BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 47
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Date of Hearing: April 16, 2013
Counsel: Sandy Uribe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
AB 47 (Gatto) - As Amended: March 13, 2013
As Proposed to be Amended in Committee
SUMMARY : Increases the fines and penalties for making a prank
911 phone call resulting in the dispatch of service personnel.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that any person who calls the 911 telephone system to
dispatch a police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency
medical service response to a residence or place of business
where there is no emergency, with the intent to annoy or
harass another person, and if police, sheriff, fire
department, or emergency medical service personnel dispatched
as a result of the telephone call, is guilty of a misdemeanor
punishable by a fine of not more than $2,000, by imprisonment
in a county jail for not more than one year, or by both that
fine and imprisonment.
2)Any person who calls the 911 telephone system to dispatch a
police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical service
personnel response to a residence or place of business where
there is no emergency, with the intent to annoy or harass
another person, and if police, sheriff, fire department, or
emergency medical service personnel are dispatched and any
person sustains bodily injury as a result of conduct arising
out of and in the course of the police, sheriff, fire
department, or emergency medical service personnel being
dispatched to the residence or place of business, is guilty of
an offense punishable by a fine of not more than $10,000, by
imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or
pursuant to Penal Code Section 1170(h) for 16 months, or two
or three years, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
3)Specifies that nothing in this section precludes punishment
under any other provision of law which provides for greater
punishment, including involuntary manslaughter.
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4)Defines "emergency" as "any condition in which emergency
services will result in the saving of a life, a reduction in
the destruction of property, quicker apprehension of
criminals, or assistance with potentially life-threatening
medical problems, a fire, a need for rescue, an imminent
potential crime, or a similar situation."
5)Requires a convicted defendant to be liable for all reasonable
costs, including property damage, incurred by an unnecessary
police, sheriff, fire department, or emergency medical service
response.
6)Provides that this section does not apply to telephone calls
made in good faith.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that it is a misdemeanor to telephone the 911
emergency line with the intent to annoy or harass another
person, punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000; by
imprisonment in a county jail for not more than six months; or
by both the fine and imprisonment. Specifies that intent to
annoy or harass is established by proof of repeated calls over
a period of time, however short, that are unreasonable under
the circumstances. (Penal Code Section 653x.)
2)States any person who knowingly allows the use or who uses the
911 telephone system for any reason other than because of an
emergency, as specified, is guilty of an infraction. For a
first violation, the violator obtains a warning. Subsequent
violations are punishable as follows, but subject to reduction
for inability to pay:
a) For a second violation, a fine of $50.
b) For a third violation, a fine of $100.
c) For a fourth or subsequent violation, a fine of $250.
[Penal Code Section 653y(a).]
3)States the parent or legal guardian having custody and control
of an un-emancipated minor who violates this section shall be
jointly and severally liable with the minor for the fine
imposed pursuant to this section. [Penal Code Section
653y(b).]
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4)Provides that it is a misdemeanor to knowingly report a false
emergency, but that this conduct is a felony if the offense
results in great bodily injury or death. (Penal Code Section
148.3.)
5)Provides that it is a misdemeanor to knowingly and maliciously
interrupt or otherwise interfere with the transmission of
emergency-related communication over an amateur or a citizen's
band radio frequency. Provides that it is a felony if this
offense results in serious bodily injury or property loss in
excess of $10,000. (Penal Code Section 653t.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "There has been
an alarming rise in the crime known as 'swatting' - a
malicious prank that tricks emergency service providers into
dispatching law enforcement emergency response teams to
locations where no crime is occurring. The name is derived
from several successful pranks in which SWAT (Special Weapons
and Tactics) teams were dispatched as a result of calls
claiming there was a hostage situation, or worse, at a
specified location. These pranks are a serious drain of
public safety resources away from real emergencies, and
dispatching armed law enforcement officers to fake emergencies
places the public and law enforcement at significant risk.
"Victims of these dangerous pranks include celebrities such as
Ashton Kutcher and Justin Bieber and ordinary households like
the Bates family of Lake Forest, Calif. Noted political
bloggers Patrick Frey and Erick Erickson have also been
victims of 'swatting,' creating a dangerous precedent for
targeting individuals merely for expressing their political
beliefs.
"Recently, the Los Angeles Times has reported how several law
enforcement officers have already been injured responding to
such calls, and officials including Los Angeles Police Chief
Charlie Beck fear that it's only a matter of time before
events turn deadly.
"AB 47 seeks to prevent these types of malicious and dangerous
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'swatting' calls by increasing the fines and penalties for
anyone who makes a call to 9-1-1 resulting in the deployment
of emergency response personnel when no emergency exists.
"Legislation in the state of Michigan signed by Governor Rick
Snyder in 2012 outlined new, enhanced penalties for
'swatting.' The Michigan law calls for up to 10 years of jail
time for making a false report and up to 15 years if a person
is killed, sentences much longer than what AB 47 proposes."
2)Celebrity "Swatting" : According to a recent CNN report,
"swatting" is essentially a prank call which "earned the
nickname 'swatting' because law enforcement agencies sometimes
would send SWAT teams to respond to the false emergencies."
These "pranks have sent police rushing with guns drawn to a
growing A-list [sic] of celebrity homes in recent weeks."
(.)
3)Current Law : There are currently several statutory provisions
which could include the prosecution of prank calls. Penal
Code Section 653x makes it a misdemeanor to call the 911
system with the intent to annoy or harass another person.
Additionally, Penal Code Section 653y targets non-emergency
inquiry calls, but could include prank calls. Finally, Penal
Code Section 148.3 makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly report
a false emergency; except when the report of the false
emergency results in great bodily injury or death, in which
case the offense is treated as a felony.
This bill adds an additional element to prove in the prosecution
of "swatting" calls, namely that police, sheriff, fire
department, or emergency medical service personnel must have
been dispatched as a result of the telephone call. When this
element is proved, the higher penalties specified in this bill
will apply.
4)Existing Penalty Assessments : There are penalty assessments
and fees assessed on the base fine for a crime. Assuming a
defendant was fined $10,000 as the maximum fine provided by
this bill, the following penalty assessments would be imposed
pursuant to the Penal Code and the California Government Code:
Base Fine: $10,000
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Penal Code 1464 assessment: $10,000($10 for
every $10)
Penal Code 1465.7 assessment: 2,000(20%
surcharge)
Penal Code 1465.8 assessment: 40($40
fee per criminal offense)
Government Code 70372 assessment: 5,000($5 for
every $10)
Government Code 70373 assessment: 30($30
for felony or misdo.)
Government Code 76000 assessment: 7,000($7 for
every $10)
Government Code 76000.5 assessment: 2,000($2 for
every $10)
Government Code 76104.6 assessment: 1,000($1 for
every $10)
Government Code 76104.7 assessment 4,000($4 for
every $10)
Total Fine with Assessments: $41,070
5)911 Generally : The 911 telephone system was established as
the primary emergency telephone number in California by
Chapter 1005, Statutes of 1972, and is paid for by a statewide
surcharge on each telephone bill. Telephone calls to 911 made
from landline telephones are routed to local city or county
communication centers. All 911 calls made from cellular
phones are routed to a California Highway Patrol communication
center.
6)Argument in Support : The City of Thousand Oaks writes, "As
one of the 'safest cities' in the nation, we recently
experienced an incident involving a prank call. The local 911
dispatch received a call to respond to a hoax hostage
situation at a local hotel on January 2, 2013. The caller
alleged having guns and explosives and made threats of injury.
The erroneous call had tremendous impact, including:
a) "The cost and time by for multi-agency response incurred
by a number of public safety agencies:
i) "Thousand Oaks Police Department
(1) "Patrol
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(2) "SWAT
(3) "Bomb Squad
(4) "K-9 unit
ii) "Ventura County Fire District
(1) "Fire Crew
(2) "Hazmat Team
(3) "EMS
iii) "Neighboring Police Agencies
(1) "Los Angeles County Sheriff
(2) "California State University bomb squad
iv) "Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
(1) "Ventura County agents
(2) "Los Angeles County agents
(3) "Explosives team
b) "The reduction of public safety resources and response
time for a real emergency situation.
c) "The on-going cost and time by public safety agencies
(county, regional, state, out-of-state, and federal
agencies) to investigate and process reports after the
incident.
d) "Loss of revenue by the affected business owner and
surrounding businesses during the time of the bogus
incident due to evacuation and street closures.
"The City hopes that an increase in penalties would strongly
dissuade future abuse from occurring."
7)Argument in Opposition : According to the California Attorneys
for Criminal Justices , "This legislation is unnecessary, as
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existing law more than adequately addresses this type of
behavior, and provides a more effective method of obtaining
restitution for the actual cost of unnecessary emergency
response. This legislation appears to be a reaction to the so
called 'SWATing' incidents (where pranksters call 911 making
false allegations to have law enforcement dispatched to
celebrity's mansions) that have recently made headlines. As
such, it would appear to only have an impact on privileged
population.
"Existing law, as codified in Penal Code Sections 653x and 653y,
provides appropriate misdemeanor penalties for anyone who
telephones 911 with the intent to annoy or harass another
person. These sections provide penalties for this type of
conduct whether there is an actual emergency response or not.
More importantly, Section 653x(c) renders an offender liable
for all reasonable costs incurred by any unnecessary emergency
response. All that proposed section 653.01 adds to existing
law is a slight increase in the maximum possible misdemeanor
penalty 'if police are dispatched as a result of the telephone
call,' and a potential $10,000.00 fine. This is unnecessary
as Section 653x already penalizes the offender whether police
are dispatched or not. The only purpose of the fine would
appear to be an attempt at deterrence. However, that effort
will most certainly be nugatory. Section 653x provides for
full restitution if there is an actual emergency response,
which is not mentioned in proposed Section 653.01."
8)Related Legislation : SB 333 (Lieu) makes a person convicted
of filing a false emergency report liable for the cost of the
response. SB 333 is pending hearing by the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
9)Prior Legislation :
a) AB 2741 (Cannella), Chapter 262, Statutes of 1994, made
it a misdemeanor to telephone the 911 emergency system with
the intent to annoy or harass another person.
b) AB 911 (Longville), Chapter 295, Statutes of 2004,
created a new infraction for using the 911 telephone system
for purposes other than an emergency, as defined.
c) AB 1976 (Benoit), Chapter 89, Statutes of 2008,
increased the penalties for knowingly using the 911 system
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for any reason other than an emergency.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Ambulance Association
California Statewide Law Enforcement Association
City of Thousand Oaks
League of California Cities
San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office
Opposition
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Public Defenders Association
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
Analysis Prepared by : Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744