BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1769
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 15, 2016
Consultant: Matt Dean
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr., Chair
AB
1769 (Rodriguez) - As Introduced February 3, 2016
As Proposed to be Amended in Committee
SUMMARY: Prohibits contacting the 911 system via electronic
communication -such as texting- for the purpose of annoying,
harassing, or any purpose other than an emergency.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Prohibits the use of electronic communications for the purpose
of annoying or harassing an individual through the 911 system.
2)States that the intent to annoy or harass is established by
proof of repeated communications that are unreasonable under
the circumstances.
3)States that anyone of who knowingly contacts the 911 system
via electronic communication for any reason other than an
emergency is guilty of an infraction.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Prohibits the use of a telephone for the purpose of annoying
or harassing an individual through the 911 line. (Pen. Code,
§ 653x, subd. (a).)
AB 1769
Page 2
2)States that the intent to annoy or harass is established by
proof of repeated calls that are unreasonable under the
circumstances. (Pen. Code, § 653x, subd. (b).)
3)States that anyone guilty of using the 911 line to annoy or
harass is responsible for all reasonable costs incurred by the
unnecessary emergency response. (Pen. Code, § 653x, subd.
(c).)
4)States that anyone who knowingly uses the 911 telephone system
for any reason other than because of an emergency is guilty of
an infraction, punishable by a warning for a first offense,
and fines for subsequent offenses. (Pen. Code, § 653y)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "Calling 911from
a phone in California connects you with the emergency
telephone response system. A "legacy system," it was first
established in California in the early 1970s to summon aid for
medical, law enforcement, and fire department emergencies.
"The 911 system was initially designed and developed for use
with landlines. With the advent of cellular phones, the 911
landline system was adopted to use this new technology but has
not significantly changed to reflect problems with the use of
this new technology.
"California is currently in the process of adopting what is
referred to as Next Generation 911 or NextGen911. This is an
effort aimed at updating the 911 service infrastructure to
improve public emergency communications services in an
increasingly wireless mobile society by enabling the public to
transmit text, images, video and other electronic data to a
911 center. NextGen911 is a digital system that will give
intelligent routing so all calls will be taken to the closest
dispatch center.
"Existing law contained in Section 635X of the Penal Code was
enacted to criminalize the behavior of those who fraudulently
AB 1769
Page 3
or repeatedly and unnecessarily phone the 911 system. "Tying
up the 911 system with repeated requests for aid or
fraudulently asking for police, fire, ambulances and emergency
medical resources to be sent to places where they are not
needed is not only an abuse of the system but endangers lives.
"As the technology of the 911 system changes to include texts,
emails, videos and other forms of electronic communication,
California law must also change to protect the integrity and
safety of the 911 system. San Bernardino County, one of the
first locations in California to institute NextGen911 is
already reporting nuisance texts.
"'Nuisance calls to 9-1-1 have been an issue for many years.
As the first region in the State of California to provide Text
to 9-1-1 Service for our citizens, it was evident early in the
deployment process that amending PC653x to include any
electronic device would be necessary,' stated San Bernardino
County Sheriff John McMahon."
2)Background: The Warren 911 Emergency Assistance Act
established the original 911 line in California as part of a
national push to make 911 the primary contact number for
emergencies nationwide. The Local Emergency Telephone Systems
Article required localities to develop their own system or
join a regional system for police, fire and medical emergency
dispatch using the 911 phone number rather than the thousands
of separate emergency numbers for each local department which
previously existed. The regional dispatchers who connect 911
callers to the appropriate emergency response entity are
called Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). Currently,
there are 452 PSAPs statewide receiving tens of millions of
calls each year, with approximately half of these coming from
cell phones. The volume of calls and the difficulty in
locating cell phone callers, among other issues, precipitated
the need for an upgrade to the 911 system.
The Office of Emergency Services (OES) is responsible for
planning and implementation -and therefore, upgrades- of the
911 system statewide. Through the California 911 Emergency
Communications Branch of the Logistics Operation Directorate,
AB 1769
Page 4
OES has begun the process of upgrading the 911 system as
required under the Government Code. The IP based network of
NextGen911 (NG911) will allow for capabilities such as
location based routing, policy based routing and dynamic call
routing between PSAPs. Additionally, applications like text,
video, and photos along with continual advancements in
communications technology create the desire for a more
advanced system to access emergency care. Currently, there
are five NG911 pilot programs in the state. As these expand,
the volume of text and other electronic communications to the
911system will increase.
The Penal Code provisions amended by this bill deter frivolous
or harassing calls which can clog the 911 system. The
National Emergency Number Association 911 dispatchers' goal of
answering 90% of calls in ten seconds or less not being met in
many California counties due to high volume of calls.
Frivolous calls, non-emergency calls, prank calls including
'swatting' and other harassment consume dispatchers' time and
prevent them from helping individuals in actual emergencies.
The Penal Code attempts to deter frivolous, harassing or
otherwise inappropriate non-emergency calls by imposing a
schedule of warnings and fines in the case of frivolous and
non-emergency calls, or fines and jail time for use of the 911
system to annoy or harass. However, both of these Code
Sections prohibit only telephone calls -not the other
electronic communications methods enabled by NG911 systems.
This bill would prohibit those electronic communications.
3)Argument in Support: The San Bernardino Sheriff's Department,
the sponsor of this bill, writes, "On behalf of the San
Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and all public safety
agencies in the Inland Empire, I would like to thank you for
sponsoring Assembly Bill (AB) 1769. AB 1769, which amends
Penal Code (PC) 653x to include nuisance texting. The current
law only addresses nuisance 9-1-1 phone calls.
"As of November 5, 2015, twenty-one agencies in the Inland
Empire went live with text to 9-1-1. Soon after its
inception, the command center received several nuisance text
messages. Amending PC 653x to include the nuisance 9-1-1
texting will not increase the fine or penalty. It will simply
AB 1769
Page 5
add nuisance texting to the current language."
4)Prior Legislation:
a) SB 1211 (Padilla), Chapter 926, Statutes of 2014,
requires the Office of Emergency Services to develop a plan
and timeline of target dates for testing, implementing, and
operating a Next Generation 911 emergency communication
system, including text to 911 service, throughout
California.
b) SB 333 (Lieu), Chapter 284, Statutes of 2013, makes a
person convicted of filing a false emergency report liable
to a public agency for the costs of the emergency response
by that agency.
c) AB 538 (Arambula) of the 2009-2010 Legislative Session,
would have authorized an entity that provides emergency
medical services to report a violation of this law to the
public safety entity that originally received the call. AB
538 would have required the public safety entity originally
receiving the call, if the public safety entity has
verified that a violation has occurred, to issue the
applicable warnings and citations, as specified. By
imposing new duties on local officials, AB 538 would have
imposed a state-mandated local program. AB 538 was vetoed.
d) AB 2741 (Cannella), Chapter 262, Statutes of 1994,
provides that it is a misdemeanor to telephone the 911
emergency line with the intent to annoy or harass another
person, as defined, punishable by a fine of not more than
$1,000, by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than
six months, or by both the fine and imprisonment. This
statute also provides that, upon conviction of a violation
of this provision, a person shall be liable for all
reasonable costs incurred by any unnecessary emergency
response.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
AB 1769
Page 6
San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department (Sponsor)
Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
California Association of Code Enforcement Officers
California College and University Police Chiefs Association
California Fire Chiefs Association
California Narcotics Officers Association
California Peace Officers Association
California Police Chiefs Association
California State Sheriffs Association
Fire Districts Association of California
Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Riverside Sheriffs Association
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared
by: Matt Dean / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744