BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2202
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 19, 2016
Counsel: David Billingsley
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr., Chair
AB
2202 (Baker) - As Introduced February 18, 2016
SUMMARY: Requires the Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) to
allocate and award funds for the purposes of establishing the
Human Trafficking Prevention Vertical Prosecution Program.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires CalOES to allocate and award funds to up to 11
district attorney offices that employ a vertical prosecution
methodology for the prosecution of human trafficking crimes.
2)Requires each county selected for funding meet all of the
following minimum requirements:
(a) Employ a vertical prosecution methodology for human
trafficking crimes;
(b) Require that a county selected for funding dedicate at
least one-half of the time of one deputy district attorney
and one-half of the time of one district attorney
investigator solely to the investigation and prosecution of
human trafficking crime;
AB 2202
Page 2
(c) Provide Cal OES with annual data on the number of human
trafficking cases filed by that county, the number of human
trafficking convictions obtained, and the sentences imposed
for those convicted of human trafficking in that county;
(d) Enter into an agreement, either by contract or by a
memorandum of understanding, with an advocacy agency funded
by CalOES that provides services, counseling, or both, to
victims of human trafficking in order to ensure that
victims and witnesses of human trafficking, as appropriate,
receive services; and
(e) Funding received by district attorney offices pursuant
to this program shall be used to supplement, and not
supplant, existing financial resources.
1)Requires CalOES, on or before January 1, 2019, to submit to
the Legislature and the Governor's Office a report that
describes the counties that received funding pursuant to this
program, the number of prosecutions for human trafficking
cases filed by the counties receiving funding, the number of
human trafficking convictions obtained by those counties, and
the sentences imposed for human trafficking crimes in those
counties.
2)Appropriates two million six hundred thousand dollars
($2,600,000) from the General Fund to CalOES for the purpose
of funding the Human Trafficking Prevention Vertical
Prosecution Program
3)Sunsets the provisions of this bill on January 1, 2021.
AB 2202
Page 3
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the Office of Emergency Services (OES) by the
Governor's Reorganization Plan No.2, operative July 1, 2013.
(AB 1317 (Frazier), Chapter 352, Statutes of 2013.)
2)States that the Office of Emergency Services exists within the
Governor's office. (Gov. Code, § 8585, subd. (a).)
3)States that the Office of Emergency Services shall be
responsible for the state's emergency and disaster response
services for natural, technological, or manmade disasters and
emergencies, including responsibility for activities necessary
to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects
of emergencies and disasters to people and property. (Gov.
Code, § 8585, subd. (e).)
4)Specifies that during a state of emergency or a local
emergency, the secretary shall coordinate the emergency
activities of all state agencies in connection with that
emergency, and every state agency and officer shall cooperate
with the secretary in rendering all possible assistance in
carrying out the provisions of this chapter. (Gov. Code, §
8587, subd. (a).)
5)In addition to the powers designated in this section, the
Governor may delegate any of the powers vested in him or her
under this chapter to the secretary except the power to make,
amend, and rescind orders and regulations, and the power to
proclaim a state of emergency. (Gov. Code, § 8587, subd. (b).)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "Increasing
funding to supplement current vertical prosecution programs in
California will provide valuable resources to these programs
AB 2202
Page 4
and help further efforts to prosecute and convict human
traffickers. Providing this support to vertical prosecution is
one of the single most effective ways to get perpetrators
behind bars for the crime of human trafficking."
2)DOJ Report: According to the California Department of Justice
(DOJ), human trafficking is the world's fastest growing
criminal enterprise and is an estimated $32 billion-a-year
global industry. In their 2012 report, "The State of Human
Trafficking in California," DOJ states from mid-2010 to
mid-2012, California's nine regional human trafficking task
forces identified 1,277 victims, initiated 2,552
investigations, and arrested 1,798 individuals. The public
perception is that human trafficking victims are from other
countries, but data from California's task forces indicate
that the vast majority are American-72% of human trafficking
victims whose country of origin was identified were U.S.
residents. The report also states that labor trafficking are
under-reported and under-investigated as compared to sex
trafficking-56% of victims who received services through
California's task forces were identified as sex trafficking
victims. Yet, data from other sources indicate that labor
trafficking is 3.5 times as prevalent as sex trafficking
worldwide.
The report also identifies ways to combat human trafficking; and
opportunities in protecting and assisting victims and bringing
traffickers to justice. Specifically, the report states that
a vertical prosecution model run outside routine vice
operations can help law enforcement better protect victims and
improve prosecutions.
3)OCJP and CalOES: The former Governor's Office of Criminal
Justice Planning (OCJP) was established in 1968 to provide
funding for criminal justice and victim assistance programs.
OCJP was abolished in the 2003-2004 State Budget on December
31, 2003. All of the programs, with the exception of those in
the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Branch (which
transferred to the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation), were incorporated into CalOES. Many of these
programs include criminal justice and victim service grant
programs administered by CalOES. Programs include:
AB 2202
Page 5
a) Violence Against Women Vertical Prosecution Program (VV
Program) - The VV Program is designed to improve the
criminal justice system's response to violent crimes
against women through a coordinated multidisciplinary
response. This is achieved through the creation or
enhancement of a specialized unit, which focuses on the
vertical prosecution of the defendant and services for the
victim(s);
b) Unserved/Underserved Victim Advocacy and Outreach
Program (UV Program) - The primary purpose of the UV
Program is to focus on service delivery to victims of
violent crime within unserved/underserved and socially
isolated populations. In addition, it is designed to
promote awareness and to improve knowledge about accessing
local services available to crime victims; and
c) Human Trafficking Advocate Program (HA Program) - The HA
Program provides funding to 10 Victim/Witness Assistance
Centers to provide additional support, such as, hiring
additional staff, identifying additional human trafficking
victims, and providing comprehensive services to victims of
human trafficking.
4)Federal Grant Money to Combat Human Trafficking: On September
24, 2015, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced $44
million in grant money to combat human trafficking and support
survivors. The grants will be administered by the Office of
Justice Programs' Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Office of
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office of
Victims of Crime and the National Institute of Justice. The
grants are intended to fund efforts across the country to
fight human trafficking, to provide services for survivors and
to expand research going forward. More than $22.7 million to
support 16 anti-human trafficking task forces across the
country. Within each task force location, the office of
Justice Programs' Bureau of Justice Assistance, will make one
award to a lead law enforcement agency and Office for Victims
of Crime will make one to the lead victim service provider.
AB 2202
Page 6
The grantees will work collaboratively with other key members
of the taskforce, including the U.S. Attorney's Office, local
prosecutor's office, federal, state and local law enforcement
agencies and community and system-based providers.
( https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-lynch-announce
s-44-million-grant-funding-combat-human-trafficking-and )
Of that grant money $1.5 million is directed to the Los Angeles
County Area. $750,000 goes to Los Angeles County and $750,000
goes to Coalition Against Slavery and Trafficking. $1.4
million goes to the Riverside County Area. $900,000 to
Riverside County and $500,000 to Operations SafeHouse.
( http://ojp.gov/newsroom/pdfs/HT_Full_Chart_V.3.pdf )
5)Argument in Support: According to Nancy O'Malley, District
Attorney of Alameda County, "Human trafficking is a form of
modern day slavery, one that involves the use of force, fraud,
or coercion to recruit, harbor, transport, provide, or obtain
a person for the purposes of labor or sexual exploitation.
Vertical prosecution teams are the most effective in
prosecuting human trafficking. Vertical prosecution units
involve one or more attorneys who handle a specific type of
case, here, from arraignment to conviction, as opposed to
different attorneys handling different states of prosecution.
This means district attorneys (DA's) are able to specialize in
the uniquely challenging features of prosecuting human
trafficking. It also means the victim, who is already facing
a difficult ant emotional process, does not have to develop a
new relationship with a new prosecutor at each stage of the
case. Vertical prosecution units also work closely with law
enforcement during investigations. This is a method that is
often employed in human trafficking cases because it allows
the prosecution team to give valuable feedback on the key
evidence that law enforcement should seek to collect, and
facilitates the victims' sustained participation in cases that
are otherwise already difficult to prosecute.
"Increasing funding to supplement current vertical prosecution
programs in California will provide valuable resources to
these programs and help further efforts to prosecute and
convict human traffickers. Proving this support to vertical
prosecution is one of the single most effective ways to get
AB 2202
Page 7
perpetrators behind bars for the crime of human trafficking."
6)Related Legislation:
a) AB 1730 (Atkins), authorizes the chief probation officer
of a county to create a program to provide services to
youth within the county that address the need for services
relating to the commercial sexual exploitation of youth.
AB 1730 is pending hearing in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
b) AB 1731 (Atkins), creates the Statewide Interagency
Human Trafficking Task Force to gather statewide data on
human trafficking, to recommend interagency protocols and
best practices for training and outreach to law
enforcement, victim service providers, and other state and
private sector employees likely to encounter sex
trafficking, and to evaluate and implement approaches to
increase public awareness about human trafficking. AB 1731
is pending hearing in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
7)Prior Legislation:
a) AB 1623 (Atkins), Chapter 85, Statutes of 2014,
authorizes a local government or nonprofit organization to
establish a family justice center to assist specified types
of crime victims, including victims of human trafficking.
b) SB 1279 (Pavley), Chapter 116, Statutes of 2010,
established a pilot project in Los Angeles County to
create, implement, and deliver standardized training
curricula that would provide a protocol for law enforcement
and social services to assess and recognize sexually
exploited minors within the juvenile justice system.
c) AB 499 (Swanson), Chapter 359, Statutes of 2008,
established a pilot project in Alameda County to create,
implement, and deliver standardized training curricula that
would provide a protocol for law enforcement and social
services to assess and recognize sexually exploited minors
within the juvenile justice system.
AB 2202
Page 8
d) SB 180 (Kuehl), Chapter 239, Statutes of 2005,
established the California Alliance to Combat Trafficking
and Slavery Task Force and requires it to evaluate various
programs available to victims of trafficking and various
criminal statutes addressing human trafficking.
e) AB 22 (Lieber), Chapter 240, Statutes of 2005, created
the California Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which
established civil and criminal penalties for human
trafficking and allowed for forfeiture of assets derived
from human trafficking. In addition, the Act required law
enforcement agencies to provide Law Enforcement Agency
Endorsement to trafficking victims, providing trafficking
victims with protection from deportation and created the
human trafficking task force
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California District Attorneys Association
County of San Bernardino
Nancy E. O'Malley, District Attorney of Alameda County
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared
by: David Billingsley / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
AB 2202
Page 9