BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 953 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 953 (Weber) - As Amended April 16, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Public Safety |Vote:|5 - 2 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: Yes SUMMARY: This bill modifies the definition of "racial profiling"; requires, beginning January 1, 2017, state and local law enforcement agencies to report specified information on traffic, AB 953 Page 2 public transit, and pedestrian stops, searches, or seizures to the Attorney General's Office (AG), and post this information on the law enforcement agency's website; requires the AG to issue regulations on the collection and reporting of the information specified; and requires the AG to establish the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board (RIPA) for specified purposes. FISCAL EFFECT: 1)Significant reimbursable mandated costs (GF), in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, by requiring the collection of very specific additional information by local law enforcement personnel, and the reporting of this information by local law enforcement agencies in a format yet to be determined by the Department of Justice (DOJ). 2)Significant costs to the California Highway Patrol to update their California Automated Reporting System, in the $1 million range Motor Vehicle Account. In addition, the additional time required to document the additional data points will result in the need for additional officers, or the current service provided will be reduced. CHP made over four million public contacts in 2013-14. 3)Moderate one-time cost to the DOJ in the range of $175,000 (GF), a) $100,000 to develop the required regulations in consultation with specified parties by January 1, 2017, and b) $75,000 for information technology costs associated with the programming required to collect and publish the required reports. 4)Moderate ongoing costs to the DOJ in the range of $300,000 (GF) to staff the proposed RIPA and for RIPA to conduct the required investigations and analysis. AB 953 Page 3 5)Cost to the Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) is absorbable if POST can update this definition the next time it updates its racial profiling curriculum. COMMENTS: 1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "AB 953 will help eliminate the harmful and unjust practice of racial and identity profiling, and improve the relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve. AB 953 promotes equal protection and prevents unreasonable searches and seizures. "Peace officers risk their lives every day, and the people of California greatly appreciate their hard work and dedication to public safety. At the same time, a recent poll shows that 55% of Californians and 85% of African-Americans in California believe that 'blacks and other minorities do not receive equal treatment in the criminal justice system.' Racial and identity profiling significantly contributes to this lack of confidence in our justice system. "Racial and identity profiling occurs when law enforcement personnel stop, search, seize property from, or interrogate a person without evidence of criminal activity. Studies show that profiling often occurs due to unconscious biases about particular demographic identities. "AB 953 would prevent profiling by, among other things, clarifying and modernizing California's current prohibition against profiling to better account for the ways in which profiling occurs, establishing a uniform system for collecting and analyzing data on law enforcement-community interactions, and establishing an advisory board that investigates profiling AB 953 Page 4 patterns and practices and provides recommendations on how to curb its harmful impact." This will requires law enforcement agencies to collect the following information for each stop, search, or seizure: a) The time, date, and location of the stop, search, or seizure; b) The characteristics of each peace officer involved in the stop, including, but not limited to, his or her badge or identification number, race or ethnicity, gender, age, assignment, division or station, and shift, and whether he or she was in uniform; c) The basis for the stop, including, but not limited to, the offense suspected, and whether the action was initiated in response to a call for service, and, if the action was initiated in response to a call for services, the incident identifier; d) The result of the stop, such as no action, warning, citation, property seizure, or arrest; e) If a warning or citation was issued, the warning provided or violation cited; f) If an arrest was made, the offense charged; g) A description of all persons detained during the stop. The description shall be based on the observation and perception of the peace officer making the stop, and the information shall not be requested from the person stopped, unless otherwise required by law. The description shall include, but not be limited to: i. The number of people stopped; ii. The race or ethnicity, gender, and age of all people stopped; iii. The sexual orientation and religious affiliation, if any was perceived; iv. Whether the person stopped had limited English proficiency; h) Any mental or physical disability of a person stopped; i) Whether the officer previously stopped the person; j) Specifically as to traffic stops, whether the person was a driver or passenger; AB 953 Page 5 aa) Actions taken by the officer during the stop, including, but not limited to, the following: i. Whether the officer asked for consent to frisk or search any person, and if so, whether consent was provided; ii. Whether the officer searched any person or property, and if so, which persons were searched and what property was searched, the basis for the search, and the type of contraband or evidence discovered, if any; iii. Whether the officer seized any property and, if so, the type of property that was seized, the person from whom the property was seized, and the basis for seizing the property; and, iv. Whether the officer used force during the encounter, and if so, the type of force used and reason for using the force. bb) A description of any person upon whom force was used. The description must be based on the officer's observations and perceptions, and cannot be obtained by asking the person, unless otherwise required by law. The description shall include, but not be limited to: i. The person's race or ethnicity, gender, and age; ii. The person's sexual orientation and religious affiliation, if any was perceived; iii. Whether the person had limited English proficiency; iv. Any perceived mental or physical disability or preexisting injury or medical condition of the person; and, v. Whether the person was homeless. cc) Whether any other governmental or nongovernmental agency or service provider was called to respond to the scene, and if so, what agency or service provider, and the reason the agency or service provider was called to respond; and dd) Whether any person sustained any injuries during the encounter, and if so, which person, and the nature of the injuries and medical treatment provided, if any. AB 953 Page 6 2)Background. Current law prohibits law enforcement officers from engaging in racial profiling, "the practice of detaining a suspect based on a broad set of criteria which casts suspicion on an entire class of people without any individualized suspicion of the particular person being stopped." Current law requires the DOJ to present to the Governor, on or before July 1st, an annual report containing the criminal statistics of the preceding calendar year, and requires local law enforcement agencies to report specified information to the DOJ. CHP is currently collecting and reporting specific data, beyond what is required of other law enforcement agencies, on their contact with the public. 3)Argument in Support: According to the Youth Justice Coalition, a co-sponsor of this bill, "Racial and identity profiling - the practice of law enforcement stops, searches, property seizures, and/or interrogations in absence of evidence of criminal activity - have eroded public trust, led to humiliation and false detentions of thousands of Californians, and contribute to an increase in law enforcement use of force resulting in serious injury and death. 4)"In March 2015, the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing recommended that profiling based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or mental or physical disability, and other demographic characteristics, be prohibited." Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 AB 953 Page 7