BILL ANALYSIS �
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 458
Author: Wright (D), et al.
Amended: 9/6/13
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/9/13
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Block, De Le�n, Knight, Liu, Steinberg
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/6/13
AYES: De Le�n, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
SENATE FLOOR : 37-0, 5/16/13
AYES: Anderson, Beall, Berryhill, Block, Calderon, Cannella,
Corbett, Correa, De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Emmerson, Evans, Fuller,
Gaines, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill, Hueso, Huff,
Jackson, Knight, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Monning, Nielsen,
Padilla, Pavley, Roth, Steinberg, Walters, Wolk, Wright,
Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Price, Vacancy, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not available
SUBJECT : Gangs: statewide database
SOURCE : Youth Justice Coalition
DIGEST : This bill requires a local law enforcement agency
to provide written notice to a minor and his/ her parent or
guardian prior to designating that minor as a suspected gang
member, associate, or affiliate in a shared gang database, as
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specified.
Assembly Amendments (1) authorize the person or his/her parent
or guardian to submit written documentation contesting a
designation and requires the local law enforcement agency to
provide written verification, as specified, of its decision
within 60 days; (2) require a shared gang database to retain
records consistent with specified federal criminal intelligence
systems; and (3) add a number of technical and clarifying
amendments.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Defines a "criminal street gang" as any ongoing organization,
association, or group of three or more persons having as one
of its primary activities the commission of one or more
enumerated offenses, having a common name or identifying sign
or symbol, and whose members engage in a pattern of gang
activity.
2. Provides that any person who actively participates in a
criminal street gang with knowledge that its members engage
in or have engaged in a pattern of criminal gang activity and
who promotes, furthers, or assists in any felonious conduct
by members of the gang, is guilty of an alternate
felony-misdemeanor.
3 Provides that any person who is convicted of a felony
committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in
association with any criminal street gang, with the specific
intent to promote, further, or assist in criminal conduct by
gang members, shall receive a sentence enhancement.
This bill:
1. Defines, for the purposes of this bill, "shared gang
database" to mean any database that:
A. Allows access for any local law enforcement agency.
B. Contains personal, identifying information in which a
person may be designated as a suspected gang member,
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associate, or affiliate or for which entry of a person in
the database reflects a designation of that person as
suspected gang member, associate or affiliate.
C. Is subject to federal criminal intelligence system
operating policies.
2. Requires a local law enforcement agency, to the extent it
chooses to use a shared gang database, prior to the agency
designating a minor as a gang member, associate, or affiliate
in a shared gang database or submitting a document to the
Attorney General's office for the purpose of designating a
minor in a shared gang database, to provide written notice to
the minor and his/her parent or guardian of the designation
and its basis, except when providing notification would
compromise an active criminal investigation or compromise the
health and safety of the minor.
3. Authorizes a person designated as a suspected gang member,
associate, or affiliate, or his/her parent or guardian,
subsequent to the notice described above, to submit written
documentation to the local law enforcement agency contesting
the designation. Requires the local law enforcement agency
to review the documentation and to remove the person from the
database if the agency determines that the person is not a
suspected gang member, associate, or affiliate and to provide
the person and his/her parent or guardian with written
verification of the agency's decision within 60 days of the
submission of the document contesting the designation.
4. Provides that the person designated as a suspected gang
member, associate, or affiliate, or his/her parent or
guardian, is able to request information as to whether the
person has been designated as a suspected gang member,
associate, or affiliate; and requires the local law
enforcement agency to provide that information unless doing
so would compromise an active criminal investigation or
compromise the health or safety of the minor.
5. Prohibits the local law enforcement agency from disclosing
the location of the person designated as a suspected gang
member, associate, or affiliate to his/her parent or guardian
if the agency determines there is credible evidence that the
information would endanger the health or safety of the minor.
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6. Requires a shared gang database to retain records related to
the gang activity of the individuals in the database
consistent with specified federal criminal intelligence
system operating policies.
7. Provides that nothing in this bill requires a local law
enforcement agency to disclose any protected information, as
specified.
Background
The CalGang database, which is housed by the Department of
Justice (DOJ), is accessed by law enforcement officers in 58
counties, and contains personal, identifying information such as
age, race, photographs, tattoos, criminal associates, addresses,
vehicles, criminal histories, and activities. According to the
Youth Justice Coalition report, Tracked and Trapped: Youth of
Color, Gang Databases and Gang Injunctions (December 2012),
approximately 200,000 persons are listed on the CalGang
database, with approximately 12% of those listed aged 19 years
or younger.
In addition to the CalGang database, the DOJ's Web site
indicates 11 regional databases maintained by local law
enforcement agencies in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside,
Sonoma, San Diego, Kern, Fresno, San Jose, Santa Barbara, and
Orange County.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, potentially
state-reimbursable ongoing local law enforcement costs in excess
of $150,000 (General Fund) per year to notify minors and parents
prior to designation in a shared gang database.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/10/13)
Youth Justice Coalition (source)
Advancement Project
All of Us or None
American Civil Liberties Union
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American Friends Service Committee
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
California Catholic Conference
California Families to Abolish Solitary Confinement
California Public Defenders Association
Californians United for a Responsible Budget
Children's Defense Fund - California
Coalition Against Gun Violence
Congress of Racial Equality of California
Friends Committee on Legislation of California
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
National Juvenile Justice Network
The W. Haywood Burns Institute
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, this
bill is a modest step to require local law enforcement
departments to notify parents/guardians when youth under the age
of 18 are added to a gang database. It also provides for a
process to inquire if a juvenile is on the databases, to ensure
accuracy and to remove a name. It adopts the current DOJH
guidelines to clean out the data base every five years with
appropriate exceptions.
JG:d 9/10/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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