BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 47
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Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 47 (Gatto) - As Amended: April 18, 2013
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill increases penalties for making prank 911 phone calls
(swatting) that result in the dispatch of emergency service
personnel. Specifically, this bill:
1)Specifies that any person who calls 911 to dispatch law
enforcement, the fire department, or emergency medical service
to a residence or place of business where there is no
emergency, with the intent to annoy or harass, and personnel
are actually dispatched as a result of the call, is guilty of
a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail
and/or a fine of up to $2,000.
2)Specifies if any person sustains bodily injury as a result of
such a prank call, the offense is an alternate
felony/misdemeanor, punishable by a felony term of 16 months,
two, or three years in county jail, or a misdemeanor term of
up to one year on county jail, and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
3)Specifies this section does not apply to emergency calls made
in good faith.
FISCAL EFFECT
Unknown, probably minor nonreimbursable local law enforcement
and incarceration costs, offset to a degree by increased fine
revenue and offender financial liability.
It is not likely many offenders would serve actual jail time
under this bill; fines are a more likely penalty. Moreover,
current law already provides for similar penalties. By creating
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an alternate felony/misdemeanor, however, the bill does create
the possibility of longer jail terms that could impact future
realignment formulae and exacerbate jail overcrowding.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. 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?.
"AB 47 seeks to prevent these types of malicious and dangerous
'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."
2)Current law includes several sections addressing prank
emergency calls. PC Sec 653x makes 911 emergency calls
intended to annoy or harass a misdemeanor, punishable by up to
six months in county jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000. It
also establishes financial liability. PC Sec 148.3 makes it a
misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in county jail
and/or a fine of up to $1,000, to report a false emergency. If
great bodily injury or death results, the offense is
punishable by 16 months, two, or three years in county jail,
and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
3)Support includes the League of California Cities, the
California Ambulance Association, San Bernardino County and
the City of Thousand Oaks.
4)Opposition . The California Attorneys for Criminal Justice and
the California Public Defenders Association contend this bill
is unnecessary, as existing law adequately addresses this type
of behavior.
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Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081