BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 11|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 11
Author: Beall (D) and Mitchell (D), et al.
Amended: 8/28/15
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 4/7/15
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Leno, Liu, McGuire, Monning, Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
SENATE FLOOR: 38-0, 6/2/15
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson,
Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pavley, Roth, Stone,
Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Pan, Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-1, 9/1/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Peace officer training: mental health
SOURCE: United Domestic Workers of America
DIGEST: This bill requires the Commission on Peace Officer
Standards and Training (POST) to: (1) establish a training
course, that is at least 15 hours on law enforcement interaction
with persons with mental illness, as part of its basic training
course; and, (2) have a three-hour continuing education course
on the same subject matter.
Assembly Amendments (1) reduce the required 20-hour
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evidence-based behavioral health classroom training course
during basic training to 15 hours; (2) state that the 15 hours
is part of the current hourly training requirement; and, (3)
reduce the required four-hour evidence-based behavioral health
continual training to three hours.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Requires every undersheriff or deputy sheriff of a county, any
police officer of a city, and any police officer of a district
authorized by statute to maintain a police department, and is
responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the
general enforcement of the criminal laws of this state, to
obtain the basic certificate issued by the POST within 18
months of his or her employment in order to continue to
exercise the powers of a peace officer after the expiration of
the 18-month period. (Penal Code § 832.4(a).)
2)Requires every peace officer listed in subdivision (a) of
Penal Code Section 830.1, as specified, to obtain the basic
certificate issued by POST upon completion of probation, but
in no case later than 24 months after his or her employment,
in order to continue to exercise the powers of a peace officer
after the expiration of the 24-month period. (Penal Code §
832.4 (b).)
3)Requires, in Section 1011 of Title 11 of the California Code
of Regulations,with limited exceptions:
a) Every peace officer listed in Penal Code Section
830.1(a) to obtain the POST basic certificate in order to
continue to exercise peace officer powers.
b) Pursuant to Penal Code Section 832.4(c), as a condition
of continued employment, each police chief, or any other
person in charge of a local law enforcement agency, who is
appointed on or after January 1, 1999, to possess the POST
basic certificate within two years of appointment.
c) Every peace officer appointed by a department
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participating in the POST Program must possess the
appropriate basic certificate.
4)Requires, in Section 1011 of Title 11 of the California Code
of Regulations, applicants for the award of a basic
certificate to:
a) Be employed as a full-time peace officer by a
POST-participating department.
b) Completed the Regular Basic Course, which is the
entry-level training requirement for many California peace
officers, as specified in POST Regulation 1005.
c) Complete the current employing department's probationary
period of not less than 12 months.
5)Requires POST to include in the basic training course for law
enforcement officers, adequate instruction in the handling of
persons with developmental disabilities or mental illness, or
both. The course of instruction relating to the handling of
developmentally disabled or mentally ill persons must be
developed by POST in consultation with appropriate groups and
individuals having an interest and expertise in this area. In
addition to providing instruction on the handling of these
persons, the course must also include information on the cause
and nature of developmental disabilities and mental illness,
as well as the community resources available to serve these
persons. (Penal Code § 13519.2)
6)Requires POST to establish and keep updated a continuing
education classroom training course relating to law
enforcement interaction with mentally disabled persons. The
training course is required to be developed in consultation
with appropriate community, local, and state organizations and
agencies that have expertise in the area of mental illness and
developmental disability, and with appropriate consumer and
family advocate groups. POST is required to make the course
available to law enforcement agencies in California. This
course must consist of classroom instruction and utilize
interactive training methods to ensure that the training is as
realistic as possible. The course must include, at a minimum,
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core instruction in the following: (a) the cause and nature
of mental illnesses and developmental disabilities; (b) how to
identify indicators of mental disability and how to respond
appropriately in a variety of common situations; (c) conflict
resolution and de-escalation techniques for potentially
dangerous situations involving mentally disabled persons; (d)
appropriate language usage when interacting with mentally
disabled persons; (e) alternatives to lethal force when
interacting with potentially dangerous mentally disabled
persons; (f) community and state resources available to serve
mentally disabled persons and how these resources can be best
utilized by law enforcement to benefit the mentally disabled
community; and, (g) the fact that a crime committed in whole
or in part because of an actual or perceived disability of the
victim is a hate. (Penal Code § 13515.25.)
7)Requires all peace officers (except reserve officers) below
the middle management position and assigned to patrol,
traffic, or investigation who routinely effect the physical
arrest of criminal suspects are required to complete
Perishable Skills and Communications training. In-lieu of
completing the training, the requirement may be met by
successfully passing a presenter-developed test that measures
the approved training objectives. Perishable skills training
consists of a minimum of 12 hours in each two-year period. Of
the total 12 hours required, a minimum of four hours of each
of the three following topical areas must be completed: (a)
Arrest and Control; (b) Driver Training/Awareness or Driving
Simulator; and, (c) Tactical Firearms or Force Options
Simulator. (11 C.C.R. 1005 (2015).)
This bill:
1)Requires POST to review the training module in the regular
basic course relating to persons with a mental illness,
intellectual disability, or substance use disorder, and
analyze existing training curricula in order to identify areas
where additional training is needed to better prepare law
enforcement to effectively address incidents involving
mentally disabled persons.
2)Specifies that upon identifying what additional training is
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needed, the commission shall update the training in
consultation with appropriate community, local, and state
organizations, and agencies that have expertise in the area of
mental illness, intellectual disability, and substance use
disorders, and with appropriate consumer and family advocate
groups.
3)States that the training shall address issues related to
stigma, shall be culturally relevant and appropriate, and
shall include all of the following topics:
a) Recognizing indicators of mental illness, intellectual
disability, and substance use disorders;
b) Conflict resolution and de-escalation techniques for
potentially dangerous situations;
c) Use of force options and alternatives;
d) The perspective of individuals and/or families with
experiences with persons with mental illness, intellectual
disability, and substance use disorders; and,
e) Mental health resources available to the first
responders of events that involve mentally disabled
persons.
4)Requires the course of instruction to be at least 15 hours,
and shall include training scenarios and facilitated learning
activities relating to law enforcement interaction with
persons with mental illness, intellectual disability, and
substance use disorders.
5)Specifies that the course shall be presented within the
existing hours allotted for the regular basic law enforcement
training course.
6)States that POST shall implement this course on, or before,
August 1, 2016.
7)Specifies that POST shall establish and keep updated a
promising or evidence-based behavioral health continuing
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training course relating to law enforcement interaction with
persons with mental illness.
8)Requires that the continuing training course be three
consecutive hours and address issues related to stigma, as
specified.
9)Requires POST to make the continuing training course on mental
illness available to every law enforcement officer with the
rank of supervisor or below and who is assigned to patrol
duties or to supervise officers who are assigned to patrol
duties.
Background
Currently, law enforcement officers receive six hours of POST
approved training on how to interact with persons with mental
illnesses and developmental disabilities during their Regular
Basic Training course, as required by Penal Code Section
13519.2. While there is no mandatory continuing education
requirement, POST offers a variety of courses relating to mental
health. According to information provided by POST, there are
currently 38 mental health certified courses available to
California law enforcement. These courses range from four to 40
hours. This bill increases the amount of behavioral health
training that officers receive during regular basic training and
mandates three consecutive hours of behavioral health training.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
Unknown due to recent amendments.
SUPPORT: (Verified9/1/15)
United Domestic Workers of America (source)
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, California
Division
American Civil Liberties Union of California
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
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Association of Regional Center Agencies
California Association of Code Enforcement Officers
California Association of Highway Patrolmen
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
California Child Care Health Program
California Coalition for Mental Health
California College and University Police Chiefs Association
California Correctional Supervisors Organization
California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
California Crisis Intervention Training Association
California Long-Term Care Ombudsman Association
California Medical Association
California Narcotics Officers Association
California Public Defenders Association
California State Lodge, Fraternal Order of Police
City of San Jose
County Behavioral Health Directors Association
County of Santa Clara
Disability Action Coalition
Disability Rights California
Donald Rocha, San Jose City Councilmember
Jeffrey F. Rosen, District Attorney of Santa Clara County
Long Beach Police Officers Association
Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association
Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Los Angeles Urban League
Mental Health America of California
National Alliance on Mental Illness
National Association of Social Workers
North Los Angeles County Regional Center
Riverside Sheriffs Association
Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs' Association
Santa Ana Police Officers Association
State Council on Developmental Disabilities
Steinberg Institute
The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration
OPPOSITION: (Verified9/1/15)
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California State Sheriffs Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to County Behavioral Health
Directors Association:
There is a growing recognition among law enforcement
nationwide of the need for more behavioral health
training for officers. The existing California Peace
Officer Standards and Training (POST) curriculum includes
only 6 hours of mental health training out of a total of
664 hours of mandated training for peace officers, which
is clearly not sufficient. SB 11 would require POST to
include in its basic training course an evidence-based
behavioral health classroom training course to train law
enforcement officers to recognize, deescalate, and refer
persons with mental illness or intellectual disability
who are in crisis. The bill would require that this
evidence-based behavioral health classroom training
course be 20 hours long and be in addition to the basic
training course's current hour requirement. The bill
would also require POST to establish an evidence-based
behavioral health training course as part of its
perishable skills training under its continuing
professional education requirement.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:According to the California State
Sheriffs' Association:
On behalf of the California State Sheriffs' Association
(CSSA), we must respectfully oppose Senate Bill 11, which
would mandate increased training for law enforcement
officers on mental health issues.
To be clear, CSSA recognizes the importance of
appropriate training of law enforcement officers. We
also acknowledge that mental health issues have grown in
significance in recent years. California peace officers
are among the best trained in the nation because of the
rigorous and comprehensive education and training regimen
overseen by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and
Training (POST). Proper training prepares officers for
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the daily dangers of their jobs, builds trust with the
community members protected by law enforcement, and
provides appropriate standards for peace officer
behavior.
Currently, significant training on mental health issues
is required of prospective and employed peace officers.
The basic POST academy includes mandatory training on
mental health issues and includes a scenario-based test
that must be passed in order to graduate from an academy.
Additionally, law enforcement agencies around the state
offer ongoing POST-certified crisis intervention training
on mental health and require their officers to complete
additional mental health training in addition to the
state-mandated minimums.
SB 11 would require 20 additional hours of training as
part of basic peace officer education and four additional
hours of perishable skills training on mental health
issues. While CSSA does not necessarily oppose
alterations to training requirements, this bill simply
adds a time-based requirement without the benefit of
knowing where gaps and deficiencies in existing training
mandates may exist. More training for the sake of more
training may not be beneficial and may come at the
expense of other, more necessary training.
POST, in conjunction with law enforcement, is in the
process of examining mental health training courses and
requirements to ascertain if there are issues that need
to be addressed. Although we appreciate the desire to
improve interactions between law enforcement and persons
with mental health issues, SB 11 represents a premature,
unfunded mandate that offers no guarantee of providing
the appropriate training to the right officers.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-1, 9/01/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
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Gordon, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Gray
Prepared by:Jessica Devencenzi / PUB. S. /
9/2/15 9:24:05
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