BILL NUMBER: AB 1680	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 5, 2016

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Rodriguez

                        JANUARY 19, 2016

   An act to amend Section 402 of the Penal Code, relating to crimes.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1680, as amended, Rodriguez. Crimes: emergency personnel.
   Existing law provides that every person who goes to the scene of
an emergency or stops at the scene of an emergency, for the purpose
of viewing the scene or the activities of police officers,
firefighters, emergency medical, or other emergency personnel, or
military personnel coping with the emergency in the course of their
duties during the time it is necessary for emergency vehicles or
those personnel to be at the scene of the emergency or to be moving
to or from the scene of the emergency for the purpose of protecting
lives or property, unless it is part of the duties of that person's
employment to view that scene or  those  activities, and
thereby impedes police officers, firefighters, emergency medical, or
other emergency personnel or military personnel, in the performance
of their duties in coping with the emergency, is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
   This bill would include, for purposes of these provisions, the
operation or use of an unmanned aerial vehicle, remote piloted
aircraft, or  drones   drone, regardless of the
operator's location,  in the definition of a person. By
expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would create a
state-mandated local program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 402 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   402.  (a)  (1)    Every person who goes to the
scene of an emergency, or stops at the scene of an emergency, for the
purpose of viewing the scene or the activities of police officers,
firefighters, emergency medical, or other emergency personnel, or
military personnel coping with the emergency in the course of their
duties during the time it is necessary for emergency vehicles or
those personnel to be at the scene of the emergency or to be moving
to or from the scene of the emergency for the purpose of protecting
lives or property, unless it is part of the duties of that person's
employment to view that scene or  those  activities, and
thereby impedes police officers, firefighters, emergency medical, or
other emergency personnel or military personnel, in the performance
of their duties in coping with the emergency, is guilty of a
misdemeanor.  For purposes of this subdivision, a person
shall include a person who operates or uses an unmanned aerial
vehicle, remote piloted aircraft, or drone.  
   (2) For purposes of this subdivision, a person shall include a
person, regardless of his or her location, who operates or uses an
unmanned aerial vehicle, remote piloted aircraft, or drone that is at
the scene of an emergency. 
   (b) Every person who knowingly resists or interferes with the
lawful efforts of a lifeguard in the discharge or attempted discharge
of an official duty in an emergency situation, when the person knows
or reasonably should know that the lifeguard is engaged in the
performance of his or her official duty, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
   (c) For the purposes of this section, an emergency includes a
condition or situation involving injury to persons, damage to
property, or peril to the safety of persons or property, which
results from a fire, an explosion, an airplane crash, flooding,
windstorm damage, a railroad accident, a traffic accident, a 
power plant   powerplant  accident, a toxic
chemical or biological spill, or any other natural or human-caused
event.
  SEC. 2.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.