BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 807 (Ammiano) - Criminal justice statistics.
Amended: April 11, 2013 Policy Vote: Public Safety 5-2
Urgency: No Mandate: No (See Staff Comments)
Hearing Date: August 12, 2013
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 807 would require the Department of Justice
(DOJ) to collect and include in its annual report on criminal
statistics additional information relating to complaints
received by law enforcement agencies and criminal convictions of
peace officers, as specified
Fiscal Impact:
One-time staffing and software licensing costs of about
$100,000 (General Fund) to reconfigure the existing DOJ
database to receive, store, and report the additional data
elements. Ongoing costs to the DOJ are estimated to be minor
to the extent local law enforcement agencies submit the data
electronically in categorized format.
Potential state-reimbursable costs likely in the hundreds
of thousands of dollars (General Fund) per year to the
extent law enforcement agencies are required to compile and
report the data elements to the DOJ in order to meet the
requirements of this measure.
Background: Existing law requires the DOJ to collect and to
present an annual report to the Governor of, among other
statistics, the total, gross number of citizens' complaints
received by law enforcement agencies without reference to any
individual agency. In addition, the DOJ annual report must
include statistics regarding the amount and types of offenses
known to public authorities, personal and social characteristics
of criminals and delinquents, and administrative actions taken
by law enforcement, judicial, penal, and correctional agencies
or institutions, including those in the juvenile justice system,
in dealing with criminals and delinquents.
In Copley Press, Inc. v. Superior Court (County of San Diego)
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(2006), 39 Cal.4th 1272, the California Supreme Court concluded
that the Penal Code (PC) exempts peace officer personnel records
from disclosure requirements under the California Public Records
Act (CPRA). The Court considered whether the CPRA requires
disclosure of records of a county civil service commission
relating to a peace officer's disciplinary matter. The Court
majority concluded that the commission's files were confidential
files of the employing agency within the meaning of the PC. The
Court also ruled that the press has no constitutional right of
access to peace officer personnel records because the California
Constitution specifically exempts such records and because there
is no First Amendment right to particular government
information. The dissenting opinion argued that the majority
misconstrues the intent of the PC, thereby overvaluing the peace
officer's interest in privacy over the public's interest in
disclosure.
This bill seeks to obtain a balance between the public's right
to information regarding how their law enforcement agencies are
performing and a peace officer's right to keep personnel records
confidential.
Proposed Law: This bill would require the DOJ to collect and
include in its annual report on criminal justice statistics the
total number of each of the following, reported for each
individual law enforcement agency:
The total number of felony and misdemeanor convictions
incurred by peace officers for conduct occurring either on-
or off-duty.
Citizens' complaints received by law enforcement agencies,
as specified.
Complaints received by law enforcement agencies against the
personnel of a department or agency that employs peace
officers that are made by that personnel's supervisor or by
the personnel of another department or agency that employs
peace officers.
Complaints received by law enforcement agencies against the
personnel of a department or agency that employs peace
officers in which the identity of the complainant is unknown.
Requires the DOJ to categorize each complaint into one of
the categories identified below, and report the number of
complaints received by law enforcement agencies within each
of those categories.
� "Excessive force," which means a complaint
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regarding the use or threatened use of excessive
force against a person.
� "Improper arrest," which means a complaint
that the restraint of a person's liberty was
improper or unjust, or violated the person's civil
liberties.
� "Improper entry," which means a complaint
that the entry into a building or onto property was
improper or that excessive force was used against
property to gain entrance into a building or onto
property.
� "Improper search," which means a complaint
that the search of a person or property was
improper.
� "Other criminal violation," which means a
complaint regarding the commission of an illegal act
not otherwise specified.
� "Differential treatment," which means a
complaint that the taking, failure to take, or
method of police action was predicated upon
irrelevant factors, including, but not limited to,
race, appearance, age, or sex.
� "Demeanor," which means a complaint that
the personnel's bearing, gestures, language, or
other characteristics or actions were inappropriate.
� "Other rule violation," which means a
complaint for conduct that violates agency rules,
but that is not encompassed in a category specified
in clauses (i) to (vii), inclusive.
o Requires the reported statistics to indicate,
within each category of complaint, the number of
complaints within each of the following disposition
categories:
� "Sustained," which means that the
investigation disclosed sufficient evidence to prove
the truth of the allegation in the complaint by a
preponderance of the evidence.
� "Exonerated," which means that the
investigation clearly established that the actions
of the personnel that formed the basis of the
complaint are not a violation of law or agency
policy.
� "Not sustained," which means that the
investigation failed to disclose sufficient evidence
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to clearly prove or disprove the allegation in the
complaint.
� "Unfounded," which means that the
investigation clearly established that the
allegation is not true.
Related Legislation: SB 1261 (McClintock) Chapter 306/2006
required the DOJ to maintain statistics, updated annually,
relating to crimes reported, number of clearances, and clearance
rates reported by local law enforcement agencies. This bill
additionally required that the report be accessible by a link on
the DOJ's website, as specified.
Staff Comments: The DOJ has indicated one-time staffing and
software licensing costs of approximately $100,000 (General
Fund) to reconfigure the existing database to receive, store,
and report the additional data elements required in this bill.
Ongoing costs to the DOJ are estimated to be minor to the extent
local law enforcement agencies submit the data electronically in
categorized format. Should the DOJ be required to categorize
complaints and/or manually compile the data submitted by law
enforcement agencies, however, the additional workload could
result in staffing costs in excess of $50,000 (General Fund) per
year.
Local law enforcement agencies, which include sheriff
departments, police departments, district attorneys, probation
departments, and other local agencies with peace officer
authority, will be required to submit the data to the DOJ in
order to meet the requirements of this bill. While this bill is
not keyed a state mandate, to the extent local law enforcement
agencies submit mandate claims and the Commission determines the
provisions of this measure constitute a higher level of service,
the law enforcement agency costs for data collection,
compilation, and submittal would be reimbursable by the state.
With 58 sheriff departments, 58 probation departments, and over
330 police departments statewide, even a minimal claim of $1,000
would equate to over $400,000 (General Fund).
Recommended Amendments: Staff recommends the following technical
amendment to Section 3 of the bill:
Section 13012.5 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
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13012.5.(a) The annual report published by the department under
Section 13010 shall, in regard to the contents required by
subdivision (d) paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section
13012, include the following statewide information: