BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1678
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Date of Hearing: March 8, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mark Stone, Chair
AB 1678
(Santiago) - As Amended February 25, 2016
SUBJECT: CRIME VICTIMS: INCIDENT REPORTS
KEY ISSUE: IN ORDER TO BETTER PROTECT VICTIMS OF SEXUAL
ASSAULT, STALKING, HUMAN TRAFFICking AND ELDER ABUSE, should
theSE VICTIMS BE permitted TO RECEIVE FREE and TIMELY COPIES OF
THEIR POLICE REPORTS, JUST AS IS DONE TODAY FOR VICTIMS OF
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?
SYNOPSIS
California has established important legal avenues to help
protect victims of domestic violence and other similar crimes
from further abuse and allow them to heal. These victims can
obtain restraining orders to keep their abusers away and help
prevent further abuse. They can terminate a lease early and
move to a safer location. They can also take time off from
work, without risk of losing their jobs, to obtain a restraining
order or, for larger employers, to obtain specified services to
increase their safety. Employers are also required to provide
reasonable accommodations to help ensure the safety of these
victims while they are at work. To be able to obtain these
legal protections, victims must prove, whether to the court,
their landlord or their employer, that they are indeed victims;
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and the best evidence of abuse may be a police report.
Originally, victims had to write and request copies of those
reports, which were then provided by mail, a process that often
took several weeks. That delay prejudiced victims in their
ability to present a case for a protective order. In 1999, the
Legislature required that domestic violence victims be provided,
within 48 hours of request, a free copy of their police report.
However, current law does not require that victims of sexual
assault, stalking, human trafficking or elder adult abuse also
receive timely and free copies of their police reports. This
bill corrects that oversight and allows victims of sexual
assault, stalking, human trafficking and elder adult abuse, like
victims of domestic violence, to obtain timely police reports
free of charge. This bill is supported by the California
Partnership to End Domestic Violence and the California State
Sheriffs' Association. It has no known opposition.
SUMMARY: Allows a victim of specified crimes to receive a
timely copy of his or her law enforcement incident report, free
of charge. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires law enforcement to provide, without charge and within
a specified timeframe, a copy of all incident reports and all
incident report face sheets to victims of sexual assault,
stalking, human trafficking, and elder or dependent adult
abuse, all as defined, or the victims' representatives.
2)Clarifies what a victim's representative must provide in order
to obtain the incident report.
EXISTING LAW:
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1)Provides that a court may issue a temporary restraining order
for domestic violence prevention, as specified. (Family Code
Sections 6220, 6300 et seq.)
2)Provides that a court may issue a temporary restraining order
for civil harassment, as specified, which may prevent an
abuser from, among other things, stalking and sexually
assaulting the victim. (Code of Civil Procedure Section
527.6.)
3)Provides that a court may issue a temporary restraining order
for elder or dependent adult abuse, as specified. (Welfare
and Institutions Code Section 15657.03(c).)
4)Requires law enforcement to complete a domestic violence
incident report for each domestic violence-related call, as
specified. (Penal Code Section 13730.)
5)Requires law enforcement to provide, without charge, a copy of
all domestic violence incident report face sheets and all
domestic violence incident reports to the victim of domestic
violence or his or her representative, as provided. Defines
who may be a representative for a living or deceased victim
and what that representative must provide to law enforcement
in order to be given a copy of the incident report. Requires
that a copy of the report be provided within 48 hours of its
request, except for good cause, as provided. (Family Code
Section 6228.)
6)Allows a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault,
stalking, human trafficking, or elder or dependent adult abuse
to terminate a residential lease early if he or she is able to
provide the landlord with specified documentation attesting
that he or she is a survivor of abuse or violence. Permitted
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documentation includes a restraining order or a copy of a
police report. (Civil Code Section 1946.7.)
7)Protects a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or
stalking, as defined, from employment discrimination and
retaliation if the victim provides notice to the employer of
that status or the employer has actual knowledge of that
status and allows the victim to take time off from work, as
provided. Requires, in certain situations, for the employee
to provide the employer with certification of his or her
status as a victim and provides that such certification can
include a police report indicating that the employee is a
victim. (Labor Code Sections 230 and 230.1.)
FISCAL EFFECT: As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.
COMMENTS: California has established various legal avenues to
help protect victims of domestic violence and other similar
crimes from further abuse and allow them to heal. These victims
can obtain restraining orders to keep their abusers away and
help prevent further abuse. (See, e.g., Family Code Section
6320.) They can terminate a lease early and move to a safer
location. (Civil Code Section 1946.7.) They can also take time
off from work, without risk of losing their job, to obtain a
restraining order or, for larger employers, to obtain specified
services to increase their safety, such as participation in
safety planning and psychological counseling. (Labor Code
Sections 230-230.1.) Employers are also required to provide
reasonable accommodations to help ensure the safety of these
victims while they are at work. (Labor Code Section 230.)
To be able to obtain these legal protections, victims must
prove, whether to the court, their landlord or their employer,
that they are indeed victims. Obviously, a court requires
evidence before issuing a restraining order. (See Family Code
Section 6300.) Similarly, both the employment protections and
the tenancy termination protections require proof of the abuse.
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(Labor Code Section 230(d)(2); Civil Code Section 1946.7(b).)
One of the easiest ways to establish the necessary proof is with
a police report. Police reports may be evidence for a court to
consider when determining whether to issue a protective order
for the victim. Additionally, both the employee and tenancy
termination protections specifically allow the police report as
proof of the underlying abuse. ((Labor Code Section
230(d)(2)(A); Civil Code Section 1946.7(b)(2).)
Originally, victims had to write and request copies of those
reports, which were then provided by mail, a process that often
took several weeks. That delay prejudiced victims in their
ability to present a case for a protective order. In 1999, the
Legislature required that domestic violence victims be provided
with an expedited and affordable method for obtaining these
important reports. (AB 403 (Romero), Chap. 1022, Stats. 1999.)
Under that legislation, a victim of domestic violence or his or
her representative, must be provided, within 48 hours of
request, a copy of the police report at no cost. However,
current law does not require that victims of sexual assault,
stalking, human trafficking or elder adult abuse also receive
timely and free copies of their police reports. This bill
corrects that oversight and allows victims of sexual assault,
stalking, human trafficking or elder adult abuse, like victims
of domestic violence, to obtain timely police reports free of
charge.
In support of the bill, the author writes:
Currently domestic violence victims are granted one free
police report upon request. Sexual assault, stalking, human
trafficking, and elder abuse victims often seek the same
protections that domestic violence victims do, however,
they may not be classified as a "domestic violence" case on
their report. That prevents them from receiving a free
police report they would have received if they were
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classified under "domestic violence." This adds a
financial burden to their already stressful situation,
especially in cases where victims need to pay for multiple
reports in order [to chronicle] the events of abuse to
build or strengthen their case. . . .
AB 1678 will ensure that domestic crime victims also have
access to a free police report and that access should not
be hindered by the lack of money.
While police reports are free to victims of domestic violence,
currently local law enforcement can decide what to charge
victims of similar crimes for copies of their police reports.
The author reports that these local agencies today charge up to
$30 for reports, with Los Angeles County charging $24. By
contrast, San Francisco provides the reports for free.
By increasing the availability of timely and no-cost police
reports to victims of sexual assault, stalking, human
trafficking and elder abuse, this bill improves the likelihood
that these victims will have the required evidence to secure
needed protective orders against their abusers. They will also
be able to better protect themselves by terminating a lease
early and moving to a safer location or taking time off from
work to get needed services and, if necessary, to be provided
reasonable safety accommodations, all without risk of losing
their jobs.
This bill also restates who is considered a representative of a
victim, for both living and deceased victims, for purposes of
collecting the free police reports, and what those
representatives must present to law enforcement in order to
collect the reports. The changes to the law proposed by this
bill do not make any substantive changes. Rather, they simply
restate the provisions in a way that is easier to understand.
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: In support of the bill, the California
Partnership to End Domestic Violence writes:
State law currently allows domestic violence victims [] to
request and receive one free copy of their police report from
law enforcement agencies. For victioms of non-domestic
violence crimes police reports are made available for up to a
thirty dollar fee. Currently, local and state agencies are
able to decide how mcuh, is at all, they will chanrge for a
police reprort. For survivors with limited financial
resources, this is an additional burden to accessing needed
documentation of their victimization. A copy of the police
report can be needed by survivors as documentation to take
time off of work, to terminate their lease early and relocate
for their safety, and to request a good cause waiver for
certain CalWORKs requirements, among other uses.
By ensuring that survivors of these crimes can receive a copy
of their police report free of charge, AB 1678 will eliminate
an unnecessary financial burden for survivors trying to access
needed legal relief and recover from abuse.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
California State Sheriffs' Association
AB 1678
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Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334