BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 846
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 846 (Galgiani)
As Amended August 14, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE : 34-0
PUBLIC SAFETY 7-0
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Melendez, | | |
| |Jones-Sawyer, Quirk, | | |
| |Skinner, Stone, Waldron | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Clarifies to explicitly state that law enforcement
agencies in California may request information or data
maintained by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the purpose of
linking unsolved missing or unidentified persons cases, for the
purpose of resolving these cases, as specified.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the Attorney General (AG) to maintain the Violent
Crime Information Center (VCIC) to assist in the
identification and the apprehension of persons responsible for
specific violent crimes and for the disappearance and
exploitation of persons, particularly children and dependent
adults. The center is required to, among other things, assist
local law enforcement agencies and county district attorneys
by providing investigative information on persons responsible
for specific violent crimes and missing persons cases. (Penal
Code Section 14200.)
2)Mandates the AG to establish and maintain a computer system
designed to effect an immediate law enforcement response to
reports of missing persons. This system must include an
active file of information concerning persons reported to it
as missing and who have not been reported as found. The
computer system is to be made available to law enforcement
agencies. However, the AG shall not release the information
if the reporting agency requests the AG in writing not to
release the information because it would impair a criminal
investigation. (Penal Code Section 14201.)
SB 846
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3)Establishes, upon appropriation of funds by the Legislature,
the Violent Crime Information Network (VCIN) within the VCIC
to enable the DOJ crime analysts with expertise in child
abuse, missing persons, child abductions, and sexual assaults
to electronically share their data, analysis, and findings on
violent crime cases with each other, and to electronically
provide law enforcement agencies with information to assist in
the identification, tracking, and apprehension of violent
offenders. The VCIN shall serve to integrate existing state,
federal, and civilian data bases into a single comprehensive
network. (Penal Code Section 14201.1.)
4)Requires the VCIC to make accessible to the National Missing
and Unidentified Persons System specific information
authorized for dissemination and as determined appropriate by
the center that is contained in law enforcement reports
regarding missing or unidentified persons. (Penal Code
Section 14201.3.)
5)Requires the AG to establish the Missing and Exploited
Children's Recovery Network, an automated computerized system
that has the capability to electronically transmit to all
state and local law enforcement agencies, and all cooperating
news media services, either by facsimile or computer modem, a
missing child poster that includes the name, personal
description data, and picture of the missing child. (Penal
Code Section 14201.5.)
6)Mandates the AG to establish and maintain an automated violent
crime method of operation system to facilitate the
identification and apprehension of persons responsible for
murder, kidnap, including parental abduction, false
imprisonment, or sexual assault. This unit shall be
responsible for identifying perpetrators of violent felonies
collected from the center and analyzing and comparing data on
missing persons in order to determine possible leads which
could assist local law enforcement agencies. This unit shall
only release information about active investigations by police
and sheriffs' departments to local law enforcement agencies.
(Penal Code Section 14202.)
7)States that when any person makes a report of a missing person
to a police department, sheriff's department, district
attorney's office, California Highway Patrol, or other law
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enforcement agency, the report shall be given in person or by
mail in a format acceptable to the AG. When the person is
found, the sheriff, chief of police, coroner or medical
examiner, or the law enforcement agency locating the missing
person are required to immediately report that information to
the AG's office. (Penal Code Sections 14206 and 14207.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "The need for SB 846 evolved
after the recovery of loved ones who had been missing in my
district since the 1980s. There are 25,000 active missing and
unidentified persons in the Attorney General's repository of
cold cases. I have a law enforcement task force in place and we
have identified a need to give the Attorney General greater
discretion to assist local law enforcement with identifying
similarities between cases. Our goal is to give local law
enforcement additional tools to increase the likelihood of
matching records of missing and unidentified loved ones, and
resolving their cold cases."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0004668