BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 293 Page 1 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 AB 293 Page 2 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 AB 293 Page 3 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 AB 293 Page 4 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 AB 293 Page 5 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 Page 6