BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 293
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Date of Hearing: March 17, 2015
Counsel: Stella Choe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Bill Quirk, Chair
AB
293 (Levine) - As Introduced February 11, 2015
SUMMARY: Requires the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) to establish a statewide policy on
operational procedures for the handling of threats made by
inmates, and by family members of inmates, against CDCR staff.
Specifically, this bill:
1)States that the policy shall include methods to ensure that
CDCR staff members are advised of threats made against them by
inmates or their family members.
2)Requires all threats against CDCR staff made by inmates or
their family members to be thoroughly investigated.
3)Provides that a copy of the statewide policy shall be
accessible to members of the public upon request.
4)Specifies that that the provisions of this bill do not
prohibit an individual institution within CDCR from developing
a more detailed notification procedure for advising staff
members of threats made against them.
5)Provides if an individual institution has a more detailed
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policy, the policy shall be accessible to every member of the
staff of the institution.
6)Mandates CDCR to provide training on the policy developed
pursuant to the provisions of this bill as part of its
existing training programs.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Creates in state government CDCR, to be headed by a secretary,
who shall be appointed by the Governor, subject to Senate
confirmation, and shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.
CDCR shall consist of Adult Operations, Adult Programs, Health
Care Services, Juvenile Justice, the Board of Parole Hearings,
the State Commission on Juvenile Justice, the Prison Industry
Authority, and the Prison Industry Board. (Gov. Code, §
12838, subd. (a).)
2)States that no state agency shall issue, utilize, enforce, or
attempt to enforce any guideline, criterion, bulletin, manual,
instruction, order, standard of general application, or other
rule, which is a regulation as defined, unless the guideline,
criterion, bulletin, manual, instruction, order, standard of
general application, or other rule has been adopted as a
regulation and filed with the Secretary of State. (Gov. Code,
§ 11340.5.)
3)States that whenever by the express or implied terms of any
statute a state agency has authority to adopt regulations to
implement, interpret, make specific or otherwise carry out the
provisions of the statute, no regulation adopted is valid or
effective unless consistent and not in conflict with the
statute and reasonably necessary to effectuate the purpose of
the statute. (Gov. Code, § 11342.2.)
4)Authorizes the Director of CDCR to prescribe and amend rules
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and regulations for the administration of the prisons and the
administration of the parole of persons, except as specified.
All rules and regulations shall, to the extent practical, be
stated in language that is easily understood by the general
public. (Pen. Code, § 5058, subd. (a).)
5)Provides that the director of CDCR shall require each state
prison under the department's jurisdiction to develop a Mutual
Aid Escape Pursuit Plan and Agreement with local law
enforcement agencies. The plan, together with any supporting
information, shall be submitted for annual review to the city
council of the city containing, or nearest to, the institution
and to the county board of supervisors of the county
containing the prison. Nothing in this section shall require
the department to disclose any information which may threaten
the security of an institution or the safety of the
surrounding community. (Pen. Code, § 5004.5.)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "AB 293 will
require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(CDCR) to establish statewide guidelines for investigating
death threats against the women and men who work in
California's correctional facilities."
2)Background: According to the background materials provided by
the author's office, in December 2014, the Division of Adult
Institutions (DAI) within CDCR conducted a survey of its 35
adult institutions in an effort to determine which
institutions have notification procedures for threats against
staff. The survey inquired whether the institutions had
established policies and procedures in place should an inmate
threaten an employee, either verbally or non-verbally. Out of
the 35 institutions surveyed, 28 institutions had established
local policies and procedures and the remaining seven
institutions were determined to not have localized procedures.
The survey found that some institutions have notification
procedures that are kept in the confidential section of their
operations manual, while others do not. Of the institutions
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that do have notification procedures, some do not provide
training to staff on these procedures. In addition, it was
found that some institutions do not have any notification
procedures in place.
As a result of these findings, DAI established a Warden's
Advisory Group for the purpose of creating a standardized
procedure which identifies institution and employee
responsibilities for recognizing, reporting, and responding to
inmate threats, including threats made by family members of
inmates, against CDCR staff. DAI is currently working on a
statewide notification procedure that will apply to all
institutions. Since DAI is currently in the drafting phase,
they are not certain whether it will be included in the
confidential Department Operations Manual (DOM) or if it will
be available in the public DOM.
3)Argument in Support: According to the California Correctional
Peace Officers Association, "Under current law, there is no
requirement that CDCR develop a policy and procedure for
investigating inmate threats against staff. This gap in
existing law has resulted in a patchwork of policies and
procedures that can vary from institution to institution;
including some institutions that have policies that do not
include a staff member being notified when there has been a
threat made against them. As a result, death threats can be
made against a Correctional Peace Officer or their family
members, and the officer may never know it."
4)Argument in Opposition: Legal Services for Prisoners with
Children argues, "While it would be helpful for CDCR to
establish uniform, statewide policies, we feel that the
Legislature could be much more proactive. Rather than let
CDCR draft its own policy, the Legislature should use its
authority to draft one that is sensible and fair. Letting
CDCR draft its own disciplinary practices overlooks the
important mandate that the Legislature has to govern
California's prison system.
"Threats made against correctional officers are often
unsubstantiated. In disciplinary hearings, it is often the
officer's word against the inmates. This bill, by not
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containing sufficient provisions, would allow prison officials
to use criminal threats as a way of seeking disciplinary
retaliation against California prisoners. This bill would be
improved if it set forth protections for inmates, such as
strict evidentiary criteria in disciplinary hearings and
limits on the type and severity of punishment (if someone is
found guilty). Furthermore, this bill should clearly state
that prisoners cannot be punished or have privileges taken
away if it is found that their family members threatened a
correctional staff member."
5)Related Legislation: SB 601 (Hancock) would require the
Secretary of CDCR to develop a Corrections Accountability
Report as described for each institution on January 10, March
15, and a fiscal year-end report and post those reports on the
department's Internet Web site. SB 601 is pending referral by
the Senate Rules Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME)
California Correctional Peace Officers Association
Opposition
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children
Analysis Prepared
by: Stella Choe/PUB. S./(916) 319-3744
AB 293
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