BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1168 Hearing Date: June 23, 2015
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|Author: |Salas |
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|Version: |June 16, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant:|JRD |
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Subject: Peace Officers: Basic Training Requirements
HISTORY
Source: David Robinson, Kings County Sheriff and California
State Sheriffs' Association
Prior Legislation:AB 574 (Villaraigosa)-Chapter 950, Statutes of
1996
Support: None known
Opposition:Unknown
Assembly Floor Vote: 77 - 0
PURPOSE
The purpose of this legislation is to exempt a custodial peace
officer, who has completed the regular basic course and has
maintained his or her perishable skills training, from
requalification requirements if he or she has been continuously
employed as a custodial peace officer for a period not exceeding
five years by the agency appointing that officer to a
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non-custodial position, as specified.
Officer Classifications
Existing law states that any sheriff, undersheriff, or deputy
sheriff, employed in that capacity, of a county, any chief of
police of a city or chief, director, or chief executive officer
of a consolidated municipal public safety agency that performs
police functions, any police officer, employed in that capacity
and appointed by the chief of police or chief, director, or
chief executive of a public safety agency, of a city, any chief
of police, or police officer of a district, including police
officers of the San Diego Unified Port District Harbor Police,
authorized by statute to maintain a police department, any
marshal or deputy marshal of a superior court or county, any
port warden or port police officer of the Harbor Department of
the City of Los Angeles, or any inspector or investigator
employed in that capacity in the office of a district attorney,
is a peace officer. The authority of these peace officers
extends to any place in the state, as follows:
As to any public offense committed or which there is
probable cause to believe has been committed within the
political subdivision that employs the peace officer or in
which the peace officer serves.
Where the peace officer has the prior consent of the
chief of police or chief, director, or chief executive
officer of a consolidated municipal public safety agency,
or person authorized by him or her to give consent, if the
place is within a city, or of the sheriff, or person
authorized by him or her to give consent, if the place is
within a county.
As to any public offense committed or which there is
probable cause to believe has been committed in the peace
officer's presence, and with respect to which there is
immediate danger to person or property, or of the escape of
the perpetrator of the offense.
(Penal Code § 830.1(a).)
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Existing law states that any deputy sheriff of the County of Los
Angeles, and any deputy sheriff of the Counties of Butte,
Calaveras, Colusa, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings,
Lake, Lassen, Mariposa, Mendocino, Plumas, Riverside, San
Benito, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara,
Shasta, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama,
Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, and Yuba who is employed to perform
duties exclusively or initially relating to custodial
assignments with responsibilities for maintaining the operations
of county custodial facilities, including the custody, care,
supervision, security, movement, and transportation of inmates,
is a peace officer whose authority extends to any place in the
state only while engaged in the performance of the duties of his
or her respective employment and for the purpose of carrying out
the primary function of employment relating to his or her
custodial assignments, or when performing other law enforcement
duties directed by his or her employing agency during a local
state of emergency. (Penal Code § 830.1(c).)
Penal Code 832 Arrest and Firearms Course
Existing law requires every peace officer, as specified, to
satisfactorily complete an introductory the Commission on Peace
Officers Standards and Training (POST) prescribed introductory
training course and that satisfactory completion of the course
is to be demonstrated by passage of an appropriate POST
developed or approved examination. (Penal Code § 832.)
Existing regulation requires limited function peace officers,
including an officer that performs only a custodial function, to
satisfactorily meet the training requirements of the Penal Code
832 Arrest and Firearms Course. (POST Administrative Manual §§
B-1001, B-1005.)
Existing regulation requires Penal Code 832 training to be
presented as two components and individuals may elect to
complete Arrest, Firearms, or both. The total minimum hourly
requirement for each Penal Code 832 Arrest and Firearms
component is 64 hours and includes the following: 40 hours for
the arrest component and 24 hours for the firearms component.
(POST Administrative Manual § D-1-7.)
The Regular Basic Course
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Existing law requires, with limited exceptions, any sheriff,
undersheriff, or deputy sheriff of a county, any police officer
of a city, and any police officer of a district authorized by
statute to maintain a police department, to successfully
complete a course of training prescribed by the POST before
exercising the powers of a peace officer, except while
participating as a trainee in a supervised field training
program approved by POST. (Penal Code § 832.3.)
Existing law states that requalification is required for any
individual who seeks appointment or reappointment to a position
for which the Regular Basic Course or the Specialized
Investigators' Basic Course is required when the individual has
not previously served in a California peace officer position
with qualifying service<1> and has:
Successfully completed a POST-certified Regular Basic
Course or Specialized Investigators' Basic Course; and,
Has a three-year-or-longer break from the last date of
successful completion of the Regular Basic Course or
Specialized Investigators' Basic Course, or from the date
the basic course waiver was granted, whichever is most
recent.
(11 C.C.R. 1008 (2015).)
Existing law states that when requalification is required it
must be achieved before an individual may exercise peace officer
powers. Upon successful requalification the individual is
eligible, for up to three years, to be appointed or reappointed
as a California peace officer. An officer can requalify by:
Repeating and successfully completing the appropriate
basic course;
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<1> Qualifying service is defined as serving in a California
peace officer position for which a POST-certified Regular Basic
Course or Specialized Investigators' Basic Course is required by
law. 830.1(c) custodial officers are not required to have the
Regular Basic Course. Given this, time in a 830.1(c) custodial
officer position is not considered qualifying service.
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Successfully completing a POST-certified Requalification
Course; or,
Successfully completing a POST-approved alternative
job-related requalification procedure conducted by a
presenter of a POST-certified Regular Basic Course. The
individual 1) must have previously satisfied the Regular
Basic Course training requirement; 2) is for the first time
obtaining law enforcement employment after a
three-year-or-longer break since successful completion of
the Regular Basic Course; and 3) the individual's
department has obtained prior written approval from POST
for the use of an alternative procedure and verifies that
the individual is currently proficient and meets or exceeds
minimum performance standards established by the
Commission.
(11 C.C.R. 1008 (2015).)
This bill would exempt a custodial peace officer, who has
completed the regular basic course and has maintained his or her
perishable skills training, from requalification requirements if
he or she has been continuously employed as a custodial peace
officer for a period not exceeding five years by the agency
making the appointment. This provision would sunset January 1,
2019.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
For the past eight years, this Committee has scrutinized
legislation referred to its jurisdiction for any potential
impact on prison overcrowding. Mindful of the United States
Supreme Court ruling and federal court orders relating to the
state's ability to provide a constitutional level of health care
to its inmate population and the related issue of prison
overcrowding, this Committee has applied its "ROCA" policy as a
content-neutral, provisional measure necessary to ensure that
the Legislature does not erode progress in reducing prison
overcrowding.
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On February 10, 2014, the federal court ordered California to
reduce its in-state adult institution population to 137.5% of
design capacity by February 28, 2016, as follows:
143% of design bed capacity by June 30, 2014;
141.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2015; and,
137.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2016.
In February of this year the administration reported that as "of
February 11, 2015, 112,993 inmates were housed in the State's 34
adult institutions, which amounts to 136.6% of design bed
capacity, and 8,828 inmates were housed in out-of-state
facilities. This current population is now below the
court-ordered reduction to 137.5% of design bed capacity." (
Defendants' February 2015 Status Report In Response To February
10, 2014 Order, 2:90-cv-00520 KJM DAD PC, 3-Judge Court, Coleman
v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (fn. omitted).
While significant gains have been made in reducing the prison
population, the state now must stabilize these advances and
demonstrate to the federal court that California has in place
the "durable solution" to prison overcrowding "consistently
demanded" by the court. (Opinion Re: Order Granting in Part and
Denying in Part Defendants' Request For Extension of December
31, 2013 Deadline, NO. 2:90-cv-0520 LKK DAD (PC), 3-Judge Court,
Coleman v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (2-10-14). The Committee's
consideration of bills that may impact the prison population
therefore will be informed by the following questions:
Whether a proposal erodes a measure which has contributed
to reducing the prison population;
Whether a proposal addresses a major area of public safety
or criminal activity for which there is no other
reasonable, appropriate remedy;
Whether a proposal addresses a crime which is directly
dangerous to the physical safety of others for which there
is no other reasonably appropriate sanction;
Whether a proposal corrects a constitutional problem or
legislative drafting error; and
Whether a proposal proposes penalties which are
proportionate, and cannot be achieved through any other
reasonably appropriate remedy.
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COMMENTS
1. Author's Statement
According to the author:
Prior to becoming employed as a peace officer in
California, applicants are required to complete a basic
training course and pass an examination. If a person does
not become employed as a peace officer within 3 years of
passing the examination, or has a break in service of 3
years or longer, they must repeat their training and
retake the examination.
Many peace officers begin their public safety service
with custodial or detention assignments, performing
duties like working in courtrooms, transporting inmates,
conducting criminal investigations, testifying in court,
attending training courses, and preparing reports. While
considered peace officers under California law, custodial
and detention deputy positions have limited peace officer
powers.
Custodial and detention deputies often aim to transfer to
patrol assignments with full peace officer powers. Even
though they are employed, if these deputies do not find
patrol positions within 3 years they must repeat their
training and examination. Openings for patrol positions
are rare, particularly in rural regions of the state,
often making the three-year requalification an impediment
to career advancement.
Assembly Bill 1168 would, until January 2019, extend the
validity of the basic training courses and examinations
for a custodial or detention deputy who has been
continuously employed as a peace officer for five years.
2. Effect of Legislation
In California there are a variety of peace officer
classifications, including a "regular officer" and a "limited
function peace officer."
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A "Regular Officer" is a sheriff, undersheriff, or deputy
sheriff of a county, a police officer of a city, a police
officer of a district authorized by statute to maintain a police
department, a police officer of a specified department or
district, or a peace officer member of the California Highway
Patrol. (11 CCR 1001 (2015).) As stated above, these
officers, otherwise known as 830.1(a) officers, are required to
complete regular basic training. The standard format of the
regular basic course is delivered in a one-part instructional
sequence with a minimum requirement of 664 hours.
(https://post.ca.gov/regular-basic-course.aspx.) These officers
are, additionally, required to satisfactorily complete 24 or
more hours of POST-qualifying training every two-years,
including a minimum of 12 hours of perishable skills training.
Of the total 12 hours required, a minimum of 4 hours of each of
the three following topical areas must be completed: 1. arrest
and control; 2. driver training/awareness or driving simulator;
and, 3. tactical firearms or force options simulator. (11
C.C.R. 1005 (2015).) If an officer in this classification has a
break in service for more than three years, he or she would
generally have to requalify prior to being appointed to an
830.1(a) position. Similarly, if a person took the regular
basic training course and was not able to find employment within
three years, he or she would have to requalify in order to be
appointed to a position.
In contrast, a "Limited Function Peace Officer" is a deputy
sheriff, regularly employed and paid as such, of a county, a
police officer of a city, a police officer of a district
authorized by statute to maintain a police department, to be a
peace officer as described in Penal Code section 830.1(c), and
is employed to perform duties other than the prevention and
detection of crime and the general enforcement of the criminal
laws of the state. (Id.) These officers must take the
introductory training course prescribed in Penal Code section
832. According to POST, this course is the "entry-level
training requirement for many California peace officers."
(http://post.ca.gov/ regular-basic-course.aspx.) PC 832
training is 40 to 64 hours, two of which are dedicated to the
final exam.
(https://post.ca.gov/pc-832-arrest-and-firearms-training-specific
ations.aspx.) Once the officer completes the course and
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satisfactorily passes the examination, the officer must become a
peace officer within three years, and may not have a break in
service of three years of longer. If the officer does not
become employed as a peace officer, or has the proscribed break
in service, he or she must repeat the training and retake the
examination. Like 803.1(a) officers, these officers are
required to satisfactorily complete 24 or more hours of
POST-qualifying training during every two-years.
According to the California State Sheriff's Association:
Existing law allows for two different classifications
of peace officers to work in county jails: 830.1(a)
officers,which are peace officers at all times and
830.1(c) deputies, which are correctional officers
that have limited peace officer powers. In order for a
person to be employed as an 830.1(a) officer, he or
she must complete the full basic academy (664 hours of
training) while an 830.1(c) officer must only complete
a 64 hour course.
In rare instances, a person that has completed the
full basic academy course gets hired by a county as an
830.1(c) deputy in the county jail. In this situation,
the person has 3 years from the time the person
graduates from the academy to obtain an 830.1(a)
position before his or her POST
certificate/eligibility expires. While many counties
work to ensure that jail deputies that wish to
transfer to patrol do so in less than 3 years, in some
counties (such as Kings and Butte), patrol positions
may not be available prior to the expiration of a
person's eligibility. In those situations, the deputy
must then complete a refresher course, which costs
money for the deputy and requires the county to
backfill the person's time while the person is taking
the class. (Note: all officers, regardless of
classification, must continue to maintain their
perishable skills through POST training.)
However, for those deputies that are hired in counties
as 830.1(a) officers in the jails, that person's
eligibility to transfer to a patrol position never
expires even though that officer is doing the same
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exact work as an 830.1(c) deputy in another county.
We believe that creates an inequity for those counties
that have chosen to utilize 830.1(c) deputies in the
jails. It also incentivizes deputies that wish to
move to patrol to leave the hiring agency prior to the
expiration of their POST certificate.
This legislation is intended to deal with a group of officers
who have had the requisite training to become "regular
officers," but have been serving in a limited function positions
for more than three years, by exempting them from
requalification requirements if they have been continuously
employed as a custodial peace officer for a period not exceeding
five years by the agency making the appointment.
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