BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2524
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 29, 2016
Consultant: Matt Dean
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr., Chair
AB
2524 (Irwin) - As Amended March 14, 2016
SUMMARY: Requires the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue its
mandatory criminal justice statistics reports quarterly through
the OpenJustice Web Portal. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires DOJ to post, on the OpenJustice Web Portal, quarterly
criminal justice statistics relating to officer involved
incidents with the demographics of the individuals involved
and a description of the incident; case clearance rates;
juvenile delinquency; the disposition of civilian complaints;
the demographics of victims and individuals charged in
homicides; the incidents and demographics targeted by hate
crimes; the incidents and demographics of "stop and frisk"
detentions; the incidents and demographics of potential
profiling incidents; administrative actions taken by law
enforcement, prosecutorial, judicial, penal, and correctional
agencies; and other data leading to the apprehension,
prosecution, and treatment of the criminals and delinquents.
2)Eliminates the use of paper cards or forms by law enforcement
agencies to submit required statistical data to DOJ.
3)Eliminates DOJ's requirement to annually present a report on
criminal justice statistics to the Governor and the
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Legislature.
4)Requires DOJ to add prosecutorial administrative actions to
its criminal justice statistics collection and summaries.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires DOJ to annually interpret and present crime
statistics, required to be reported by law enforcement and
other agencies and information, to the Governor. (Pen. Code,
§§ 13010, subd. (g), 13020.)
2)Requires DOJ to interpret and present statistics and
information to the Legislature and to those in charge or
concerned with of the apprehension, prosecution, and treatment
of the criminals and delinquents. (Pen. Code, § 13012(b).)
3)Allows the Attorney General to issue special reports on crime
statistics. (Pen. Code, § 13010, subd. (g).)
4)Requires the Racial and Identity Profiling Board (RIPA) to
annually analyze and report to the Attorney General statistics
collected from law enforcement agencies regarding citizen
complaints. (Pen. Code, § 13012, subds.(a) and (c).)
5)Requires the Attorney General to make available a sufficient
number of copies of both the required annual report on crime
statistics and any special reports. (Pen. Code, § 13010,
subd. (g).)
6)Requires DOJ to prepare and distribute to any person or agency
required to submit crime statistics the 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. (Pen. Code, § 13010, subd. (b).)
7)Requires DOJ 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
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techniques of collection and processing made possible by
automation. (Pen. Code, § 13010, subd. (h).)
8)Requires DOJ, beginning January 1, 2017, to issue an annual
summary of incidents reported by law enforcement including:
a) The shooting of a civilian by a peace officer;
b) The shooting of a peace officer by a civilian;
c) The use of force by a peace officer against a civilian
that results in serious bodily injury or death; and
d) The use of force by a civilian against a peace officer
that results in serious bodily injury or death; (Gov. Code,
§ 12525.2, subds. (a) and (c).)
9)Requires DOJ's annual summary of shootings of and by peace
officers, and of use of force by or against peace officers, to
include the number and demographics of those involved, if the
civilian was armed, the type of force used, and a description
of the incident, as provided. (Gov. Code, § 12525.2, subds.
(a), (b) and (c).)
10)Requires DOJ to collect data pertaining to the juvenile
justice system for criminal history and statistical purposes,
including all of the following:
a) The amount and the types of offenses known to the public
authorities;
b) The personal and social characteristics of criminals and
delinquents;
c) 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;
d) The administrative actions taken by law enforcement,
prosecutorial, judicial, penal, and correctional agencies
including those in the juvenile justice system, in dealing
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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; and
e) The total number of each of the following, disaggregated
by individual law enforcement agency, including whether the
disposition of the complaints was sustained, not sustained,
exonerated or unfounded, as defined:
i) Citizen complaints received by law enforcement
agencies;
ii) Citizen complaints alleging criminal conduct of
either a felony or misdemeanor; and
iii) Citizen complaints alleging racial or identity
profiling, as defined. 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. (Pen. Code, §§ 832.5, 13012(a),
13519.4.)
11)Requires the annual report published by DOJ to include
information concerning arrests for identity theft. (Pen.
Code, §§ 530.5, 13010, 13012.6.)
12)Requires DOJ to 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 for required-to-be-reported crimes.
The data set shall be made available through a prominently
displayed hypertext link on the Department's Internet Web site
or through the Department's OpenJustice data portal. (Pen.
Code, §§ 13012, 13013.)
13)Requires DOJ to perform the following duties concerning the
investigation and prosecution of homicide cases:
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a) Collect information on all persons who are the victims
of, and all persons who are charged with, homicide;
b) 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; and
c) Compile, collate, index, and maintain an electronic file
of the information regarding victims of and those charged
with homicide into a report available to the public. (Pen.
Code, §13014.)
14)Requires local law enforcement agencies to report to DOJ, in
a manner prescribed by the Attorney General, any information
that may be required relative to hate crimes so that the
Department can report, on or before July 1 of each year, the
Department's analysis to the Legislature. (Pen. Code, §§
422.55, 13023.)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: According to the author, "AB 2524 will
modernize California's collection and publication of criminal
justice data. The OpenJustice Data Act builds upon Attorney
General Kamala Harris's open data initiative to improve and
empower the public's access to local and statewide crime
statistics.
"AB 2524 will reinvent Crime in California and other annual
reports published by the California DOJ as digital data sets
within the Attorney General's OpenJustice Web portal. These
reports provide statistical summaries including numbers of
arrests, complaints against peace officers, hate crime
offenses, and law enforcement officers killed or assaulted;
however, the static nature of these print publications means
that data often lacks context. The OpenJustice Web portal
will alchemize this information with interactive, accessible
visualization tools, while making raw data available for
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public interest researchers.
"Additionally, AB 2524 will bring the state's data collection
into the 21st century by requiring local law enforcement
agencies to submit all currently required statistical reports
digitally. Despite the fact that electronic reporting
provides for more accurate and efficient data submission, as
many as 60% of local agencies still submit required data to
the California DOJ on paper. The OpenJustice Data Act will
direct all agencies to transition into digital reporting,
which will allow for more frequent updates to statistics
contained within the Web portal.
"DOJ first launched the OpenJustice initiative in 2015 as a
mechanism for improving community trust in law enforcement,
enhancing government accountability, and informing public
policy. In early 2016 the Attorney General announced the
release of OpenJustice 1.1, which enriched the Web portal's
initial data sets with city, county, and state level context
including population and demographic information, unemployment
rates, poverty rates, and educational attainment levels. In
addition to providing greater transparency, this information
enables policymakers to craft informed, data-driven public
policy."
2)Summary: Various provisions of the Government and Penal Codes
require DOJ to collect, analyze, and report on criminal
justice statistics. Each individual law enforcement agency
must report criminal justice statistics to DOJ so DOJ can both
aggregate the data to present a statewide overview and to
present data on each individual law enforcement agency.
Currently, the agency's statistics may be submitted by paper
forms and cards. The statistics which agencies are required
to report include: officer involved incidents with the
demographics of the individuals involved and a description of
the incident, case clearance rates, juvenile delinquency, the
disposition of civilian complaints, the demographics of
victims and individuals charged in homicides, the incidents
and demographics targeted by hate crimes, the incidents and
demographics of "stop and frisk" detentions, the incidents and
demographics of potential profiling incidents, and other data
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leading to the apprehension, prosecution, and treatment of the
criminals and delinquents.
Separate provisions require DOJ to prepare a summary of these
criminal justice statistics every year in reports to the
Governor and the Legislature, and otherwise make the data and
reports available to the public. This bill requires law
enforcement agencies to submit their statistics by electronic
means only, and require DOJ to post the raw statistics and
their summaries quarterly -rather than annually- on the
OpenJustice Web Portal, which is easily accessible by the
Governor, the Legislature and the public.
3)Argument in Support: According to Attorney General Kamala
Harris, "California has a long history of supporting criminal
justice data. When DOJ was first created in 1944 and given
control over the state's criminal identification services,
Attorney General Robert Kenny created a Bureau of Criminal
Statistics to leverage this information to provide statistical
insight into public safety issues. In 1955, legislation was
enacted requiring the bureau to provide 'a printed annual
report containing the criminal statistics of the preceding
calendar year,' as well as additional reports on 'special
aspects of criminal statistics.' This publication has become
known as Crime in California, and has served as an important
resource for researchers and lawmakers.
"The state has changed dramatically over the past six decades.
The advent of new analytic technologies has only further
illuminated the value of using reliable data to guide public
policy. Meanwhile, the internet has empowered Californians
with greater access to information than at any other point in
history, enabling everyday residents to learn about the world
they live in. However, statutes governing the state's
publication of crime data remain substantially the same. Data
pertaining to the work of public safety in communities remains
largely inaccessible to most residents, contained in pages of
numerical tables published in paper reports and reproduced
through static downloadable files.
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"In 2015, Attorney General Harris announced the launch of a new
initiative called OpenJustice, a first-of-its-kind open data
Web portal designed to make previously obscured information
available to the public through an interactive, easy-to-use
web interface. This tool consists of two components: a
Dashboard that spotlights key criminal justice indicators with
user-friendly visualization tools, and an Open Data Portal
that publishes complete raw datasets.
"The core mission of OpenJustice was to increase public safety
transparency by making information both available and
digestible to the general public. The initial datasets
released through OpenJustice included Law Enforcement Officers
Killed or Assaulted in the Line of Duty; Deaths in Custody;
and Arrests and Bookings. Earlier this year, OpenJustice 1.1
was launched to add more local context to this data, such as
population and demographic information. The OpenJustice Data
Act would revolutionize the public's access to information
about the criminal justice system by reinventing the Attorney
General's traditional printed reports as datasets within the
OpenJustice Data portal. The bill will enable Californians to
review the statistical information most important to them in
context, using dynamic, interactive tools, rather than rely on
preselected, prepackaged summaries. AB 2524 will truly
democratize public safety data, significantly strengthening
trust in law enforcement.
"AB 2524 will also modernize the way the state collects this
information from locals. Despite the continuing development of
digital technologies, as many as 60% of local agencies still
report their criminal justice statistics to DOJ on paper; this
bill will direct those agencies to submit electronically. By
transitioning to an entirely digital reporting process,
statewide data collection will be more efficient, accurate,
and considerate of the environment."
4)Argument in Opposition: According to the California State
Sheriff's Association, "While we appreciate your desire to
increase efficiency and the use of technology, we are
concerned that this bill represents a significant unfunded
mandate on law enforcement agencies. It has been reported
that at least 60% of agencies do no report electronically and
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enacting this bill will create massive cost pressures to
acquire technology, secure storage space, and train staff on
the new requirements imposed by this bill.
"Additionally, AB 2524 contemplates quarterly reporting where
many statistics are currently reported annually. Not only
will this increase workload, but it must be considered in the
context of all of the reporting that is currently mandated,
including new requirements on reporting of racial profiling
and use of force data.
5)Related Legislation:
a) SB 1075 (Runner) would require DOJ's report to the
Governor to include statistics on child molestation, as
defined, in the same format and within the same tables that
report on the number, rate per 100,000 population, and
percentage change in other violent crimes, including rape.
SB 1075 is pending in the Senate Committee on Public
Safety.
b) SB 1031 (Hancock) would require the Board of State and
Community Corrections, on or before July 1, 2019, to
establish a Juvenile Justice Information System to develop
and maintain statewide statistical information, as
specified. SB 1031 would additionally, on January 1, 2020,
remove the requirement that DOJ collect information
regarding the juvenile justice system. SB 1031 is pending
in the Senate Committee on Public Safety.
c) AB 1654 (Santiago) would require the State Auditor to
include in this audit an evaluation of the institutions'
compliance with state law governing crime reporting and the
development and implementation of student safety policies
and procedures, and require DOJ, commencing July 1, 2017,
to provide guidance to and develop model protocols for
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California's public and private institutions of higher
education and systemwide offices of public institutions of
higher education regarding student safety state laws. AB
1654 is pending in the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations.
6)Prior Legislation:
a) AB 953 (Weber), Chapter 466, Statutes of 2015, enacted
the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015, which
revised the definition of racial profiling to instead refer
to racial or identity profiling. Specified law enforcement
agencies are required to report on all stops, as defined.
b) AB 71 (Rodriguez), Chapter 462, Statutes of 2015,
requires each law enforcement agency to annually furnish to
DOJ a report of specified incidents when a peace officer is
involved in the use of force, as defined.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Attorney General Kamala Harris
Opposition
California State Sheriffs' Association
Analysis Prepared
by: Matt Dean / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
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