BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          AB 8 (Gatto) - Emergency services:  hit-and-run incidents
          
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          |Version: July 6, 2015           |Policy Vote: T. & H. 11 - 0,    |
          |                                |          PUB. S. 7 - 0         |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: No                     |
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          |Hearing Date: August 17, 2015   |Consultant: Mark McKenzie       |
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          This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File. 







          Bill  
          Summary:  AB 8 would establish a "Yellow Alert" notification  
          system until January 1, 2019 to issue public alerts to aid in  
          the apprehension of a suspect following a serious hit-and-run  
          incident.  If a law enforcement agency determines that specified  
          conditions regarding an incident are met, the agency can request  
          that the California Highway Patrol (CHP) issue the alert on  
          changeable message signs to assist in the apprehension of the  
          suspect.


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  







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           Estimated one-time CHP costs of approximately $100,000 to  
            develop policies and procedures, provide training, and develop  
            resource materials for staff and law enforcement agencies for  
            the new alert. (Motor Vehicle Account) 

           Non-reimbursable local law enforcement costs to determine  
            whether specified conditions are met in order to request  
            activation of a Yellow Alert. (local funds)

           Minor and absorbable ongoing CHP costs to confirm specified  
            conditions are met and issue Yellow Alerts on changeable  
            message signs. (Motor Vehicle Account)


          Background:  Existing law provides for an emergency alert system, commonly  
          known as the "Amber Alert" system, authorizing law enforcement  
          to request the activation of the Emergency Alert System (EAS)  
          when a child 17 years of age or younger, or an individual with a  
          proven mental or physical disability, has been reported as  
          abducted, and is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or  
          death, and there is information available that, if disseminated  
          to the public, could assist in the safe recovery of the  
          individual.  CHP is required to activate the EAS for Amber  
          Alerts, upon request of a law enforcement agency.  
          Existing law also provides for a "Blue Alert" system to issue  
          and coordinate alerts following an attack upon a law enforcement  
          officer.  Under the Blue Alert system, CHP must activate the EAS  
          upon the request of a law enforcement agency that is  
          investigating an offense in which all of the following  
          conditions are met: (1) a law enforcement officer has been  
          killed, suffers serious bodily injury, or is assaulted with a  
          deadly weapon; (2) the suspect has fled the scene of the offense  
          and is determined an imminent threat to the public or others;  
          (3) a detailed description of the suspect's vehicle or license  
          plate is available; and (4) public dissemination of available  
          information may help avert further harm or accelerate  
          apprehension of the suspect.  The Blue Alert system must utilize  
          the state-controlled Emergency Digital Information System, local  
          digital signs, focused text, or other technologies, as  
          appropriate.

          In addition, existing law  provides for a "Silver Alert" system  
          to issue and coordinate alerts with respect to a person reported  
          missing who is 65 years of age or older, developmentally  








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          disabled, or cognitively impaired.  A law enforcement agency may  
          request a Silver Alert if that agency determines that all of the  
          following conditions are met in regard to the investigation of  
          the missing person: (1) The investigating law agency has  
          utilized all available local resources and the person is missing  
          under unexplained circumstances; (2) the agency believes the  
          person is in danger because of age, health, mental or physical  
          disability, environment or weather conditions, or other  
          circumstances; and (3) there is available information that, if  
          disseminated, could assist in the safe recovery of the missing  
          person.  Upon activation of a Silver Alert, CHP is required to  
          issue a "be-on-the-lookout" alert, an Emergency Digital  
          Information Service message, or an electronic flyer.  




          Proposed Law:  
            AB 8 would establish a "Yellow Alert" system to issue and  
          coordinate alerts following hit-and-run incidents until January  
          1, 2019.  Specifically this bill would:
           Authorize a law enforcement agency to request activation of a  
            Yellow Alert if all of the following conditions are met:
               o      A person has been killed or suffered serious bodily  
                 injury, as defined, due to a hit-and-run incident.
               o      There is an indication that the suspect fled using  
                 the state highway system or is likely to be observed on a  
                 highway.
               o      The investigating law enforcement agency has  
                 information concerning the suspect or specified  
                 identifying information of the suspect's vehicle that  
                 could reasonably lead to the apprehension of the suspect,  
                 as specified.
               o      Public dissemination of available information could  
                 help avert further harm or accelerate apprehension of the  
                 suspect.
           Authorize CHP, upon request of a law enforcement agency and if  
            it concurs that all conditions are met, to activate a Yellow  
            Alert within the requested geographic area.  Upon activation,  
            CHP must issue the Yellow Alert via changeable message signs.
           Authorize CHP, if multiple alerts are requested, to prioritize  
            the activation of alerts based upon any factors, including  
            severity of the injury, the time elapsed since the incident,  
            or likelihood that activation would reasonably lead to  








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            apprehension of a suspect.
           Encourage radio, television, and cable and satellite systems  
            to cooperate with disseminating information contained in a  
            Yellow Alert.
           Sunset the Yellow Alert system on January 1, 2019. 




          Related  
          Legislation:  AB 47 (Gatto), which was vetoed by Governor Brown last year,  
          would have required, rather than authorized CHP to issue Yellow  
          Alerts under certain criteria that are less stringent than the  
          conditions specified in this bill. The veto message for AB 47  
          stated the following:
               This bill would establish a "Yellow Alert" notification  
               system, which could be activated in response to a  
               hit-and-run incident.


               I have just signed SB 1127, to add developmentally disabled  
               persons to the missing persons alert system. This expansion  
               should be tested before adding more categories of  
               individuals that could overload the system.


          Staff  
          Comments:  The CHP's Emergency Notification and Tactical Alert Center  
          (ENTAC) was created as a result of the implementation of the  
          AMBER Alert system in August of 2002 and utilizes one full-time  
          sergeant and two full-time officers to manage the program. The  
          ENTAC is responsible for the activation of AMBER Alerts, Silver  
          Alerts, and Blue Alerts. The CHP indicates that staffing for the  
          program was not increased following the addition of Silver Alert  
          and Blue Alert activation systems.

          Data from the Statewide Integrated Traffic Record System  
          indicates over 10,000 hit-and-run traffic collisions resulting  
          in injury or death every year in California.  While the data  
          does not indicate the degree of injury sustained by victims in  
          the incidents, about two percent of hit-and-run collisions  
          resulted in death.  It is unknown how many potential Yellow  
          Alerts will be requested by law enforcement and ultimately  
          activated by the CHP.  Apart from the severity of the  








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          hit-and-run incident, the bill also requires an investigating  
          law enforcement agency to determine that a suspect has fled the  
          scene using the state highway system, or is likely to be  
          observed by the public on the state highway system, and to make  
          a reasonable determination that activation of an alert would  
          lead to the apprehension of a suspect before requesting  
          activation.  The bill also gives discretion to CHP to activate  
          an alert, following a law enforcement request and a review of  
          circumstances.  As such, CHP expects that any new ongoing  
          workload related to the activation of alerts would be minor and  
          absorbable.




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