BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 8 Hearing Date: July 14, 2015
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|Author: |Gatto |
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|Version: |July 6, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|JM |
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Subject: Emergency Services: Hit-and-Run Incidents
HISTORY
Source: Author
Prior Legislation:SB 1047 (Alquist) - Ch. 651, Stats. 2012
SB 839 (Runner) - Ch. 311, Stats. 2010
SB 38 (Alquist) - died in Assembly
Appropriations, 2009
SB 415 (Runner) -Ch. 517, Stats. 2002
SB 6 (Rainey) - Ch. 507, Stats. 1999
Support: Transportation Authority of Marin; California Police
Chiefs Association; San Francisco Bicycle Coalition;
Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs; California
State Firefighter's Association; Los Angeles County Bicycle
Coalition; California Walks; Emergency Nurses
Association; Matco, Inc. Construction & Restoration;
Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates; AFSCME, AFL-CIO; San Luis
Obispo County Bicycle Coalition; California Council of the
Blind; American Motorcyclist Association; California Bicycle
Coalition; ABATE of California; San Diego County Bicycle
Coalition; People Power of Santa Cruz County; Safe Routes to
School National Partnership; Inland Empire Biking Alliance; Los
Angeles Walks; Shasta Living Streets; Nick's Computer Works;
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Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition; Walk & Bike Mendocino;
AOCDS; Puma Construction & Restoration; several individuals
Opposition:California Highway Patrol
Assembly Floor Vote: 79 - 0
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to create a "Yellow Alert" system to
notify the public when a hit and run incident has occurred to
aid in the apprehension of the suspect, as specified.
Existing law provides that if a law enforcement agency
determines that a child, 17 years of age or younger, or an
individual with a proven mental or physical disability has been
abducted and is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or
death and there is information available that, if disseminated
to the general public, could assist in the safe recovery of the
victim, the agency shall request the activation of the Emergency
Alert System (EAS) within the appropriate local area, commonly
known as the "Amber Alert." (Government Code § 8594(a).)
Existing law provides that the California Highway Patrol (CHP)
in consultation with the Department of Justice (DOJ) as well as
a representative from the California State Sheriffs'
Association, the California Police Chiefs Association and the
California Peace Officers Association shall develop policies and
procedures providing instruction specifying how law enforcement
agencies, broadcasters participating in the EAS, and where
appropriate, other supplemental warning systems, shall proceed
after a qualifying abduction has been reported to a law
enforcement agency. (Government Code § 8594(b).)
Existing law defines "Blue Alert" to mean a quick response
system designed to issue and coordinate alerts following an
attack upon a law enforcement officer. (Government Code §
8594.5(a).)
Existing law provides that upon the request of an authorized
person at a law enforcement agency that is investigating an
offense where a law enforcement officers has been killed,
suffers serious bodily injury, or is assaulted with a deadly
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weapon; the suspect has fled the scene of the offense and is
determined an imminent threat to the public or others; a
detailed description of the suspect's vehicle or license plate
is available; and public dissemination of available information
may help avert further harm or accelerate apprehension of the
suspect, then CHP shall activate the EAS and issue a Blue Alert,
as specified. (Government Code § 8594.5(b).)
Existing law provides that the Blue Alert incorporate a variety
of notification resources and developing technologies that may
be tailored to the circumstances and geography of the underlying
attacking. The Blue Alert system must utilize the
state-controlled Emergency Digital Information System, local
digital signs, focused text, or other technologies, as
appropriate. (Government Code § 8594.5(c).)
Existing law defines "Silver Alert" to mean a notification
system designed to issue and coordinate alerts with respect to a
person reported missing who is 65 years of age or older.
(Government Code § 8594.10(a).)
Existing law provides that when a person 65 years of age or
older is reported missing under unexplained or suspicious
circumstances and the investigating law enforcement agency
determines that person is in potential danger, as specified, the
law enforcement agency must request that CHP activate a Silver
Alert if disseminating information to the public could assist in
the safe recovery of the missing person. (Government Code §
8594.10(c).)
This bill would define "serious bodily injury" to mean, "an
injury that involves, either at the time of the actual injury or
at a later time, a substantial risk of serious and permanent
disfigurement, a substantial risk of protracted loss or
impairment of the function of any part of the body, or a break,
fracture, or burn of the second or third degree."
This bill would define "Yellow Alert" to mean "a notification
system?designed to issue and coordinate alerts with respect to a
hit-and-run incident resulting in the death or injury of a
person?"
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This bill would authorize a law enforcement agency to request
that CHP activate a Yellow Alert if the law enforcement agency
determines that the following conditions are met:
A person has been killed or has suffered serious bodily
injury due to a hit-and-run incident;
There is an indication that a suspect has fled the scene
utilizing the state highway system or is likely to be
observed by the public on the state highway system; or
The investigating law enforcement agency has additional
information concerning the suspect or the suspect's
vehicle, including, but not limited to any of the
following:
The complete license plate number of the suspect's
vehicle;
A partial license plate number and additional unique
identifying characteristics such as the make, model, and
color of the suspect's vehicle, which could reasonably lead
to the apprehension of the suspect; or,
The identity of the suspect.
This bill would authorize CHP to activate a Yellow Alert within
the geographic area requested by the investigating law
enforcement agency if the law enforcement agency and CHP concur
that the aforementioned conditions are met. Upon activating a
Yellow Alert, CHP shall assist the investigating law enforcement
agency by issuing the Yellow Alert via a changeable message
sign.
This bill would encourage radio, television, and cable and
satellite systems to cooperate with disseminating the
information contained in a Yellow Alert.
This bill would authorize CHP to prioritize the activation of
alerts, if there are multiple alerts requested, based on any
factor including, but not limited to, the severity of the
injury, the time elapsed between a hit-and-run incident and the
request, or the likelihood that an activation would reasonably
lead to the apprehension of a suspect.
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This bill states, "public dissemination of available information
could either help avert further harm or accelerate apprehension
of the suspect based on any factor including, but not limited
to, the severity of the injury, the time elapsed between a
hit-and-run incident and the request, or the likelihood, that an
activation would reasonably lead to the apprehension of the
suspect based on any factor including, but not limited to, the
severity of the injury, the time elapsed between a hit-an-run
incident and the request, or the likelihood that an activation
would reasonably lead to the apprehension of a suspect."
This bill states that "this section shall remain in effect only
until January 1, 2019, and as of that date is repealed, unless a
later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2019
deletes or extends that date."
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
For the past eight years, this Committee has scrutinized
legislation referred to its jurisdiction for any potential
impact on prison overcrowding. Mindful of the United States
Supreme Court ruling and federal court orders relating to the
state's ability to provide a constitutional level of health care
to its inmate population and the related issue of prison
overcrowding, this Committee has applied its "ROCA" policy as a
content-neutral, provisional measure necessary to ensure that
the Legislature does not erode progress in reducing prison
overcrowding.
On February 10, 2014, the federal court ordered California to
reduce its in-state adult institution population to 137.5% of
design capacity by February 28, 2016, as follows:
143% of design bed capacity by June 30, 2014;
141.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2015;
and,
137.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2016.
In February of this year the administration reported that as "of
February 11, 2015, 112,993 inmates were housed in the State's 34
adult institutions, which amounts to 136.6% of design bed
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capacity, and 8,828 inmates were housed in out-of-state
facilities. This current population is now below the
court-ordered reduction to 137.5% of design bed capacity."(
Defendants' February 2015 Status Report In Response To February
10, 2014 Order, 2:90-cv-00520 KJM DAD PC, 3-Judge Court, Coleman
v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (fn. omitted).
While significant gains have been made in reducing the prison
population, the state now must stabilize these advances and
demonstrate to the federal court that California has in place
the "durable solution" to prison overcrowding "consistently
demanded" by the court. (Opinion Re: Order Granting in Part and
Denying in Part Defendants' Request For Extension of December
31, 2013 Deadline, NO. 2:90-cv-0520 LKK DAD (PC), 3-Judge Court,
Coleman v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (2-10-14). The Committee's
consideration of bills that may impact the prison population
therefore will be informed by the following questions:
Whether a proposal erodes a measure which has
contributed to reducing the prison population;
Whether a proposal addresses a major area of public
safety or criminal activity for which there is no other
reasonable, appropriate remedy;
Whether a proposal addresses a crime which is directly
dangerous to the physical safety of others for which
there is no other reasonably appropriate sanction;
Whether a proposal corrects a constitutional problem or
legislative drafting error; and
Whether a proposal proposes penalties which are
proportionate, and cannot be achieved through any other
reasonably appropriate remedy.
COMMENTS
1.Need for This Legislation
According to the author:
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Hit-and-run accidents are epidemic throughout California, with
law enforcement as well as biking and walking advocates looking
for ways to hold the cowards who commit these crimes accountable
for their actions. These accidents are especially difficult to
solve because they leave little or no evidence and drivers
involved in the accidents often cover their tracks by repairing
their vehicles. In the Los Angeles area, only 20% of the
hit-and-runs recorded by the LAPD are solved. This bill would
give law enforcement officials another tool that would provide
them with more information they need to solve hit-and-runs. The
measure would create a "Yellow Alert" that would allow local law
enforcement to ask the California Highway Patrol to access the
existing network of the state's changeable message signs, on a
regional level, when there is a hit-and-run accident?
This measure is based on legislation that was recently enacted
in the state of Colorado, where a rise in hit-and-runs, as well
as the tragic hit-and-run death of Denver valet Jose Medina just
days before his wedding, prompted the creation of the Medina
Alert for hit-and-run accidents. In the period of time these
alerts were used in the city of Denver, before statewide
enactment, 13 of 17 hit-and-runs that triggered these alerts
were solved-a nearly 76% success rate.
2. Background: Hit and Run Incidents are on the Rise
According to the author, hit-and-run accidents have drastically
increased over the past several years with a significant number
of these accidents involving pedestrians and bicyclists.
A number of agencies and organizations collect data on hit and
run accidents. For example, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) statistics indicate that, at the national
level, hit and run accidents have increased over the years from
1,274 in 2009 to 1,449 in 2011 (the last year recorded). The
AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety also found that one in five of
all pedestrian fatalities are hit and runs and that 60 percent
of hit and run fatalities have pedestrians as victims.
According to a 2013 article in USA Today, an estimated 20,000
hit and run incidents occur in the city of Los Angeles each year
with 4,000 resulting in injuries or death.
3. Effect of This Legislation
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AB 8 would establish a "Yellow Alert" system of public
notification relating to hit-and-run incidences modeled after
the Silver Alert and a similar piece of legislation passed in
Colorado. If a hit-and-run incident is reported to a law
enforcement agency, the investigating law enforcement agency may
request that CHP issue a Yellow Alert within a certain
geographic area if:
A person has been killed or has suffered serious bodily
injury due to a hit-and-run incident;
There is an indication that a suspect has fled the scene
utilizing the state highway system or is likely to be
observed by the public on the state highway system; or,
The investigating law enforcement agency has additional
information concerning the suspect or the suspect's
vehicle, including, but not limited to, any of the
following:
The complete license plate number of the suspect's
vehicle;
A partial license plate number and additional unique
identifying characteristics, such as the make, model,
and color of the suspect's vehicle, which could reasonably
lead to the apprehension of the suspect; or,
The identity of the suspect.
To assist the investigating law enforcement agency, CHP may
issue a Yellow Alert via a changeable message sign within the
geographic area requested by the investigating law enforcement
agency if CHP concurs that the above conditions are met.
4. Comparing Yellow Alerts with Existing Emergency Alert
Systems
Under existing law, CHP is authorized to initiate an emergency
alert response under the following circumstances:
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Amber Alerts:
May be issued when a law enforcement agency determines that a
child, 17 years of age or younger, or an individual with a
proven mental or physical disability has been abducted and is in
imminent danger, as specified.
Silver Alerts:
May be issued if a law enforcement agency determines that a
person 65 years or older, reported missing under unexplained or
suspicious circumstances, may be in potential danger, as
specified.
Blue Alerts:
May be issued when a law enforcement officer is a victim of a
violent crime and the suspect, who has fled the scene of the
offense, is determined by a law enforcement agency to be an
imminent threat to the public or other law enforcement
personnel, as specified.
For cases in which current law authorizes an emergency alert,
the primary imperative is to prevent imminent danger. For an
Amber Alert to be issued, a law enforcement agency must first
assess if the victim is "in imminent danger of serious bodily
injury or death" and whether the widespread dissemination of
pertinent information to the public would assist in the safe
recovery of the victim. Similarly, a Silver Alert can only be
issued when a person 65 years of age or older is reported
missing and determined by the law enforcement agency to be in
potential danger due to age or a variety of other factors.
Additionally, an offending suspect needs to be considered an
imminent threat to the public or other law enforcement personnel
before a Blue Alert can be initiated after a violent attack on a
law enforcement officer. The Committee may wish to discuss the
extent to which the Yellow Alert system would be consistent with
the established purposes and uses of emergency alerts.
Given the inherent nature of hit-and-run incidents, information
about the suspect or the suspect's vehicle may be unavailable or
unverifiable. In a missing person's case, once a law
enforcement agency decides to request an Amber or Silver Alert,
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the agency often has access to an accurate description of the
missing person, if not a photograph or digital image, that
confers a high degree of certainty in the information being
disseminated to the public about the missing person. In essence,
it is easier to identify and verify the person for whom the
public should be on alert. For hit-and-run incidents, the
investigating law enforcement agency may have limited
information available that cannot be verified. The Committee
may wish to discuss if the safeguards provided in this bill
would adequately prevent the misidentification of a suspect.
WOULD THE USE OF YELLOW ALERTS BE ALIGNED WITH THE PURPOSE OF
EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEMS?
WHAT POSSIBLE SAFEGUARDS PREVENT THE MISIDENTIFICATION OF A
SUSPECT?
5. Colorado: The Medina Alert
On March 25, 2014, Colorado passed legislation, HB 14-1191,
authorizing an emergency alert system for hit and run incidents
similar to AB 47, called the Medina Alert. According to an
article from the Denver Post:
Jose Medina was killed in a hit-and-run crash two years ago when
he was struck by an SUV on Lincoln Street on the first day of
his job as a valet at a Denver nightclub.
Two years ago, the 21-year-old Medina was on the first day of
his job as a valet, parking cars outside a Denver nightclub,
when he was struck and killed by a sport utility vehicle that
sped away.
That night, a taxi driver who saw the incident followed the
fleeing vehicle, wrote down the license-plate number and helped
provide authorities with enough information that everyone
involved was eventually arrested.
A year later, the Medina Alert was created. The notification
goes to all patrol cars, cabdrivers, news outlets, truck drivers
and pedicab operators. A message is displayed on traffic reader
boards and on Crime Stoppers'Twitter and Facebook accounts.
"When we have a collision and we need to get the information out
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to the public who act as our eyes and ears ... the Medina Alert
is one of the many tools," said Denver police Sgt. Michael Farr,
who works in the traffic-investigations unit. "Unlike using
Crime Stoppers and the media, the advantage is that it is tied
to the Colorado Department of Transportation's overhead message
boards."
In 2012, Denver created and implemented the protocol for the
Medina Alert. Since then, 17 cases have prompted a Medina Alert,
and 13 have been solved. However, it remains unclear how
instrumental the Medina Alert was in solving the 13 cases. For
example, in the incident that inspired the creation of the
Medina Alert, described above, a witness was able to provide law
enforcement with a license plate number, which aided in the
apprehension of suspects. It is questionable how helpful a
Medina Alert would have been given that accurate and full
information was captured in the critical moments immediately
following the hit and run incident. The same concern exists
when the identity of a suspect is known. Although hit and run
incidents are tragic and unjust, the capacity of the Yellow
Alert to truly assist in solving these cases may be limited by
the frequent lack of accurate and available information about
the suspect during such momentary, but potentially fatal,
crimes.
6. Argument in Opposition
The California Highway Patrol states in part:
The alerts proposed?would significantly increase the total
number of alerts displayed on highway Changeable Message Signs
(CMS). We believe this will decrease the effectiveness of
California's AMBER alert system?These alerts are rare and
reserved for the most serious child abduction cases. An increase
in the total number of alerts displayed on CMS will likely
desensitize the public and law enforcement agencies.
Furthermore, with the implementation of AB 60 (Alejo, Chapter
524, Statutes of 2013), it is anticipated that hit-and-run
collisions will significantly decrease because many previously
unlicensed drivers are now able to obtain a valid driver license
after demonstrating proficiency behind the wheel and a basic
knowledge of California traffic laws. It seems prudent to
consider the effects of AB 60 before a hit-and-run alert system
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is implemented.
Finally, although the Department coordinates the activation of
AMBER Alerts, Blue Alerts, and Silver Alerts, there is nothing
in statute that determines which alert takes priority if
multiple alerts are activated at the same time.
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