BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 47 (Gatto) - Emergency telephone system: abuse.
Amended: July 9, 2013 Policy Vote: Public Safety 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 12, 2013
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 47 would increase the penalties for calling the
911 telephone system with the intent to annoy or harass, as
defined, that result in the dispatch of emergency service
personnel to a residence or place of business where there is no
emergency, as follows:
Provides that 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 emergency service
personnel are dispatched as a result of the call, is guilty
of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2,000,
imprisonment in county jail for up to one year, or both.
Provides that if any person sustains great bodily injury as
a result of conduct arising out of such a false emergency
telephone call, is guilty of an alternate
felony/misdemeanor, punishable by a felony term of 16
months, two, or three years in county jail (or in state
prison if previously convicted of a serious or violent
felony), or a misdemeanor term of up to one year in county
jail, a fine of up to $10,000, or both imprisonment and the
fine.
Provides that this section does not preclude punishment
under any other law providing for greater punishment,
including involuntary manslaughter.
Provides that upon conviction, a person is also liable for
all reasonable costs, including property damage, incurred by
an unnecessary emergency service personnel response.
Specifies this section does not apply to telephone calls
made in good faith.
Fiscal Impact:
Potential minor increase in state incarceration costs,
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likely less than $50,000 (General Fund) annually, for
increased state prison commitments to the extent felony
convictions under this measure sentenced pursuant to PC §
1170(h) occur for individuals convicted of a prior serious
or violent felony.
Potential non-reimbursable local enforcement and
incarceration costs offset to a degree by fine revenue and
offender reimbursement payments.
While the impact of this bill independently on local jails
is likely to be minor, the cumulative effect of new or
expanded crimes impacting jail overcrowding could create
General Fund cost pressure on capital outlay, staffing,
programming, the courts, and other resources in the context
of criminal justice realignment.
Background: Existing law provides that it is a misdemeanor to
telephone the 911 emergency line with the intent to annoy or
harass another person. This offense is punishable by a fine of
up to $1,000, by imprisonment in county jail for up to six
months, or by both the fine and imprisonment (PC § 653x). Under
this section, the 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. This section does
not apply to calls made in good faith.
Existing law provides that any individual who reports, or causes
any report to be made to any governmental agency that an
"emergency" exists, and who knows the report is false, and who
knows or should know that response to the report is likely to
cause death or great bodily injury, and great bodily injury or
death is sustained by any person as a result of the false report
is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction shall be punished by
imprisonment for 16 months, two, or three years in county jail
(or in state prison if previously convicted of a serious or
violent felony), a fine of up to $10,000, or both imprisonment
and the fine (PC § 148.3(b)) .
Existing law also provides that any person who knowingly allows
the use or who uses the 911 telephone system for any reason
other than because of an emergency is guilty of an infraction,
punishable as follows:
For a first violation, a written warning is issued, as
specified.
For a second or subsequent violation, a citation may be
issued and the following penalties that may be reduced by a
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court upon consideration of the violator's ability to pay:
o For a second violation, a fine of $50.
o For a third violation, a fine of $100.
o For a fourth or subsequent violation, a fine
of $250.
Proposed Law: As described in detail in the Bill Summary, this
bill would increase the penalties for calling the 911 telephone
system with the intent to annoy or harass that result in the
dispatch of emergency service personnel to a residence or place
of business where there is no emergency. This bill defines
"annoy and harass," for purposes of this section, to mean
knowing and willful conduct directed at a specific person, or
his or her family members, that seriously alarms, annoys,
torments, or terrorizes the person, or his or her family
members, and that serves no legitimate purpose.
Related Legislation: SB 333 (Lieu) would provide that any person
convicted of filing a false emergency report, more commonly
referred to as "swatting," that resulted in an emergency
response, would be liable to a public agency for the reasonable
costs of the emergency response by the public agency. This bill
is pending on the Assembly Floor.
Staff Comments: By increasing the penalties for calling the 911
telephone system with the intent to annoy or harass, the
provisions of this bill could result in additional
non-reimbursable local enforcement costs offset to a degree by
increased fine revenue and offender reimbursement for damages
incurred. In addition, as the felony offense is punishable by
imprisonment for 16 months, two or three years in either county
jail (or state prison if the defendant has a prior conviction
for a serious or violent felony), this bill could potentially
result in extended county jail and state prison terms than
otherwise would have occurred under existing law.
The number of felony convictions for this offense against
persons who also have a prior serious or violent felony is
unknown but is estimated to be minor. Based on the CDCR inmate
overcrowding rate for 2013-14 of $10,000 per inmate per year,
annual state prison costs are estimated to be less than $50,000
(General Fund). In addition, to the extent felony charges can
currently be brought under PC § 148.3(b) would largely mitigate
the potential fiscal impact of this provision of the bill.
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The creation of new misdemeanors has historically been analyzed
by this Committee to result in non-reimbursable state mandated
costs for local law enforcement and incarceration. Staff notes,
however, that the creation of new or expanded crimes impacting
local jails taken cumulatively could increase the statewide
adult jail population to a degree that could potentially impact
the flexibility of counties to manage their jail populations
recently exacerbated under 2011 Public Safety Realignment. While
the impact of the provisions of this bill are likely to be
minor, the cumulative effect of all new and expanded crimes
could create unknown General Fund cost pressure on capital
outlay, staffing, programming, the courts, and other resources.
Likewise, while this bill independently is not likely to impact
the prison population significantly, staff notes that considered
collectively with all pending legislative proposals potentially
exacerbating prison overcrowding, the effect of any future
increases to the prison population creates General Fund cost
pressure to the extent that overall prison population growth
potentially requires the utilization of additional contract
beds, out-of-state facilities, or capital outlay in order to
comply with the court-ordered population limit.
Recommended Amendment: Staff recommends a technical amendment to
match the reference to the phrase "annoy or harass" used to
describe the offense in subdivision (a) of PC § 653.01, with the
definition in subdivision (e) of PC § 653.01 on page 3, line 21,
as follows:
(e) For purposes of this section, "annoy and or harass" means
knowing and willful conduct directed at a specific person, or
his or her family members, that seriously alarms, annoys,
torments, or terrorizes the person, or his or her family
members, and that serves no legitimate purpose.