BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                       AB 953


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        ASSEMBLY THIRD READING


        AB  
        953 (Weber)


        As Amended  June 1, 2015


        Majority vote


         ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
        |Committee       |Votes |Ayes                |Noes                |
        |                |      |                    |                    |
        |                |      |                    |                    |
        |----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
        |Public Safety   |5-2   |Quirk,              |Melendez, Lackey    |
        |                |      |Jones-Sawyer, Low,  |                    |
        |                |      |Santiago, Thurmond  |                    |
        |                |      |                    |                    |
        |----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
        |Appropriations  |12-5  |Gomez, Bonta,       |Bigelow, Chang,     |
        |                |      |Calderon, Daly,     |Gallagher, Jones,   |
        |                |      |Eggman,             |Wagner              |
        |                |      |                    |                    |
        |                |      |                    |                    |
        |                |      |Eduardo Garcia,     |                    |
        |                |      |Gordon, Holden,     |                    |
        |                |      |Quirk, Rendon,      |                    |
        |                |      |Weber, Wood         |                    |
        |                |      |                    |                    |
        |                |      |                    |                    |
         ----------------------------------------------------------------- 


        SUMMARY:  Modifies the definition of "racial profiling;" requires  
        local law enforcement agencies to report specified information on  








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        stops to the Attorney General's office; and establishes the Racial  
        and Identity Profiling Advisory Board (RIPA).  Specifically, this  
        bill:  
        1)Requires, beginning March 1, 2018, each state and local agency  
          that employs peace officers to annually report to the Attorney  
          General's office data on all stops, as specified, conducted by  
          that agency's peace officers for the preceding calendar year.
        2)Requires the reporting to include the following information for  
          each stop:


           a)   The reason for the stop;
           b)   The result of the stop, such as no action, warning,  
             citation, property seizure, or arrest;


           c)   If a warning or citation was issued, the warning provided or  
             violation cited;


           d)   If an arrest was made, the offense charged;


           e)   The perceived race or ethnicity, gender, and approximate age  
             of the person stopped.  The identification of these  
             characteristics shall be based on the observation and  
             perception of the peace officer making the stop.  For auto  
             stops, this requirement applies only to the driver unless  
             actions taken by the officer apply in relation to a passenger,  
             in which case his or her characteristics shall also be  
             reported.


           f)   Actions taken by the officer during the stop, including, but  
             not limited to, the following:


             i)     Whether the officer asked for consent to search the  
               person, and if so, whether consent was provided;








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             ii)    Whether the officer searched the person or any property,  
               and if so, the basis for the search, and the type of  
               contraband or evidence discovered, if any; and 


             iii)   Whether the officer seized any property and, if so, the  
               type of property that was seized, and the basis for seizing  
               the property.


        3)Provides that if more than one peace officer performs a stop, only  
          one officer is required to collect and report the necessary  
          information.
        4)Prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from reporting  
          the name, address, social security number, or other unique  
          personal identifying information of persons stopped, searched, or  
          subjected to a property seizure.


        5)States that, notwithstanding any other law, the data reported  
          shall be made available to the public to the extent which release  
          is permissible under state law, with the exception of badge  
          number, or other unique identifying information of the officer  
          involved.


        6)Requires the Attorney General, to issue regulations for the  
          collection and reporting of the required data by January 1, 2017.   
          The Attorney General should consult with specified stakeholders in  
          issuing the regulations.  


        7)Mandates that the regulations specify all data to be reported, and  
          provide standards, definitions, and technical specifications to  
          ensure uniform reporting practices.  To the extent possible, the  
          regulations should also be compatible with any similar federal  
          data collection or reporting program.










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        8)Requires each state and local law enforcement agency to publicly  
          report the data on an annual basis beginning on July 1, 2018.  The  
          report should be posted on the law enforcement agency's Web site,  
          and in the event the agency does not have a Web site, it shall be  
          posted on the Department of Justice (DOJ) Web site.


        9)Requires retention of the reported data for at least five years.


        10)Mandates that the Attorney General annually analyze the data  
          collected and report its findings from the first analysis by  
          January 1, 2019.  Reports are to be posted on the DOJ Web site.


        11)Specifies that all data and reports made under these provisions  
          are public records, as specified, and are open to public  
          inspection.


        12)Limits the definition of a "peace officer" for purposes of this  
          section to "members of the California Highway Patrol, a city or  
          county law enforcement agency, except probation officers and  
          officers in a custodial setting, and California state or  
          university educational institutions."


        13)Defines "stop" for purposes of this section, as "any detention by  
          a peace officer of a person, or any peace officer interaction with  
          a person in which the peace officer conducts a search, including a  
          consensual search, of the person's body or property in the  
          person's possession or control."


        14)Revises the content of the DOJ annual report on criminal  
          statistics to report the total number of each of the following  
          citizen complaints:










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           a)   Citizen complaints against law enforcement personnel;
           b)   Citizen complaints alleging criminal conduct of either a  
             felony or misdemeanor;


           c)   Citizen complaints alleging racial or identity profiling,  
             disaggregated by the specific type of racial or identity  
             profiling alleged.


        15)Specifies that the statistics on citizen complaints must identify  
          their dispositions as being sustained, exonerated, not sustained,  
          unfounded, as specified.
        16)Revises legislative findings and declarations regarding racial  
          and identity profiling.


        17)Renames "racial profiling" as "racial or identity profiling" and  
          redefines it as "consideration of or reliance on, to any degree,  
          actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age,  
          religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or  
          mental or physical disability in deciding which persons to subject  
          to a stop or in deciding upon the scope and substance of law  
          enforcement activities following a stop.  The activities include,  
          but are not limited to, traffic or pedestrian stops, or actions  
          during a stop, such as, asking questions, frisks, consensual and  
          nonconsensual searches of a person or any property, seizing any  
          property, removing vehicle occupants during a traffic stop,  
          issuing a citation, and making an arrest."


        18)Requires any peace officer who has a sustained complaint of  
          racial or identity profiling that is sustained to participate in  
          training to correct racial and identity profiling at least every  
          six months for two years.


        19)Mandates the Attorney General establish RIPA beginning July 1,  
          2016, for the purpose of eliminating racial and identity  








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          profiling, and improving diversity and racial sensitivity in law  
          enforcement.


        20)Provides that RIPA shall include the following members:


           a)   The Attorney General, or a designee;
           b)   The President of the California Public Defenders  
             Association, or a designee;


           c)   The President of the California Police Chiefs Association,  
             or a designee;


           d)   The President of the California State Sheriffs' Association,  
             or a designee;


           e)   The President of the Peace Officers Research Association of  
             California, or a designee;


           f)   The President of the California Association of Highway  
             Patrolmen, or a designee;


           g)   The Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, or  
             designee;


           h)   The Chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, or  
             designee;


           i)    The Chair of the California Asian and Pacific Islander  
             Legislative Caucus, or designee;









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           j)   The Chair of the California Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and  
             Transgender Legislative Caucus, or designee;


           aa)  A university professor who specializes in policing, and  
             racial and identity equity;


           bb)  Two representatives of civil or human rights tax-exempt  
             organizations who specialize in civil and human rights and  
             criminal justice;


           cc)  Two representatives of community organizations specializing  
             in civil or human rights and criminal justice and who work with  
             victims of racial and identity profiling; 


           dd)  Two clergy members who specialize in addressing and reducing  
             racial and identity bias toward individuals and groups or  
             practices; and, 


           ee)  Up to two other members that the Attorney General may  
             prescribe.


        21)Tasks RIPA with the following:
           a)   Analyzing data reported, as specified;
           b)   Analyzing law enforcement training on racial and identity  
             profiling;


           c)   Work in partnership with state and local law enforcement  
             agencies to review and analyze racial and identity profiling  
             policies and practices;










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           d)   Issuing an annual report the first of which shall be issued  
             by January 1, 2018, and posting the reports on its Internet Web  
             site; and,


           e)   Holding at least three annual public meetings to discuss  
             racial and identity profiling and potential reforms, as  
             specified.


        EXISTING LAW:  


        1)Prohibits a law enforcement officer from engaging in racial  
          profiling. 
        2)Defines "racial profiling," as "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." 


        3)Requires that the course of basic training for law enforcement  
          officers include adequate instruction on racial and cultural  
          diversity in order to foster mutual respect and cooperation  
          between law enforcement and members of all racial and cultural  
          groups. 


        4)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.  


        5)Mandates that the annual report contain statistics showing all of  
          the following:


           a)   The amount and the types of offenses known to the public  
             authorities;








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           b)   The personal and social characteristics of criminals and  
             delinquents;


           c)   The administrative actions taken by law enforcement,  
             judicial, penal, and correctional agencies or institutions,  
             including those in the juvenile justice system, in dealing with  
             criminals or delinquents;


           d)   The administrative actions taken by law enforcement,  
             prosecutorial, judicial, penal, and correctional agencies,  
             including those in the juvenile justice system, in dealing with  
             minors who are the subject of a petition or hearing in the  
             juvenile court to transfer their case to the jurisdiction of an  
             adult criminal court or whose cases are directly filed or  
             otherwise initiated in an adult criminal court; and,


           e)   The number of citizens' complaints received by law  
             enforcement agencies, as specified. The statistics must  
             indicate the total number of these complaints, the number  
             alleging criminal conduct of either a felony or misdemeanor,  
             and the number sustained in each category.  The report shall  
             not contain a reference to any individual agency but shall be  
             by gross numbers only.  


        6)Requires state and local law enforcement agencies to report  
          statistical data to the DOJ at those times and in the manner that  
          the Attorney General prescribes. 
        FISCAL EFFECT:  According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:


        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 to  
          the DOJ.








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        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)Significant cost to the DOJ in the range of $2 million in 2015-16,  
          $10 million in 2016-17, and $9 million every year thereafter. 


        4)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:  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  








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        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 patterns and practices and  
        provides recommendations on how to curb its harmful impact."




        Analysis Prepared by:                                               
        Sandy Uribe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744  FN: 0000738