BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 909
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 909 (Gray)
As Amended September 3, 2013
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |77-1 |(May 30, 2013) |SENATE: |39-0 |(September 9, |
| | | | | |2013) |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Requires, on or after January 1, 2015, the Department
of Justice (DOJ) to establish the Metal Theft Task Force Program
(MTTFP).
The Senate amendments replace the Board of State and Community
Corrections (BSCC) with the DOJ as the administering agency for
the MTTFP, and make a technical clarification.
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
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
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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
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.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Required 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)Provided 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.
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3)Stated 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)Required 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;
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)Provided 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;
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e) Local funds available to assist the regional task force;
and,
f) The number of licensed recycling facilities in the
region.
6)Required 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
any other information required to be submitted.
7)Required 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)Required 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
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victims, including damage caused by theft; and,
f) An accounting of funds received and expended, as
specified.
9)Established the 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.
10)Provided 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)Stated 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)Stated 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)Provided 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
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of this title.
14)Provided that this section shall become operative on January
1, 2015.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)Significant one-time and ongoing costs potentially in excess
of $230,000 to $350,000 (Special Fund*) to the DOJ for
personnel and equipment costs to implement and administer the
statewide program. Any costs in excess of those determined
"actual and necessary administrative costs," would be borne by
other fund sources.
2)Additional one-time costs potentially in excess of $500,000 to
$1 million (Special Fund*) for the mandated development of a
statewide database on metal theft and recycling crimes. Costs
would be dependent on the parameters and complexity of the
database. Ongoing costs in the low hundreds of thousands of
dollars for maintenance and quality control.
3)Major funding from the newly established MTTFP Fund in the
millions of dollars, consisting of funds from the federal
government, industry, and private sources, would be required
to support the activities of regional task forces statewide.
4)Potential future cost-savings statewide to the courts, state
prison/county jail systems, and law enforcement, as well as to
businesses in the form of reduced economic loss, to the extent
the operation of the program results in savings realized
through crime prevention, crime suppression, and prosecutions
resulting from the program.
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
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payments were made. Despite the new transaction requirements,
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:
0002355