BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 909
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 909 (Gray)
As Amended May 24, 2013
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 6-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Ammiano, Melendez, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Jones-Sawyer, Mitchell, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Quirk, Skinner | |Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| | | |Hall, Ammiano, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, Wagner, Weber |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Requires, on or after January 1, 2015, the Board of
State and Community Corrections (BSCC) to establish the Metal
Theft Task Force Program (MTTFP). Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the BSCC to establish the MTTFP. Administration of
the overall program and the evaluation and monitoring of all
grants disbursed shall be performed by the BSCC.
2)Provides that money appropriated to the BSCC for the program,
after deduction for actual and necessary administrative costs,
shall be expended to fund programs that enhance to enhance the
capacity of local law enforcement and prosecutors to deter,
investigate, and prosecute metal theft and related metal theft
crimes.
3)States that up to 10% of the funds may, upon appropriation, be
used for developing and maintaining a statewide database on
metal theft and related recycling crimes for use in developing
and distributing intelligence information to participating law
enforcement agencies.
4)Requires the BSCC to develop specific guidelines and
administrative procedures for the selection of regional task
forces to receive funds as follows:
a) Each regional task force that seeks funds shall submit a
written application to the BSCC setting forth in detail the
proposed use of funds;
AB 909
Page 2
b) Each regional task force shall be identified by a name
that is appropriate to the area it serves. In order to
qualify for funds a regional task force shall be comprised
of local law enforcement and prosecutors from at least two
counties;
c) Each task force may consult with experts from the United
States military, the California Military Department, the
Department of Justice, other law enforcement entities, and
various other state and private organizations, including
pertinent trade associations , as deemed necessary to
maximize the effectiveness of the program; and,
d) Priority shall be given to regional task forces outside
of the 13 counties under the existing Central Valley Rural
Crime Prevention Program (CVRCPP).
5)Provides that the program guidelines shall include all of the
following selection criteria that shall be considered by the
BSCC in awarding grant funds:
a) The number of metal theft or related recycling crime
cases filed in the prior year;
b) The number of metal theft or related recycling crime
cases investigated in the prior year;
c) The number of victims involved in the cases filed;
d) The total aggregate monetary loss suffered by the
victims, including damage caused by theft;
e) Local funds available to assist the regional task force;
and,
f) The number of licensed recycling facilities in the
region.
6)Requires that each regional task force that has been awarded
funds authorized under the program during the previous
grant-funding cycle, upon reapplication for funds to the BSCC
in each successive year, shall submit a detailed accounting of
funds received and expended in the prior year in addition to
AB 909
Page 3
any other information required to be submitted.
7)Requires that the accounting of funds received and expended in
the previous year contain all of the following information:
a) The amount of funds received and expended;
b) The use to which those funds were put, including payment
of salaries and expenses, purchases of equipment and
supplies, and other expenditures by type; and,
c) The number of filed complaints, investigations, arrests,
and convictions that resulted from expenditure of the
funds.
8)Requires the BSCC to regularly review the effectiveness of the
program in deterring, investigating, and prosecuting metal
theft and related recycling crimes, and shall present a report
to the Legislature and the Governor based on information
provided by the regional task forces in an annual report to
the BSCC which shall contain all of the following:
a) The number of metal theft or related recycling crime
cases filed in the prior year;
b) The number of metal theft or related recycling crime
cases investigated in the prior year;
c) The number of victims involved in the cases filed;
d) The number of convictions obtained in the prior year;
e) The total aggregate monetary loss suffered by the
victims, including damage caused by theft; and,
f) An accounting of funds received and expended, as
specified.
9)Establishes the Metal Theft Task Force Fund (MTTFF) within the
State Treasury. Transfers to the MTTFF shall be deposited in
the Treasury, or in a state depository bank approved by the
Treasurer. These funds upon appropriation by the Legislature
will be available for the purposes of the program.
AB 909
Page 4
10)Provides that the fund shall consist of moneys deposited into
the fund from the federal government, industry, and private
sources. General Fund moneys shall not be deposited into the
fund nor used to implement the program.
11)States that funds provided under this program are intended to
ensure that law enforcement is equipped with the necessary
personnel and tools to successfully combat metal theft and
related recycling crimes, which include, but are not limited
to all of the following offenses:
a) The theft of metals, including, but not limited to,
nonferrous metals;
b) The purchase and recycling of stolen metals, including,
but not limited to recycled beverage containers, by
recyclers;
c) The transportation of stolen metals from this state to
another state; and,
d) The transportation of stolen metals from another state
to this state.
12)States that the MTTFP shall not be implemented until the
Department of Finance determines that sufficient funds have
been deposited in the MTTFF to implement the program and the
funds have been made available upon appropriation by the
Legislature.
13)Provides that the BSCC shall be required to implement this
program only upon the availability of funds appropriated for
this purpose, in an amount sufficient to cover all costs
relating to the implementation and continuing administration
of this title.
14)Provides that this section shall become operative on January
1, 2015.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes, as of July 1, 2012, the BSCC. The BSCC shall be
an entity independent of the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). The Governor may
AB 909
Page 5
appoint an executive officer of the BSCC, subject to Senate
confirmation, who shall hold the office at the pleasure of the
Governor. The executive officer shall be the administrative
head of BSCC and shall exercise all duties and functions
necessary to ensure that the responsibilities of the BSCC are
successfully discharged
2)Provides that the mission of BSCC shall include providing
statewide leadership, coordination, and technical assistance
to promote effective state and local efforts and partnerships
in California's adult and juvenile criminal justice system,
including addressing gang problems. This mission shall
reflect the principle of aligning fiscal policy and
correctional practices, including, but not limited to
prevention, intervention, suppression, supervision, and
incapacitation, to promote a justice investment strategy that
fits each county and is consistent with the integrated
statewide goal of improved public safety through
cost-effective, promising, and evidence-based strategies for
managing criminal justice populations.
3)Requires the BSCC to act as the supervisory board of the state
planning agency pursuant to federal acts. It shall annually
review and approve, or review, revise, and approve, the
comprehensive state plan for the improvement of criminal
justice and delinquency and gang prevention activities
throughout the state, shall establish priorities for the use
of funds as are available pursuant to federal acts, and shall
approve the expenditure of all funds pursuant to such plans or
federal acts, provided that the approval of those expenditures
may be granted to single projects or to groups of projects.
4)Provides that the Counties of Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera,
Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare may develop within
its respective jurisdiction a Central Valley Rural Crime
Prevention Program (CVRCPP), which shall be administered by
the county district attorney's office of each respective
county under a joint powers agreement with the corresponding
county sheriff's office.
5)Provides that the parties to each agreement shall form a
regional task force known as the "Central Valley Rural Crime
Task Force," which includes the county agricultural
commissioner, the county district attorney, the county
AB 909
Page 6
sheriff, and interested property owners or associations.
6)Requires the Central Valley Rural Crime Task Force to develop
rural crime prevention programs which contain a system for
reporting rural crimes that enable the swift recovery of
stolen goods and the apprehension of criminal suspects.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)To the extent "federal government, industry, and citizen
sources" fund the MTTFP Fund, there would be commensurate
program development, administrative and evaluation
expenditures, likely in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,
with grants to actually fund the local proposals presumably
well in excess of development, administrative and evaluation
costs.
2)The state currently provides more than $500 million in direct
subsidies to local law enforcement, including the Central
Valley and Central Coast Rural Crime Prevention Programs, at
almost $4 million per year. These two programs are charged
with developing "rural crime prevention programs which contain
a system for reporting rural crimes that enable the swift
recovery of stolen goods and the apprehension of criminal
suspects." This bill specifies that the counties not funded
by the existing rural crime prevention programs receive MTTFP
funding priority. The 13 counties currently-funded are:
Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Monterey, San Joaquin,
San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, San Benito,
Stanislaus and Tulare.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Scrap metal theft is a
highly profitable crime which is victimizing farmers and
ranchers at a time when the Great Recession is already plunging
many into bankruptcy. A single theft can be devastating, often
resulting in thousands of dollars in repairs.
"In 2008, Farm Bureau and the California State Sheriffs'
Association co-sponsored legislation to address the high rates
of metal theft in California. This legislation, AB 844
(Berryhill, Ch.731, Stat. 2008), made junk dealers and recyclers
accountable for who they bought from by changed how scrap metal
payments were made. Despite the new transaction requirements,
AB 909
Page 7
metal theft rates have continued to rise.
"AB 909 furthers efforts to protect our communities by ensuring
law enforcement and district attorneys have the resources they
need to combat metal theft. The bill creates a Metal Theft Task
Force which is modeled after highly successful programs in the
Central Valley and Central Coast. This voluntary program would
provide grants to regional task forces to ensure their ability
to pursue metal thieves and recover stolen property."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0000904