BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Session AB 953 (Weber) - Law enforcement: racial profiling ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: June 30, 2015 |Policy Vote: PUB. S. 5 - 1 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: AB 953 would enact the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015, which would do the following: Require each state and local agency that employs peace officers to collect and annually report data to the Attorney General (AG) on all "stops," as defined, for the preceding calendar year. Require any peace officer who has a 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. Modify the definition of "racial profiling," as specified. Commencing July 1, 2016, require the AG to establish the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board (RIPA), to conduct specified activities and issue a report annually on its analysis of specified reported data, training, and racial and identity profiling policies/practices. Fiscal AB 953 (Weber) Page 1 of ? Impact: Data collection, reporting, retention, and training : Major one-time and ongoing costs, potentially in the tens of millions of dollars annually to local law enforcement agencies for data collection, reporting, and retention requirements specified in the bill. Additional costs for training on the process would likely be required. There are currently 482 cities and 58 counties in California. To the extent local agency expenditures qualify as a reimbursable state mandate, agencies could claim reimbursement of those costs (General Fund). While costs could vary widely, for context, the Commission on State Mandates' statewide cost estimate for Crime Statistics Reports for the DOJ reflects eligible reimbursement of over $13.6 million per year for slightly over 50 percent of local agencies reporting. Racial profiling training : Unknown, potentially significant state-reimbursable costs (General Fund) for mandated training periodically over two years for peace officers with sustained complaints of racial or identity profiling. DOJ impact : Major one-time and ongoing costs of $2.6 million in 2015-16, $5.9 million in 2016-17, and $5.1 million (General Fund) annually thereafter, for resources to create the database to collect and retain the data, complete data collection, reporting, and analysis requirements. Minor, absorbable impact to aggregate and post annual reports received to its website. RIPA : One-time costs of $1.7 million in 2015-16, and $3 million (General Fund) in 2016-17 and 2017-18 to establish and oversee activities of the Board. Ongoing costs of $1.5 million annually (General Fund) for activities including analyzing data, issuing annual reports, reviewing policies and procedures, and holding at least three annual public meetings. CHP impact : Potentially significant one-time costs of about $1 million (Motor Vehicle Account) to modify its existing database, create the program to generate the report, and train personnel. Ongoing increase in workload costs potentially in the range of $250,000 to $500,000 (Motor Vehicle Account) for data collection and reporting activities. Data for 2013-14 from the CHP indicates approximately 3.1 million enforcement actions potentially subject to the data collection and reporting provisions of this bill. CSU/UC police impact : Potentially significant ongoing non-reimbursable costs to California State University police and University of California police officers - the CSM has AB 953 (Weber) Page 2 of ? determined CSU and UC use of campus police is a discretionary act, and therefore any mandated costs are not subject to state reimbursement. Background: Existing law prohibits a law enforcement officer from engaging in racial profiling and provides that the course of basic training for law enforcement officers must 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. Existing law additionally requires every officer to participate in expanded training provided by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training that examines the patterns, practices, and protocols that prevent racial profiling. Under existing law, "racial profiling" is defined 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. (Penal Code § 13519.4.) This bill seeks to facilitate the development of evidence-based policing by establishing a system of collecting and reporting information on law enforcement stops. As noted in the federal Department of Justice publication, A Resource Guide on Racial Profiling Data Collection Systems: Promising Practices and Lessons Learned (2000), " By providing information about the nature, characteristics, and demographics of police enforcement patterns, these data collection efforts have the potential for shifting the rhetoric surrounding racial profiling from accusations, anecdotal stories, and stereotypes to a more rational discussion about the appropriate allocation of police resources. Well-planned and comprehensive data collection efforts can serve as a catalyst for nurturing and shaping this type of community and police discussion. AB 953 (Weber) Page 3 of ? Proposed Law: This bill would enact the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015, as follows: Requires, beginning March 1, 2018, each state and local agency that employs peace officers to annually report to the AG data on all "stops," as defined, conducted by that agency's peace officers for the preceding calendar year. Requires the reporting to include the following information for each stop: o The time, date, and location of the stop. o The reason for the stop. o The result of the stop, such as no action, warning, citation, property seizure, or arrest. o If a warning or citation was issued, the warning provided or violation cited. o If an arrest was made, the offense charged. o 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 motor vehicle 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. o Actions taken by the officer during the stop, including, but not limited to, the following: § Whether the officer asked for consent to search the person, and if so, whether consent was provided. § 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. § Whether the officer seized any property and, if so, the type of property that was seized, and the basis for seizing the property. Provides that if more than one peace officer performs a stop, only one officer is required to collect and report the necessary information. Prohibits state and local law enforcement agencies from reporting the name, address, social security number, or other unique personal identifying information of persons AB 953 (Weber) Page 4 of ? stopped, searched, or subjected to a property seizure. 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. Requires the AG, to issue regulations for the collection and reporting of the required data by January 1, 2017. States the AG should consult with specified stakeholders in issuing the regulations. 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. 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 website. In the event the agency does not have a website, it is to be posted on the DOJ website. Requires retention of the reported data for at least five years. Mandates that the AG 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 website. Specifies that all data and reports made under these provisions are public records, as specified, and are open to public inspection. 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 and California state or university educational institutions." And, the definition explicitly states that peace officer, as used in this section, does not include probation officers and officers in a custodial setting. 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." Revises and expands the content of the DOJ annual report on criminal statistics to report the total number of each AB 953 (Weber) Page 5 of ? of the following citizen complaints, to be made available to the public and disaggregated for each law enforcement agency: o Citizen complaints against law enforcement personnel; o Citizen complaints alleging criminal conduct of either a felony or misdemeanor; o Citizen complaints alleging racial or identity profiling, disaggregated by the specific type of racial or identity profiling alleged. Specifies that the statistics on citizen complaints must identify their dispositions as being sustained, exonerated, not sustained, or unfounded, as specified. 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, except that an officer may consider or rely on characteristics listed in a specific suspect description. 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." Requires any peace officer who has a 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. Mandates the AG establish the RIPA beginning July 1, 2016, to include the Attorney General or a designee, and 18 other members, as specified. Tasks RIPA with the following: o Analyzing data reported both under this Act and other data, as specified; o Analyzing law enforcement training on racial and identity profiling; o Working in partnership with state and local AB 953 (Weber) Page 6 of ? law enforcement agencies to review and analyze racial and identity profiling policies and practices; o Issuing an annual report the first of which shall be issued by January 1, 2018, and posting the reports on its website; and, o Holding at least three annual public meetings to discuss racial and identity profiling and potential reforms, as specified. Prior Legislation: AB 2133 (Torrico) 2006 would have created a state policy of prohibiting racial profiling and provided for required information to be gathered and tracked regarding the specifics of traffic stops. This bill was not provided a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Public Safety. AB 788 (Firebaugh) 2001 would have required the CHP and specified law enforcement agencies to report to the DOJ statistical data regarding traffic stops until January 1, 2008. This bill died on the Assembly Floor. SB 1102 (Murray) Chapter 684/2000 states findings and declarations of the Legislature regarding racial profiling and requires law enforcement officers to participate in expanded training as prescribed and certified by POST. SB 78 (Murray) 1999 would have required the Commissioner of the CHP to gather data on traffic stops conducted by the CHP and law enforcement agencies of specified counties, and provide a report to the Legislature and the Governor. This bill was vetoed by the Governor. AB 1264 (Murray) 1998 would have required the DOJ until January 1, 2003, in its annual report on criminal justice statistics to include specified statistics regarding all motorists stopped by law enforcement officers. This bill was vetoed by the Governor whose message stated in part: AB 953 (Weber) Page 7 of ? This bill would require California law enforcement officers to collect information, including race or ethnicity and approximate age and gender, about all motorists subject to traffic stops during a three year reporting period. In addition, the DOJ would be required to collect and report statistical reports in its annual crime statistics report? Nonetheless, some officers, like members of every profession, may fail to fulfill their duties and indulge in biases. This bill would seek to record such incidents over a period of three years at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. The bill, however, ensures that neither officers nor motorists would be identified by name, only in the aggregate. Accordingly, it would be impossible to take meaningful corrective action. This bill offers no certain or useful conclusion, assuredly nothing that would justify the major commitment of time, money, and manpower that this bill requires. The investment contemplated by AB 1264 could be more immediately and productively employed by enhancing officer training, encouraging dialogue between enforcement agencies and racially diverse community groups, and taking forceful action against those officers who abuse the privilege of serving all of California's citizens. Staff Comments: Data collection, reporting, retention, and training This bill requires each state and local agency that employs peace officers to make an annual report including specified data on all "stops" conducted by that agency's peace officers to the DOJ. The bill defines peace officers to include members of the CHP, city or county law enforcement agencies, and the CSU and UC who would be subject to the data collection, reporting, and retention requirements of this bill. There are currently 482 cities and 58 counties in the State. While statewide costs cannot be estimated with certainty, given the large number of local agencies and the numerous types of data required to be collected, reported, and retained, these activities could result in major one-time and ongoing costs, potentially in the tens of millions of dollars annually. To the extent local agency AB 953 (Weber) Page 8 of ? expenditures qualify as a reimbursable state mandate, agencies could claim reimbursement of those costs (General Fund). As an example, the Commission on State Mandates' statewide cost estimate for Crime Statistics Reports for the DOJ reflects eligible reimbursement of over $13.6 million per year for slightly over 50 percent of local agencies reporting. The costs to individual agencies would vary widely and depend on various factors, including but not limited to the size of the agency, the volume of stops to be reported by the agency, the method of collecting the data (which is not specified in the bill), the workload involved to collect the data elements required to be reported, the extent of training conducted by each agency, and storage requirements for each agency (whether electronic or paper). For example, while the workload involved to report the number of stops for an agency that already has an electronic data collection process in place may only require revisions to its existing process and minor training to its officers on the changes, the workload required for an agency that has no existing process in place would not only potentially incur the costs of development of a new system to collect and report the information, the costs of which would be dependent on how the agency decides to collect the data (whether manually or electronically), but would also incur substantial costs to test the system and train its officers. Whether through manual or electronic collection, agencies at a minimum would likely require the development of a central database and other system enhancements to aggregate the data, report to the DOJ, and retain the information for a minimum of five years as required by the bill. Mandated racial profiling training This bill requires law enforcement officers who have a complaint of racial or identity profiling that has been sustained to participate in training to correct racial and identity profiling at least every six months for two years. By mandating additional training on local law enforcement agencies, this bill could result in increased state-reimbursable costs to local agencies to provide training to officers and backfill behind these officers during the training period. Costs would be dependent on the number of officers with sustained complaints, the cost of the training course, and the frequency of the training attended (whether every six months or more frequently). AB 953 (Weber) Page 9 of ? RIPA and mandated activities The DOJ has indicated costs of $1.7 million in 2015-16, and $3 million in each of 2016-17 and 2017-18 to establish the 19-member RIPA and oversee/conduct its start-up activities. Ongoing costs are estimated at $1.5 million for activities including but not limited to analyzing data and statistics, issuing annual reports, reviewing and analyzing racial profiling policies and procedures, and holding at least three annual public meetings, which would include costs for travel and overtime. Amendments for consideration: To reduce the potential costs of this measure, the author may wish to consider reducing the scope of the bill to a pilot program narrowed to specified counties or agencies and/or include a sunset date for the bill's provisions. Narrowing the collection of data to vehicle stops would also reduce the potential costs of this bill. Alternatively, revising the structure of the bill's language to require the DOJ to include data on stops in its annual report reflecting information from law enforcement agencies reporting this information would potentially remove the mandate on local law enforcement agencies, however, data received would be limited to those agencies voluntarily collecting and reporting this information and would preclude uniformity and the ability to analyze data on a statewide basis. Additional amendments that could reduce the potential costs of the bill include 1) eliminating the mandated five-year data retention period, 2) eliminating the mandated training provision on specified peace officers, and 3) limiting the analysis of the stop data to either the AG or the RIPA, instead of requiring this analysis and separate annual reports by both entities. -- END -- AB 953 (Weber) Page 10 of ?