BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1872
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 15, 2016
Chief Counsel: Gregory Pagan
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr., Chair
AB
1872 (Gray) - As Amended March 8, 2016
SUMMARY: Makes deputy sheriffs employed by the county of Merced
assigned to perform custodial duties peace officers while
engaged in the performance of the duties of their employment,
and appropriates $1,315,000 from the General Fund to be
allocated to the University of California (UC), Merced for the
purpose of purchasing public safety equipment. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Adds the County of Merced to the list of specified counties
within which deputy sheriffs assigned to perform duties
exclusively or initially relating to custodial assignments
with responsibility for operating a county custodial facility
are peace officers whose authority extends to any place in the
state while engaged in the performance of the duties of his or
her respective employment.
2)Appropriates one million three hundred and fifteen thousand
dollars ($1,315,000) from the General Fund to the Regents of
UC, for allocation to UC, Merced, for the following public
safety purposes:
a) Forty thousand dollars ($40,000) for two mobile traffic
AB 1872
Page 2
message boards;
b) Three thousand dollars ($3,000) for two fire area of
refuge consoles;
c) Eighteen thousand dollars ($18,000) for fire
extinguisher training equipment;
d) Twenty-four thousand dollars ($24,000) for three fixed
license plate recognition (LPR) camera systems;
e) One hundred forty thousand dollars ($140,000) for 40
EvacuChairs;
f) Fifty-two thousand dollars ($52,000) for 40 automated
external defibrillators with training equipment;
g) Four hundred twenty thousand dollars ($420,000) for a
mobile incident management vehicle and equipment;
h) One hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) for a
mobile use of force options system;
i) Thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) for six mobile
computers with service;
AB 1872
Page 3
j) Forty-two thousand dollars ($42,000) for six in-car
video systems;
aa) Ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for two vehicle mounted
LPR camera systems;
bb) Fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for one Cellebrite
system;
cc) Seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) for one crime
scene mapping system;
dd) Sixty thousand dollars ($60,000) for three portable
wireless camera systems;
ee) Thirty-six thousand dollars ($36,000) for 360 crowd
control barriers; and,
ff) Two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) for safety
improvements to an energy dissipator on Fairfield Canal.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Provides that any deputy sheriff of the Counties of Los
Angeles, 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
AB 1872
Page 4
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 California 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 custodial assignments or when performing other law
enforcement duties directed by his or her employing agency
during a local state of emergency. (Pen. Code, §830.1, subd.
(c).)
2)Provides that all cities and counties are authorized to employ
custodial officers who are public officers but not peace
officers for the purpose of maintaining order in local
detention facilities. Custodial officers under this section
do not have the right to carry or possess firearms in the
performance of his or her duties. However, custodial officers
may use reasonable force to establish and maintain custody and
may make arrests for misdemeanors and felonies pursuant to a
warrant. (Pen. Code, § 831.)
3)Provides that notwithstanding existing law, law enforcement
agencies in counties with a population of 425,000 or less and
the Counties of San Diego, Fresno, Kern, Riverside, Santa
Clara, and Stanislaus may employ custodial officers with
enhanced powers. The enhanced powers custodial officers are
empowered to serve warrants, writs, or subpoenas within the
custodial facility and, as with regular custodial officers,
use reasonable force to establish and maintain custody. (Pen.
Code § 831.5, subd. (a).
4)Provides that prior to the exercise of peace officer powers,
every peace officer shall have satisfactorily completed the
Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST)
course. (Pen. Code § 832, subd. (b).)
AB 1872
Page 5
5)Provides that the enhanced powers custodial officers may carry
firearms under the direction of the sheriff while fulfilling
specified job-related duties such as while assigned as a court
bailiff, transporting prisoners, guarding hospitalized
prisoners, or suppressing jail riots, escapes, or rescues.
(Pen. Code § 831.5, subd. (b).)
6)Provides that enhanced powers custodial officers may also make
warrantless arrests within the facility. (Pen. Code, §831.5,
subd. (f).)
7)Provides that every peace officer shall satisfactorily
complete an introductory course of training prescribed by POST
and that, after July 1, 1989, satisfactory completion of the
course shall be demonstrated by passage of an appropriate
examination developed or approved by POST. (Pen. Code § 832,
subd. (a).)
8)Provides that prior to the exercise of peace officer powers,
every peace officer shall have satisfactorily completed the
POST course. (Pen. Code, § 832, subd. (b).)
9)Provides that a person shall not have the powers of a peace
officer until he or she has satisfactorily completed the POST
course. (Pen. Code, § 832, subd. (c).)
10) Provides that any person completing the POST training who
does not become employed as a peace officer within three years
from the date of passing the examination, or who has a
three-year or longer break in service as a peace officer,
shall pass the examination prior to the exercise of powers as
a peace officer, except as specified. (Pen. Code, § 832,
subd. (e)(1).)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "According to
the California Department of Justice's 2014 homicide
statistics, Merced County has the highest homicide rate in the
state among counties with populations of 100,000 or more. The
AB 1872
Page 6
Merced County Sheriff's Office and local police departments
continue to have difficulties filling deputy sheriff and
police officer vacancies. For example, Merced County currently
has 21 deputy sheriff vacancies and continues to experience
double digit unemployment and significantly higher poverty
rates than the rest of the state. AB 1872 will help Merced
County maximize its existing law enforcement resources and
join the 32 other counties in California that currently have
this status.
"Also, this bill appropriates $1,315,000 to UC Merced for
purposes of purchasing public safety equipment. During the
initial growth of the UC Merced campus, some areas related to
safety were under-resourced and do not presently have the
safety equipment of the sister UC campuses in the police and
fire areas. Although the November 4, 2015 incident on the UC
Merced campus was handled in a professional manner by the
responding UC Merced Police Officers, it caused the Assistant
Vice Chancellor for Campus and Public Safety to conduct a
review of safety equipment available to police and fire during
and after an emergency situation or major event. After
consultation with other UC Chiefs of Police and first
responder partners, a list of equipment was developed which
would benefit not only the UC Merced campus, but also the
larger Merced city and county region."
2)Argument in Support: The Merced County Law Enforcement
Chief's Association states, "The Merced County Sheriff's
Office and local police departments continue to have
difficulty in filling deputy sheriff and police officer
vacancies. This legislation is necessary to relieve
significant staffing issues. The following are examples of
how this legislation will benefit the Merced County Sheriff's
Office:
"Correctional staff can be deployed to positions requiring peace
officer powers during a local state of emergency. In past
emergencies, correctional officers were unable to assist in
the field. During an emergency such as a flood, major fire,
or mass casualty event, the use of correctional officers could
provide the sheriff's office more flexibility and assistance
for field deputies. An example would be the recent event at
AB 1872
Page 7
U.C. Merced. Correctional staff could have handled traffic
control freeing up deputies for other duties.
"Correctional staff conduct exterior security perimeter checks
of jail facilities. Their authority to detain or arrest a
violator outside of the jail is limited to that of any other
citizen. If these employees had peace officer status, they
could detain and potentially arrest offenders.
"On a routine basis, people will arrive at the jail lobby to
surrender themselves on an outstanding warrant. The law does
not allow non-peace officers to make warrant arrests outside
the jail. Consequently, if there are no peace officers in the
building, one must be called in from patrol in order to make
an arrest.
"Penal Code 831.5(D) states any time there are 20 or more
correctional officers on duty, there shall be one peace
officer on duty to supervise the performance of the
correctional officers. Future jail consolidation and
expansion plans at the John Latorroca Correctional Center
could exceed this staffing number and Penal Code 830.1(c)
would remedy this issue.
"Correctional staff could be utilized in criminal courtrooms
allowing deputies to be utilized for patrol duties."
3)Prior Legislation:
a) SB 1254(La Malfa), Chapter 66, Statutes of 2012, added
Trinity and Yuba Counties to the list of specified counties
within which deputy sheriffs assigned to perform duties
exclusively or initially related to custodial assignments
are peace officers whose authority extends to any place in
the state while engaged in the duties of his or her
respective employment .
b) AB 1695(Bell), Chapter 575, Statutes of 2010, allowed
the duties of custodial officers employed by the Santa
Clara County Department of Corrections to be performed at
other health care facilities in Santa Clara County, in
addition to their duties performed at the Santa Clara
AB 1872
Page 8
Valley Medical Center.
c) AB 2215 (Berryhill), Chapter 15, Statutes of 2008, added
Calaveras, Lake, Mariposa, and San Benito Counties to the
list of specified counties within which deputy sheriffs
assigned to perform duties exclusively or initially related
to custodial assignments are peace officers whose authority
extends to any place in the state while engaged in the
duties of his or her respective employment .
d) AB 151 (Beryhill), Chapter 84, Statutes of 2007, added
Glenn, Lassen, and Stanislaus to the list of specified
counties within which deputy sheriffs assigned to perform
duties exclusively or initially related to custodial
assignments are peace officers whose authority extends to
any place in the state while engaged in the duties of his
or her respective employment .
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Merced County Sheriff's Office
Merced County Law Enforcement Chief's Association
Merced County Law Enforcement Sergeant's Association
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared
by: Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
AB 1872
Page 9