BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 71
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Date of Hearing: March 24, 2015
Counsel: Stella Choe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Bill Quirk, Chair
AB
71 (Rodriguez) - As Introduced December 18, 2014
As Proposed to be Amended in Committee
SUMMARY: Requires each sheriff and police chief to annually
furnish a report to the Department of Justice (DOJ) of all
instances when a peace officer is involved in shootings that
occur in his or her jurisdiction where an individual or a peace
officer is injured or killed. Specifically, this bill:
1)States that in instances where an individual is killed or
injured, the agency shall report how many cases resulted in
criminal prosecution.
2)Provides in cases where both a sheriff and chief of police
would be required to report an officer involved shooting under
this section, only the chief of police shall report the
instance.
3)Requires DOJ to include a summary of the information contained
in the reports received pursuant to the above provisions in
its annual crime report and classify the data according to the
reporting law enforcement jurisdiction.
4)Specifies in cases involving a peace officer who is injured or
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killed, the report shall list the officer's employing
jurisdiction and the jurisdiction where the injury or death
occurred, if they are not the same.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides that it is the duty of each city marshal, chief of
police, railroad and steamship police, sheriff, coroner,
district attorney, city attorney and city prosecutor having
criminal jurisdiction, as well as other agencies or persons
dealing with crimes and criminals or with delinquency or
delinquents, when requested by the Attorney General (AG):
a) To install and maintain records needed for the correct
reporting of statistical data required by the AG;
b) To report statistical data to the DOJ at those times and
in the manner that the AG proscribes; and,
c) To give to the AG, or his or her accredited agent,
access to the statistical data for the purpose of carrying
out the purposes of carrying out the relevant law. (Pen.
Code, § 13020.)
2)Requires each sheriff and chief of police to annually furnish
the DOJ, in the manner prescribed by the Attorney General, a
report of all justifiable homicides committed in his or her
jurisdiction. In cases where both a sheriff and chief of
police would be required to report a justifiable homicide
under this section, only the chief of police shall report the
homicide. (Pen. Code, § 13022.)
3)States that, subject to the availability of adequate funding,
the AG shall direct local law enforcement agencies to report
to DOJ, in a manner to be prescribed by the AG, any
information that may be required relative to hate crimes, as
specified, and requires, on or before July 1 of each year, DOJ
to submit a report to the Legislature analyzing the results of
the information obtained from local law enforcement agencies.
(Pen. Code, § 13023, subds. (a) and (b).)
4)Includes within DOJ's annual reporting requirements the number
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of citizens' complaints received by law enforcement agencies.
These statistics shall indicate the total number of these
complaints, the number alleging criminal conduct of either a
felony or misdemeanor, and the number sustained in each
category. The report shall not contain a reference to any
individual agency but shall be by gross numbers only. (Pen.
Code, § 13012, subd. (e).)
5)Mandates in any case in which a person dies while in the
custody of any law enforcement agency or while in custody in a
local or state correctional facility in this state, the law
enforcement agency or the agency in charge of the correctional
facility shall report in writing to the AG, within 10 days
after the death, all facts in the possession of the law
enforcement agency or agency in charge of the correctional
facility concerning the death. Proscribes that these writings
are public records within the meaning of the California Public
Records Act and are open to public inspection, except
confidential medical information. (Gov. Code, § 12525.)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "AB 71 was
introduced to collect needed statistics and to start a
dialogue as to what California needs to do to increase
community and officer safety and to improve confidence in law
our enforcement agencies and personnel.
"AB 71 will provide much needed data on officer involved
shootings in California. This will allow the state to study
the issue and to appropriately adjust law enforcement training
and procedures as needed. Through better training standards
from POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) we can
improve outcomes and foster better relations and confidence
with our communities.
"AB 71 will also track data on an officer involved shooting
where it is the law enforcement officer that is shot and
killed or injured. Law enforcement work is dangerous and our
peace officers are often placed in situations that involve
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life and death decisions. Tracking shootings of law
enforcement officers will give California an idea what our law
enforcement officers are facing on the street."
2)President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing: On December
18, 2014, amid protests in Ferguson, Missouri, where a grand
jury declined to criminally charge police officer Darren
Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, President
Barack Obama signed an Executive Order establishing the Task
Force on 21st Century Policing. "The mission of the task force
was to examine how to foster strong, collaborative
relationships between local law enforcement and the
communities they protect and to make recommendations to the
President on how policing practices can promote effective
crime reduction while building public trust. The president
selected members of the task force based on their ability to
contribute to its mission because of their relevant
perspective, experience, or subject matter expertise in
policing, law enforcement and community relations, civil
rights, and civil liberties." (U.S. Department of Justice's
Office of Community Oriented Policing Service, Interim Report
of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing (Mar.
2015), p. 1.)
In addressing the issue of transparency, the task force
recommended that law enforcement agencies should make all
department policies available for public review and regularly
post on the department's website information about stops,
summonses, arrests, reported crime, and other law enforcement
data aggregated by demographics. (Id. at p. 11.)
Additionally, the task force recommended that when serious
incidents occur, including those involving alleged police
misconduct, agencies should communicate with citizens and the
media swiftly, openly, and neutrally, respecting areas where
the law requires confidentiality. (Ibid.)
3)Reporting on Criminal Statistics: DOJ is statutorily required
to collect and maintain data and develop statistical reports
related to crime and the criminal justice process in
California. Local agencies are also statutorily required to
maintain statistical data and provide those to DOJ.
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Under existing law, local law enforcement agencies are required
to report to DOJ all justifiable homicides committed in that
agency's jurisdiction. (Pen. Code, § 13022.) Local
jurisdictions must also report on the number of non-criminal
and criminal complaints reported by citizens against law
enforcement personnel and the number of complaints that were
sustained. (Pen. Code, § 13012.) Arrest information from
local agencies must also be provided to DOJ in order to
maintain its arrest and citation database. (Pen. Code, §§
13020 and 13021.) This database contains information
including name, race/ethnicity, date of birth, sex, date of
arrest, offense level, offense type, status of the offense,
and law enforcement disposition. (Office of the Attorney
General, Criminal Statistics Reporting Requirements (April
2014), p. 8.) Using statistical data from local
jurisdictions, DOJ publishes an annual report on crime, as
well as other reports as required by statute.
This bill requires local law enforcement agencies to report
all officer-involved shootings resulting in either death or
injury to an officer or an individual. Under current law,
only justifiable homicides are reported to DOJ. While it is
important to know how many killings are determined to be
justifiable, there is no way to compare those numbers to those
that are not deemed justifiable. This is due to the lack of
data on officer-involved shootings in general. By requiring
local agencies to report all officer-involved shootings that
result in either death or injury, the data will be more
accurate and complete. This bill increases transparency in
officer-involved shootings by requiring this information to be
published in DOJ's annual report on crime, which is available
to the public. Additionally, by requiring information to be
included on how many shootings result in criminal prosecution,
the bill addresses concerns over accountability in
police-involved shootings.
4)Argument in Support: According to the California Police
Chiefs Association, "AB 71 would provide much needed statewide
data on officer involved shootings where a civilian or a peace
officer is injured or killed. This measure would assist the
California Department of Justice in tracking the number of
incidents of either uses of force direct at peace officers or
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uses of force by peace officers. AB 71 is consistent with
current efforts on the Federal level by the United States
Department of Justice. We believe that this reporting
requirement could easily be incorporated into the current UCR
reporting forms furnished to the Department of Justice."
5)Argument in Opposition: None submitted.
6)Related Legislation:
a) AB 86 (McCarty) would establish, within DOJ, an
independent review panel to investigate and provide an
independent review of peace officer involved shootings and
other uses of force resulting in death. AB 86 is pending
referral by the Rules Committee.
b) AB 1497 (Chau) would state the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation that requires law enforcement agencies
to develop written policies relating to the handling of
incidents involving the use of deadly force by a peace
officer that resulted in the death of a member of the
public. AB 1497 is pending referral by the Rules
Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California College and University Police Chiefs
California Police Chiefs Association
California Public Defenders Association
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Opposition
None
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Analysis Prepared
by: Stella Choe/PUB. S./(916) 319-3744