all reasonable costs incurred by any unnecessary emergency response. This bill would exempt from its provisions telephone calls made in good faith. By increasing the penalty for an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 653.01 is added to the Penal Code, to
2read:
(a) Any person who calls the 911 telephone system
4to dispatch a police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical
5servicebegin insert personnelend insert response to a residence or place of business
6where there is no emergency, with the intent to annoy or harass
7another person and if police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency
8medical service personnelbegin insert areend insert dispatched as a result of the
9telephone call, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of
10not more thanbegin delete tenend deletebegin insert
two end insert thousand dollarsbegin delete ($10,000)end deletebegin insert
($2,000)end insert, by
11imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by
12both that fine and imprisonment.
13(b) Any person who calls the 911 telephone system to dispatch
14a police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical service
15personnel response to a residence or place of business where there
16is no emergency, with the intent to annoy or harass another person
17and if police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical service
P3 1personnel are dispatched and any person sustains bodily injury as
2a result of conduct arising out of and in the course of the police,
3sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical service personnel
4being dispatched to the residence or place of business, is guilty of
5begin delete a felonyend deletebegin insert
an offenseend insert punishable by a fine of not more than ten
6thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment in a county jailbegin delete for begin insert not exceeding one year, or, pursuant to
7not more than two yearsend delete
8subdivision (h) of Section 1170, for 16 months, or two or three
9yearsend insert, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
10(c) Any person who calls the 911 telephone system to dispatch
11a police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical service
12response to a residence or place of business where there is no
13emergency, with the intent to annoy or harass another person and
14if police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical service
15personnel are dispatched and any person sustained death
as a result
16of conduct arising out of and in the course of the police, sheriff,
17fire department, or emergency medical service being dispatched
18to the residence or place of business, is guilty of involuntary
19manslaughter punishable under subdivision (b) of Section 193.
20(c) This section does not preclude punishment under any other
21law providing for greater punishment, including, but not limited
22to, involuntary manslaughter as defined in subdivision (b) of
23Section 192.
24(d) For purposes of this section, “emergency” means any
25condition in which emergency services will result in the saving of
26a life, a reduction in the destruction of property, quicker
27apprehension of
criminals, or assistance with potentially
28life-threatening medical problems, a fire, a need for rescue, an
29imminent potential crime, or a similar situation in which immediate
30assistance is required.
31(e) Upon conviction of this section, a person shall also be liable
32for all reasonable costs, including property damage, incurred by
33an unnecessary police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency
34medical servicebegin insert personnelend insert response.
35(f) This section shall not apply to telephone calls made in good
36faith.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
38Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
39the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
40district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
P4 1infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
2for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
3the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
4the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
5Constitution.
O
97