BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 71
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Date of Hearing: April 15, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
71 (Rodriguez) - As Amended April 6, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill requires each sheriff and police chief to annually
report specified information to the Department of Justice (DOJ),
in a manner prescribed by the DOJ, of all instances when a peace
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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)Requires DOJ to prescribe the manner in which information will
be provided, to include a summary of the information contained
in the reports received pursuant to the above provisions in
its annual crime report, and to classify the data according to
the reporting law enforcement jurisdiction.
3)Specifies in cases involving a peace officer who is injured or
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.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Potential moderate costs, $80,000 to $100,000 (GF), to DOJ to
establish a reporting tool and to update its computer
programming in the Criminal Justice Statistics Center to
include a summary of the new information in its annual report.
2)Potential moderate one-time and ongoing reimbursable mandated
costs (GF) in excess of $150,000 to local law enforcement
agencies for costs associated with collecting and reporting
the required information when an individual is killed or
injured, and the number of cases resulting in criminal
prosecution. The one-time cost will depend on reporting tool
prescribed by the DOJ. If 40 agencies incur costs in excess
of $4,000, the one-time costs will be $160,000. The actual
on-going cost will vary based on the number of incidents in a
particular year subject to the reporting requirement.
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COMMENTS:
1)Background. 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. Under current law, local law
enforcement agencies are required to report to the DOJ
incidents when a police officer is killed or injured in the
line of duty, all justifiable homicides committed in the
agency's jurisdiction, and any case in which a person dies
while in the custody of any law enforcement agency.
2)Purpose. 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
life and death decisions. Tracking shootings of law
enforcement officers will give California an idea what our law
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enforcement officers are facing on the street."
3)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
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."
4)Related Legislation:
a) AB 86 (McCarty), pending in Assembly Public Safety
Committee, 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.
b) AB 1497 (Chau), a spot bill pending referral by Rules
Commitee, 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.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 71
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