BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 71|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 71
Author: Rodriguez (D)
Amended: 7/6/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 7/14/15
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 6-0, 8/27/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NO VOTE RECORDED: Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/1/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Criminal justice: reporting
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires law enforcement agencies to report
all instances when a peace officer is involved in: 1) an
incident involving the shooting of a civilian by a peace
officer; 2) an incident involving the shooting of a peace
officer by a civilian; 3) an incident in which the use of force
by a peace officer against a civilian results in serious bodily
injury or death; and, 4) an incident in which use of force by a
civilian against a peace officer results in serious bodily
injury or death, as specified.
ANALYSIS:
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Existing law:
1)Provides, in Penal Code Section 13020, 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 Department of Justice
(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.
2)Requires each sheriff and chief of police to annually furnish
the DOJ, in the manner prescribed by the AG, 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. (Penal
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.
(Penal Code § 13023(a) and (b).)
4)Includes within DOJ's annual reporting requirements the number
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
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category. The report shall not contain a reference to any
individual agency but shall be by gross numbers only. (Penal
Code § 13012(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. (Government Code § 12525.)
This bill:
1)Requires, beginning January 1, 2017, each law enforcement
agency to annually furnish to the DOJ, in a manner defined and
prescribed by the AG, a report of all instances when a peace
officer employed by that agency is involved in any of the
following:
a) An incident involving the shooting of a civilian by a
peace officer;
b) An incident involving the shooting of a peace officer by
a civilian;
c) An incident in which the use of force by a peace officer
against a civilian results in serious bodily injury or
death; or,
d) An incident in which use of force by a civilian against
a peace officer results in serious bodily injury or death.
2)Requires, for each incident reported, law enforcement to
report, at a minimum:
a) The gender, race, and age of each individual who was
shot, injured, or killed;
b) The date, time, and location of the incident;
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c) Whether the civilian was armed, and, if so, the type of
weapon the civilian had;
d) The type of force used against the officer, the
civilian, or both, including the types of weapons used;
e) The number of officers involved in the incident;
f) The number of civilians involved in the incident; and,
g) A brief description regarding the circumstances
surrounding the incident which may include the nature of
injuries to officers and civilians and perceptions on
behavior or mental disorders.
3)Requires the DOJ to include a summary of information contained
in the reports received pursuant to this bill in its annual
crime report issued by the department pursuant to Section
13010. This information shall be classified according to the
reporting law enforcement jurisdiction. 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.
4)Defines "serious bodily injury" as "bodily injury that
involves a substantial risk of death, unconsciousness,
protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or
impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ."
Background
On June 2, 2015, U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer and Cory Booker
introduced the Police Reporting of Information, Data and
Evidence Act:
This legislation that would bring transparency and
accountability to law enforcement agencies nationwide
by requiring states to report to the Justice
Department on any incident in which a law enforcement
officer is involved in a shooting, and any other
instance where use of force by or against a law
enforcement officer or civilian results in serious
bodily injury or death. This information would help
federal, state and local officials to better protect
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the public and law enforcement officers.
The PRIDE Act was introduced the same week that a
Washington Post report revealed that 385 people were
shot and killed by police nationwide since January -
more than two a day. That number is more than twice
the rate of fatal police shootings tallied by the
federal government over the past decade, because there
are currently no comprehensive federal programs to
collect data on law enforcement-involved shootings and
use of force. The Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) captures data on justifiable homicides by law
enforcement officers, but reporting is voluntary and
limited to instances in which a civilian is killed
while committing a felony.
Similarly, there is no mandated reporting to the
federal government on law enforcement officers killed
or injured in the line of duty. So far, 54 officers
have been killed in the line of duty and 14 officers
have been shot and killed by suspects since January,
according to data compiled by the Officer Down
Memorial Page.
"Too many members of the public and police officers
are being killed, and we don't have reliable
statistics to track these tragic incidents," Senator
Boxer said. "This bill will ensure that we know the
full extent of the problem so we can save lives on all
sides."
"The first step in fixing a problem is understanding
the extent of the problem you have. Justice and
accountability go hand in hand -- but without reliable
data it's difficult to hold people accountable or
create effective policies that change the status quo,"
Senator Booker said. "Our legislation is vital to
ensuring we have the data required to make good
decisions and implement reform measures that are
balanced, objective, and protect the lives of police
officers and the public."
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The Boxer-Booker measure would require states to
report to the Attorney General on use-of-force
incidents involving officers and the public that
result in serious bodily injury or death. The reports
must include, at a minimum:
The gender, race, ethnicity, and age of
each individual who was shot, injured, or killed;
The date, time, and location of the
incident;
The number of officers and number of
civilians involved in the incident;
Whether the civilian was armed with a
weapon; and
The type of force used against the
officer, the civilian, or both, including the
types of weapons used.
Additionally, the bill would provide grants for tip
lines and hotlines to gain information regarding
shootings and use of force incidents against the
police. Grants may also support state efforts to
develop use of force training for law enforcement
agencies and personnel, including de-escalation and
bias training.
There is growing momentum for better data collection
on the use of force in police departments nationwide.
(https://www.boxer.senate.gov/press/release/boxer-booke
r-introduce-bill-to-bring-transparency-and-accountabili
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ty-to-police-departments-nationwide/.)
AB 71 requires local law enforcement to collect information that
is consistent with the information that would be required by the
federal legislation.
Comments
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 existing law, local law enforcement agencies are required
to report to DOJ all justifiable homicides committed in that
agency's jurisdiction. (Penal 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.
(Penal Code § 13012.) Arrest information from local agencies
must also be provided to DOJ in order to maintain its arrest and
citation database. (Penal 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), at 8.) Using statistical data from
local jurisdictions, DOJ publishes an annual report on crime.
(Penal Code § 13010.)
Local law enforcement is also required to, in any case in which
a person dies while in the custody of the law enforcement,
report in writing to DOJ, 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.
(Government Code § 12525.) This bill, additionally, requires
law enforcement agencies to report all instances when a peace
officer is involved in:
Any incident involving the shooting of a civilian by a
law enforcement officer;
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Any incident involving the shooting of a law enforcement
officer by a civilian;
Any incident in which use of force by a law enforcement
officer against a civilian results in serious bodily injury
or death.
Any incident in which use of force by a civilian against
a law enforcement officer results in serious bodily injury
or death.
DOJ will be required to provide this information in its annual
report on crime.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Potentially significant one-time and ongoing
state-reimbursable local costs in the hundreds of thousands of
dollars (General Fund) annually to track and report the
detailed information for each type of incident. Initial costs
would be dependent on the tool prescribed for data reporting
by the DOJ. Annual costs would be dependent on the number of
incidents subject to the reporting requirements and the
associated workload to collect and report this data.
One-time significant costs potentially in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars (General Fund) to the DOJ to develop the
database and complete programming to enable reporting of the
specified data by law enforcement agencies. Minor ongoing
costs for DOJ to report the specified incident data for its
own officers.
Minor, absorbable impact to the California Highway Patrol,
Department of State Hospitals, Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, and the Department of Fish and Wildlife,
assuming the number of incidents to be reported is minimal.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/28/15)
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American Civil Liberties Union of California
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
California Police Chiefs Association
California Public Defenders Association
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Los Angeles Urban League
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/28/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:
According to the California Police Chiefs Association:
AB 71 would provide much needed statewide date on officer
involved shootings and use of force 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[ed] at
peace officers or uses of force by police officers.
Furthermore, AB 71 is consistent with current efforts on
the Federal level by the United States Department of
Justice.
The loss of life is tragic. AB 71 requires reporting for
the loss of life, or injury, resulting from a shooting or
use of force, for both peace officers and civilians. We
believe that this balanced approach will increase law
enforcement transparency while also generating valuable
data on the number of tragic incidents resulting in the
loss or injury of an officer or civilian.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/1/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
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Page 10
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
Prepared by:Jessica Devencenzi / PUB. S. /
8/31/15 8:33:07
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