BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 29
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Date of Hearing: August 19, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 29
(Beall) - As Amended July 8, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill requires law enforcement field training officers to
have training from the Commission on Police Officer Standards
and Training (POST) regarding law enforcement interaction with
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persons with mental illness or intellectual disability.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Reimbursable state mandated costs in the $2.57 million (GF)
range initially and $600,000 ongoing to backfill for officers
participating in the training. There are currently 482 cities
and 58 counties in California. To the extent local agency
expenditures qualify as a reimbursable state mandate, agencies
could claim reimbursement of those costs for missed work hours
for all field training officers in training.
2)Initial costs of $1.7 million (Post Officer's Training Fund -
POTF) to POST for training costs and course development, and
annual ongoing costs of $250,000 (POTF) for prospective
training.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, POST training mandates six
hours of mental health training, and no requirement to include
training for new officers in the Field Training Program, yet
people with mental illness of intellectual disabilities are
involved in almost 50 percent of all police shootings.
"[SB 291] responds to the public's demand to increase safety
by mandating stronger evidence-based behavioral health
training that has proven to reduce volatile confrontations
between peace officers and people with mental illnesses or
intellectual disabilities. Equally important, SB 29
acknowledges California's diverse populations by requiring
training to be culturally appropriate."
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2)Background. According to the POST Web site, the Regular Basic
Course Training includes 42 separate topics, ranging from
juvenile law and procedure to search and seizure.
POST introductory training includes a section called,
Individuals with Disabilities. It is the segment of academy
training focused on police officers' interactions with people
with disabilities. These six hours of instruction cover a wide
spectrum of disability-related topics, including understanding
and identifying various types of disabilities (developmental,
physical and psychiatric) and reviewing state and federal
disability laws and individuals rights protections. Also
included in the six hours is instruction on interacting with
people with mental health disabilities and the involuntary
commitment process.
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 in duration from four to 40
hours.
3)Argument in Support: According to AFSCME, "SB 29 will mandate
additional evidence-based behavioral training that is proven
to reduce the negative interactions between peace officers and
those suffering from a mental illness or intellectual
disability. This bill is needed because there is no
standardized statewide mental health training curriculum for
California's peace officers. In California, there are still
vast discrepancies between the quality of training programs,
where some departments offer excellent training programs while
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other programs are sub-par. AFSCME supports SB 29 to create a
uniform standard for peace officer mental health training."
4)Argument in Opposition: According to California State
Sheriffs' Association, "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 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."
5)Related Legislation: SB 11 (Beall), also on today's agenda,
requires POST to establish training course relating to law
enforcement interaction with persons with mental illness as
part of its basic training course for law enforcement
officers.
6)Prior Legislation: AB 1718 (Hertzberg), Chapter 95, Statutes
of 2000, required that POST establish, and keep updated, a
continuing education classroom training course related to law
enforcement intervention with developmentally disabled and
mentally ill persons and that the course be developed in
consultation with specified groups and entities.
Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
SB 29
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