BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2361
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
2361 (Santiago)
As Amended April 19, 2016
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Public Safety |7-0 |Jones-Sawyer, | |
| | |Melendez, Lackey, | |
| | |Lopez, Low, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Authorizes security guards employed by the University
of Southern California (USC) to be appointed as peace officers
while enforcing the law on the USC campus and surrounding
university property. Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides that a security guard regularly employed by the USC
is a peace officer during the course and within the scope of
his or her employment with the USC, provided that such
officers shall not exercise their powers or authority, except
upon the campuses of the University of Southern and an area
within one mile of the exterior boundaries of each thereof, in
or about other grounds or properties, owned, operated,
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controlled, or administered USC.
2)States that in order to implement the authority of the state
to grant police powers, the local law enforcement shall enter
into a memorandum of understanding which implements the
exercise of authority granted by the state, and shall be
recognized and duly enforced.
3)Provides that the local law enforcement agency, or the chief
or head of the department of public safety of the USC shall
designate security officers as peace officers, as specified.
4)States that before exercising the powers of a peace officer, a
person designated as a USC peace officer shall undergo a
background check, and successfully complete a course of
training prescribed by the Commission on Peace Officer
Standards and Training (POST).
5)Provides that persons designated as USC peace officers shall
maintain the same continuous professional training (including
perishable skills training) as required by POST with respect
to duties having responsibility for the prevention and
detection of crime and the general enforcement of the criminal
laws of this state; provided, however, that persons designated
as peace officers shall not be reimbursed with state funds for
any training he or she receives.
6)States person designated as a USC peace officer shall have all
the authority, rights, powers, duties, responsibilities, and
status afforded to peace officers under other sections of the
law, whether or not USC peace officer is referenced therein,
with the exception of retirement, workers' compensation, or
similar injury or death benefits, or other employee benefits
for which peace officers in this state are eligible. Vehicles
owned by USC which are specifically designated for use by
persons designated as USC peace officers shall be deemed
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authorized emergency vehicles for all purposes of the law
within the institution's jurisdiction.
7)Provides that a person appointed as a USC peace officer may
carry a firearm in the course of his or her duties only if
authorized and under the terms and conditions of his or her
employing agency.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires that any person or persons desiring peace officer
status under Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of
Title 3 of Part 2 who, on January 1, 1990, were not entitled
to be designated as peace officers under that chapter shall
request the POST to undertake a feasibility study regarding
designating that person or persons as peace officers. The
request and study shall be undertaken in accordance with
regulations adopted by POST. POST may charge any person, with
specified exceptions, requesting a study, a fee, not to exceed
the actual cost of undertaking the study.
2)Provides that any study undertaken under this article shall
include, but shall not be limited to, the current and proposed
duties and responsibilities of persons employed in the
category seeking the designation change, their field law
enforcement duties and responsibilities, their supervisory and
management structure, their proposed training methods and
funding sources and the extent to which their current duties
and responsibilities require additional peace officer powers
and authority.
3)Defines "independent institutions of higher education" as
those nonpublic higher education institutions that grant
undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees, or both, and are
formed as nonprofit corporations in this state and are
accredited by an agency recognized by the United States
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Department of Education (USDOE).
4)Provides that every peace officer shall satisfactorily
complete an introductory course of training prescribed by the
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.
5)Provides that prior to the exercise of peace officer powers,
every peace officer shall have satisfactorily completed the
POST course.
6)Provides that a person shall not have the powers of a peace
officer until he or she has satisfactorily completed the POST
course.
7)Provides that the following are peace offices, who may carry
firearms only if authorized and under terms and conditions
specified by their employing agency, whose authority extends
to any place in California for the purpose of performing their
primary duty, or when making an arrest for a public offense
where there is immediate danger to a person or property or to
prevent the perpetrator's escape, as specified, or during a
state of emergency, as specified:
a) Members of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit
District Police Department if their primary duty is
enforcement of the law in or about property owned, operated
or administered by the district or when performing a
necessary duty with respect to patrons, employees and
properties of the district.
b) Harbor or port police if their primary duty is
enforcement of law in or about property owned, operated or
administered by harbor or port or when performing a
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necessary duty with respect to patrons, employees and
properties of the harbor or port.
c) Transit police officers or peace offices of a county,
city, transit development board or district if the primary
duty is the enforcement of the law in or abut property
owned, operated or administered by the employing agency or
when performing a necessary duty with respect to patrons,
employees and properties of the employing agency.
d) Persons employed as airport law enforcement officers by
a city, county or district operating the airport or a joint
powers agency operating the airport if their primary duty
is the enforcement of the law in or about property owned,
operated and administered by the employing agency or when
performing a necessary duty with respect to patrons,
employees and properties of the employing agency.
e) Railroad police officers commissioned by the Governor if
their primary duty is the enforcement of the law in or
about property owned, operated or administered by the
employing agency or when performing necessary duties with
respect to patrons, employees and properties of the
employing agency.
8)Provides that numerous types of publicly employed security
officers are granted the powers of arrest of a peace officer
although they are not peace officers. These persons may
exercise the powers of arrest of a peace officer, as
specified, during the course and within the scope of their
employment if they successfully complete a course in the
exercise of those powers, as specified, which has been
certified by POST. Persons currently granted such powers are:
a) Persons designated by a cemetery authority, as
specified;
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b) Persons regularly employed as security officers for
independent institutions of higher education, as specified,
if the institution has concluded a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) permitting the exercise of that
authority with the sheriff or the chief of police within
whose jurisdiction the institution lies;
c) Persons regularly employed as security officers for
health facilities, as specified, that are owned and
operated by cities, counties, and cities and counties if
the facility has concluded a MOU permitting the exercise of
that authority with the sheriff or the chief of police
within whose jurisdiction the facility lies;
d) Employees or classes of employees of the California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDFFP)
designated by the CDFFP Director, provided that the primary
duty of the employee shall be the enforcement of the law,
as specified;
e) Persons regularly employed as inspectors, supervisors,
or security officers for transit districts, as specified,
if the district has concluded a MOU permitting the exercise
of that authority with, as applicable, the sheriff, the
chief of police, or the Department of the California
Highway Patrol within whose jurisdiction the district lies;
f) Non-peace officers regularly employed as county parole
officers, as specified;
g) Persons appointed by the Executive Director of the
California Science Center, as specified; and,
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h) Persons regularly employed as investigators, as
specified, by the Department of Transportation for the City
of Los Angeles and designated by local ordinance as public
officers to the extent necessary to enforce laws related to
public transportation and authorized by a MOU with the
chief of police permitting the exercise of that authority.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS: "AB 2361 authorizes security guards employed by USC
to be appointed as peace officer when enforcing the law on the
USC campus, provided (1) the institution has a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) with local law enforcement that permits this
action and (2) the individual has completed the regular basic
course as prescribed by POST. This measure will improve campus
safety by affording independent college public safety
departments the same status given to public university public
safety departments, all while ensuring these departments remain
under the control of local law enforcement."
Analysis Prepared by:
Gregory Pagan/ PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN:
0002734
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