BILL NUMBER: AB 2524 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 24, 2016
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 30, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 16, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 31, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 14, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Irwin
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Low, Obernolte, and Rodriguez)
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Section 21627 of the Business and Professions
Code, to amend Section 12525.2 of the Government Code, and to amend
Sections 13010, 13010.5, 13012, 13012.6, 13013, 13014, 13023, and
13519.4 of the Penal Code, relating to criminal justice.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2524, Irwin. OpenJustice Data Act of 2016.
Existing law requires the Department of Justice to collect certain
criminal justice data from specified persons and agencies, and to
present an annual report to the Governor containing the criminal
statistics of the preceding calendar year, in addition to other
reports, as specified. Existing law requires the department to
prepare and distribute to all those persons and agencies cards,
forms, or electronic means used in reporting data to the department.
This bill would instead require the department to make available
to the public information relating to criminal statistics through the
department's OpenJustice Web portal, to be updated at least once per
year, without requiring an increase in the frequency of reporting by
local agencies. The bill would require the department to evaluate,
on an annual basis, the progress of the transition from summary crime
reporting to incident-based crime reporting and to report its
findings to the Legislature annually through 2019. The bill would
also provide legislative findings and declarations relating to the
OpenJustice Web portal.
This bill would make conforming changes to related provisions
concerning the interpretation and distribution of the criminal
statistics, the maintenance of a specified data set, reports issued
by the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board, and information
about homicide, hate crimes, identity theft, stolen goods, and the
juvenile justice system. The bill would also make technical,
nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
OpenJustice Data Act of 2016.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The advent of new technology and the growth of data analytics
have dramatically enhanced both the value and the accessibility of
information, providing new opportunities for the public to engage
with the government and benefit from information possessed by the
state.
(b) The rise in digitization of information has significantly
increased the speed of communication while specifically improving the
efficiency at which documents may be shared across public agencies.
(c) The Department of Justice has traditionally maintained a
centralized data repository for public safety information collected
at the local level and submitted to the department for purposes of
aggregation, analysis, and dissemination through an annual report,
which is currently distributed as either a paper or static electronic
annual report titled Crime in California, as well as additional
specialized crime reports.
(d) In 2015, the Attorney General announced the launch of
OpenJustice, a criminal justice Web portal that features both an
interactive dashboard that provides data visualization with
accompanying analysis and an open data portal that publishes raw
data.
(e) Reinventing the department's crime reports as an Internet Web
site within the OpenJustice Web portal will enable the public to
receive dynamic, customized information that will significantly
strengthen trust, enhance government accountability, and support
real-time public policy decisionmaking.
(f) Despite the many advantages of electronic data collection,
only approximately 40 percent of local law enforcement agencies
currently submit required data sets through electronic means,
impeding the ability of the state to implement a uniform reporting
structure through which information is made available to the public
more frequently and more effectively.
(g) There are significant public benefits in modernizing how
public agencies engage with data and in encouraging the adoption of
contemporary electronic technologies to reduce the inefficiencies and
environmental impacts of paper recordkeeping.
(h) The Department of Justice is working with the Federal Bureau
of Investigation and the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics to
transition California from summary crime reporting to incident-based
crime reporting.
(i) It is the intent of the Legislature that following full
implementation of incident-based crime reporting, the Department of
Justice work to transition to exclusively electronic crime data
collection and evaluate the potential for criminal justice
statistical data to be updated on the OpenJustice Web portal at a
frequency greater than once per year.
SEC. 3. Section 21627 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
21627. (a) As used in this article, "tangible personal property"
means all secondhand tangible personal property that bears a serial
number or personalized initials or inscription or that, at the time
it is acquired by the secondhand dealer, bears evidence of having had
a serial number or personalized initials or inscription.
(b) "Tangible personal property" also means the following:
(1) All tangible personal property, new or used, including motor
vehicles, received in pledge as security for a loan by a pawnbroker.
(2) All tangible personal property that bears a serial number or
personalized initials or inscription and that is purchased by a
secondhand dealer or a pawnbroker or that, at the time of the
purchase, bears evidence of having had a serial number or
personalized initials or inscription.
(3) All tangible personal property that the Attorney General
statistically determines through the most recent Department of
Justice crime data, updated pursuant to Section 13010 of the Penal
Code, to constitute a significant class of stolen goods. A list of
that personal property shall be supplied by the Attorney General to
all local law enforcement agencies and posted on the Attorney General'
s Internet Web site. That list shall be updated annually by the
Attorney General, beginning January 1, 2016, to ensure that it
addresses current problems with stolen goods.
(c) As used in this article, "tangible personal property" does not
include any new goods or merchandise purchased from a bona fide
manufacturer or distributor or wholesaler of the new goods or
merchandise by a secondhand dealer. For the purposes of this article,
however, a secondhand dealer shall retain for one year from the date
of purchase, and shall make available for inspection by any law
enforcement officer, any receipt, invoice, bill of sale, or other
evidence of purchase of the new goods or merchandise.
(d) As used in this article, "tangible personal property" does not
include coins, monetized bullion, or commercial grade ingots of
gold, silver, or other precious metals. "Commercial grade ingots"
means 0.99 fine or finer ingots of gold, silver, palladium, or
platinum, or 0.925 fine sterling silver art bars and medallions,
provided that the ingots, art bars, and medallions are marked by the
refiner or fabricator as to their assay fineness.
(e) For purposes of this article, a "significant class of stolen
goods" means those items determined through the Department of Justice'
s most recent OpenJustice Web portal update to constitute more than
10 percent of property reported stolen in the calendar year preceding
the annual posting of the list of significant classes of stolen
goods.
SEC. 4. Section 12525.2 of the Government Code is amended to read:
12525.2. (a) Beginning January 1, 2017, each law enforcement
agency shall annually furnish to the Department of Justice, in a
manner defined and prescribed by the Attorney General, a report of
all instances when a peace officer employed by that agency is
involved in any of the following:
(1) An incident involving the shooting of a civilian by a peace
officer.
(2) An incident involving the shooting of a peace officer by a
civilian.
(3) An incident in which the use of force by a peace officer
against a civilian results in serious bodily injury or death.
(4) An incident in which use of force by a civilian against a
peace officer results in serious bodily injury or death.
(b) For each incident reported under subdivision (a), the
information reported to the Department of Justice shall include, but
not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) The gender, race, and age of each individual who was shot,
injured, or killed.
(2) The date, time, and location of the incident.
(3) Whether the civilian was armed, and, if so, the type of
weapon.
(4) The type of force used against the officer, the civilian, or
both, including the types of weapons used.
(5) The number of officers involved in the incident.
(6) The number of civilians involved in the incident.
(7) A brief description regarding the circumstances surrounding
the incident, which may include the nature of injuries to officers
and civilians and perceptions on behavior or mental disorders.
(c) Each year, the Department of Justice shall include a summary
of information contained in the reports received pursuant to
subdivision (a) through the department's OpenJustice Web portal
pursuant to Section 13010 of the Penal Code. This information shall
be classified according to the reporting law enforcement
jurisdiction. In cases involving a peace officer who is injured or
killed, the report shall list the officer's employing jurisdiction
and the jurisdiction where the injury or death occurred, if they are
not the same. This subdivision does not authorize the release to the
public of the badge number or other unique identifying information of
the peace officer involved.
(d) For purposes of this section, "serious bodily injury" means a
bodily injury that involves a substantial risk of death,
unconsciousness, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted
loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ.
SEC. 5. Section 13010 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
13010. It shall be the duty of the department:
(a) To collect data necessary for the work of the department from
all persons and agencies mentioned in Section 13020 and from any
other appropriate source.
(b) To prepare and distribute to all those persons and agencies
cards, forms, or electronic means used in reporting data to the
department. The cards, forms, or electronic means may, in addition to
other items, include items of information needed by federal bureaus
or departments engaged in the development of national and uniform
criminal statistics.
(c) To recommend the form and content of records that must be kept
by those persons and agencies in order to ensure the correct
reporting of data to the department.
(d) To instruct those persons and agencies in the installation,
maintenance, and use of those records and in the reporting of data
therefrom to the department.
(e) To process, tabulate, analyze, and interpret the data
collected from those persons and agencies.
(f) To supply, at their request, to federal bureaus or departments
engaged in the collection of national criminal statistics data they
need from this state.
(g) To make available to the public, through the department's
OpenJustice Web portal, information relating to criminal statistics,
to be updated at least once per year, and to present at other times
as the Attorney General may approve reports on special aspects of
criminal statistics. A sufficient number of copies of a downloadable
summary of this information shall be annually prepared to enable the
Attorney General to send a copy to the Governor and to all public
officials in the state dealing with criminals and to distribute them
generally in channels where they will add to the public
enlightenment. This subdivision shall not be construed to require
more frequent reporting by local agencies than what is required by
any other law.
(h) To periodically review the requirements of units of government
using criminal justice statistics, and to make recommendations for
changes it deems necessary in the design of criminal justice
statistics systems, including new techniques of collection and
processing made possible by automation.
(i) To evaluate, on an annual basis, the progress of California's
transition from summary crime reporting to incident-based crime
reporting, in alignment with the federal National Incident-Based
Reporting System, and report its findings to the Legislature annually
through 2019, pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code.
SEC. 6. Section 13010.5 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
13010.5. (a) The department shall collect data pertaining to the
juvenile justice system for criminal history and statistical
purposes. This information shall serve to assist the department,
through its bureau whose mission is to protect the rights of
children, in complying with the reporting requirement of paragraphs
(3) and (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 13012, measuring the extent
of juvenile delinquency, determining the need for, and effectiveness
of, relevant legislation, and identifying long-term trends in
juvenile delinquency. Any data collected pursuant to this section may
include criminal history information that may be used by the
department to comply with the requirements of Section 602.5 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code.
(b) Statistical data collected pursuant to this section shall be
made available to the public through the OpenJustice Web portal. The
department may make available data collected pursuant to this section
in the same manner as data collected pursuant to Section 13202.
SEC. 7. Section 13012 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
13012. (a) The information published on the OpenJustice Web
portal pursuant to Section 13010 shall contain statistics showing all
of the following:
(1) The amount and the types of offenses known to the public
authorities.
(2) The personal and social characteristics of criminals and
delinquents.
(3) The administrative actions taken by law enforcement, judicial,
penal, and correctional agencies or institutions, including those in
the juvenile justice system, in dealing with criminals or
delinquents.
(4) The administrative actions taken by law enforcement,
prosecutorial, judicial, penal, and correctional agencies or
institutions, including those in the juvenile justice system, in
dealing with minors who are the subject of a petition or hearing in
the juvenile court to transfer their case to the jurisdiction of an
adult criminal court or whose cases are directly filed or otherwise
initiated in an adult criminal court.
(5) (A) The total number of each of the following:
(i) Citizen complaints received by law enforcement agencies under
Section 832.5.
(ii) Citizen complaints alleging criminal conduct of either a
felony or a misdemeanor.
(iii) Citizen complaints alleging racial or identity profiling, as
defined in subdivision (e) of Section 13519.4. These statistics
shall be disaggregated by the specific type of racial or identity
profiling alleged, such as based on a consideration of race, color,
ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender identity or expression,
sexual orientation, or mental or physical disability.
(B) The statistics reported under this paragraph shall provide,
for each category of complaint identified under subparagraph (A), the
number of complaints within each of the following disposition
categories:
(i) "Sustained," which means that the investigation disclosed
sufficient evidence to prove the truth of allegation in the complaint
by preponderance of evidence.
(ii) "Exonerated," which means that the investigation clearly
established that the actions of the personnel that formed the basis
of the complaint are not a violation of law or agency policy.
(iii) "Not sustained," which means that the investigation failed
to disclose sufficient evidence to clearly prove or disprove the
allegation in the complaint.
(iv) "Unfounded," which means that the investigation clearly
established that the allegation is not true.
(C) The reports under subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall be made
available to the public and disaggregated for each individual law
enforcement agency.
(b) It shall be the duty of the department to give adequate
interpretation of the statistics and so to present the information
that it may be of value in guiding the policies of the Legislature
and of those in charge of the apprehension, prosecution, and
treatment of the criminals and delinquents, or concerned with the
prevention of crime and delinquency. This interpretation shall be
presented in clear and informative formats on the OpenJustice Web
portal. The Web portal shall also include statistics that are
comparable with national uniform criminal statistics published by
federal bureaus or departments heretofore mentioned.
(c) Each year, on an annual basis, the Racial and Identity
Profiling Advisory Board (RIPA), established pursuant to paragraph
(1) of subdivision (j) of Section 13519.4, shall analyze the
statistics reported pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B) of
paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) of this section. RIPA's analysis of
the complaints shall be incorporated into its annual report as
required by paragraph (3) of subdivision (j) of Section 13519.4 and
shall be published on the OpenJustice Web portal. The reports shall
not disclose the identity of peace officers.
SEC. 8. Section 13012.6 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
13012.6. The data published by the department on the OpenJustice
Web portal pursuant to Section 13010 shall include information
concerning arrests for violations of Section 530.5.
SEC. 9. Section 13013 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
13013. The department shall maintain a data set, updated
annually, that contains the number of crimes reported, number of
clearances, and clearance rates in California as reported by
individual law enforcement agencies. The data set shall be made
available through the OpenJustice Web portal. This section shall not
be construed to require reporting any crimes other than those
required by Section 13012.
SEC. 10. Section 13014 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
13014. (a) The Department of Justice shall perform the following
duties concerning the investigation and prosecution of homicide
cases:
(1) Collect information, as specified in subdivision (b), on all
persons who are the victims of, and all persons who are charged with,
homicide.
(2) Adopt and distribute, as a written form or by electronic
means, to all state and governmental entities that are responsible
for the investigation and prosecution of homicide cases, forms that
will include information to be provided to the department pursuant to
subdivision (b).
(3) Compile, collate, index, and maintain an electronic file of
the information required by subdivision (b). The file shall be
available to the general public during the normal business hours of
the department, as well as on the OpenJustice Web portal, and the
department shall at least annually update the information required by
this section, which shall also be available to the general public.
The department shall perform the duties specified in this
subdivision within its existing budget.
(b) Every state or local governmental entity responsible for the
investigation and prosecution of a homicide case shall provide the
department with demographic information about the victim and the
person or persons charged with the crime, including age, gender,
race, and ethnic background.
SEC. 11. Section 13023 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
13023. (a) Subject to the availability of adequate funding, the
Attorney General shall direct local law enforcement agencies to
report to the Department of Justice, in a manner to be prescribed by
the Attorney General, any information that may be required relative
to hate crimes. This information may include any general orders or
formal policies on hate crimes and the hate crime pamphlet required
pursuant to Section 422.92.
(b) On or before July 1 of each year, the Department of Justice
shall update the OpenJustice Web portal with the information obtained
from local law enforcement agencies pursuant to this section. The
department shall submit its analysis of this information to the
Legislature in the manner described in subdivision (g) of Section
13010.
(c) For purposes of this section, "hate crime" has the same
meaning as in Section 422.55.
SEC. 12. Section 13519.4 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
13519.4. (a) The commission shall develop and disseminate
guidelines and training for all peace officers in California as
described in subdivision (a) of Section 13510 and who adhere to the
standards approved by the commission, on the racial and cultural
differences among the residents of this state. The course or courses
of instruction and the guidelines shall stress understanding and
respect for racial, identity, and cultural differences, and
development of effective, noncombative methods of carrying out law
enforcement duties in a diverse racial, identity, and cultural
environment.
(b) The course of basic training for peace officers shall include
adequate instruction on racial, identity, and cultural diversity in
order to foster mutual respect and cooperation between law
enforcement and members of all racial, identity, and cultural groups.
In developing the training, the commission shall consult with
appropriate groups and individuals having an interest and expertise
in the field of racial, identity, and cultural awareness and
diversity.
(c) For the purposes of this section the following shall apply:
(1) "Disability," "gender," "nationality," "religion," and "sexual
orientation" have the same meaning as in Section 422.55.
(2) "Culturally diverse" and "cultural diversity" include, but are
not limited to, disability, gender, nationality, religion, and
sexual orientation issues.
(3) "Racial" has the same meaning as "race or ethnicity" in
Section 422.55.
(4) "Stop" has the same meaning as in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(g) of Section 12525.5 of the Government Code.
(d) The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(1) The working men and women in California law enforcement risk
their lives every day. The people of California greatly appreciate
the hard work and dedication of peace officers in protecting public
safety. The good name of these officers should not be tarnished by
the actions of those few who commit discriminatory practices.
(2) Racial or identity profiling is a practice that presents a
great danger to the fundamental principles of our Constitution and a
democratic society. It is abhorrent and cannot be tolerated.
(3) Racial or identity profiling alienates people from law
enforcement, hinders community policing efforts, and causes law
enforcement to lose credibility and trust among the people whom law
enforcement is sworn to protect and serve.
(4) Pedestrians, users of public transportation, and vehicular
occupants who have been stopped, searched, interrogated, and
subjected to a property seizure by a peace officer for no reason
other than the color of their skin, national origin, religion, gender
identity or expression, housing status, sexual orientation, or
mental or physical disability are the victims of discriminatory
practices.
(5) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting the changes to
this section made by the act that added this paragraph that
additional training is required to address the pernicious practice of
racial or identity profiling and that enactment of this section is
in no way dispositive of the issue of how the state should deal with
racial or identity profiling.
(e) "Racial or identity profiling," for purposes of this section,
is the consideration of, or reliance on, to any degree, actual or
perceived race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion,
gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or mental or
physical disability in deciding which persons to subject to a stop or
in deciding upon the scope or substance of law enforcement
activities following a stop, except that an officer may consider or
rely on characteristics listed in a specific suspect description. The
activities include, but are not limited to, traffic or pedestrian
stops, or actions during a stop, such as asking questions, frisks,
consensual and nonconsensual searches of a person or any property,
seizing any property, removing vehicle occupants during a traffic
stop, issuing a citation, and making an arrest.
(f) A peace officer shall not engage in racial or identity
profiling.
(g) Every peace officer in this state shall participate in
expanded training as prescribed and certified by the Commission on
Peace Officers Standards and Training.
(h) The curriculum shall be evidence-based and shall include and
examine evidence-based patterns, practices, and protocols that make
up racial or identity profiling, including implicit bias. This
training shall prescribe evidence-based patterns, practices, and
protocols that prevent racial or identity profiling. In developing
the training, the commission shall consult with the Racial and
Identity Profiling Advisory Board established pursuant to subdivision
(j). The course of instruction shall include, but not be limited to,
significant consideration of each of the following subjects:
(1) Identification of key indices and perspectives that make up
racial, identity, and cultural differences among residents in a local
community.
(2) Negative impact of intentional and implicit biases,
prejudices, and stereotyping on effective law enforcement, including
examination of how historical perceptions of discriminatory
enforcement practices have harmed police-community relations and
contributed to injury, death, disparities in arrest detention and
incarceration rights, and wrongful convictions.
(3) The history and role of the civil and human rights movement
and struggles and their impact on law enforcement.
(4) Specific obligations of peace officers in preventing,
reporting, and responding to discriminatory or biased practices by
fellow peace officers.
(5) Perspectives of diverse, local constituency groups and experts
on particular racial, identity, and cultural and police-community
relations issues in a local area.
(6) The prohibition against racial or identity profiling in
subdivision (f).
(i) Once the initial basic training is completed, each peace
officer in California as described in subdivision (a) of Section
13510 who adheres to the standards approved by the commission shall
be required to complete a refresher course every five years
thereafter, or on a more frequent basis if deemed necessary, in order
to keep current with changing racial, identity, and cultural trends.
(j) (1) Beginning July 1, 2016, the Attorney General shall
establish the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board (RIPA) for
the purpose of eliminating racial and identity profiling, and
improving diversity and racial and identity sensitivity in law
enforcement.
(2) RIPA shall include the following members:
(A) The Attorney General, or his or her designee.
(B) The President of the California Public Defenders Association,
or his or her designee.
(C) The President of the California Police Chiefs Association, or
his or her designee.
(D) The President of the California State Sheriffs' Association,
or his or her designee.
(E) The President of the Peace Officers Research Association of
California, or his or her designee.
(F) The Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, or his or
her designee.
(G) A university professor who specializes in policing, and racial
and identity equity.
(H) Two representatives of human or civil rights tax-exempt
organizations who specialize in civil or human rights.
(I) Two representatives of community organizations who specialize
in civil or human rights and criminal justice, and work with victims
of racial and identity profiling. At least one representative shall
be between 16 and 24 years of age.
(J) Two religious clergy members who specialize in addressing and
reducing racial and identity bias toward individuals and groups.
(K) Up to two other members that the Governor may prescribe.
(L) Up to two other members that the President pro Tempore of the
Senate may prescribe.
(M) Up to two other members that the Speaker of the Assembly may
prescribe.
(3) Each year, on an annual basis, RIPA shall do the following:
(A) Analyze the data reported pursuant
to Section 12525.5 of the Government Code and Section 13012 of this
code.
(B) Analyze law enforcement training under this section.
(C) Work in partnership with state and local law enforcement
agencies to review and analyze racial and identity profiling policies
and practices across geographic areas in California.
(D) Conduct, and consult available, evidence-based research on
intentional and implicit biases, and law enforcement stop, search,
and seizure tactics.
(E) Issue a report that provides RIPA's analysis under
subparagraphs (A) to (D), inclusive, and detailed findings on the
past and current status of racial and identity profiling, and makes
policy recommendations for eliminating racial and identity profiling.
RIPA shall post the report on its Internet Web site. Each report
shall include disaggregated statistical data for each reporting law
enforcement agency. The report shall include, at minimum, each
reporting law enforcement agency's total results for each data
collection criterion under subdivision (b) of Section 12525.5 of the
Government Code for each calendar year. The reports shall be retained
and made available to the public by posting those reports on the
Department of Justice's OpenJustice Web portal. The first annual
report shall be issued no later than January 1, 2018. The reports are
public records within the meaning of subdivision (d) of Section 6252
of the Government Code and are open to public inspection pursuant to
Sections 6253, 6256, 6257, and 6258 of the Government Code.
(F) Hold at least three public meetings annually to discuss racial
and identity profiling, and potential reforms to prevent racial and
identity profiling. Each year, one meeting shall be held in northern
California, one in central California, and one in southern
California. RIPA shall provide the public with notice of at least 60
days before each meeting.
(4) Pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 12525.5 of the
Government Code, RIPA shall advise the Attorney General in developing
regulations for the collection and reporting of stop data, and
ensuring uniform reporting practices across all reporting agencies.
(5) Members of RIPA shall not receive compensation, nor per diem
expenses, for their services as members of RIPA.
(6) No action of RIPA shall be valid unless agreed to by a
majority of its members.
(7) The initial terms of RIPA members shall be four years.
(8) Each year, RIPA shall elect two of its members as
cochairpersons.