BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 953
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Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
953 (Weber) - As Amended April 16, 2015
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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,
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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.
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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
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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;
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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.
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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
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