BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 626| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SB 626 Author: McGuire (D), et. al. Amended: 4/16/15 Vote: 21 SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 11-0, 4/14/15 AYES: Beall, Cannella, Allen, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva, McGuire, Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 5/12/15 AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Leno, Liu, McGuire, Monning, Stone SUBJECT: Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District: police forceSonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District: police force. SOURCE: Author DIGEST: This bill authorizes the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) District to establish the position of chief of police. ANALYSIS: Existing law establishes the SMART District for the purpose of providing a unified, comprehensive institutional structure for the ownership and governance of a passenger rail system within the counties of Sonoma and Marin. SMART will provide rail service along 70 miles of the historic Northwestern Pacific Railroad alignment, serving 14 stations from Cloverdale in Sonoma County to the San Francisco-bound ferry terminal in SB 626 Page 2 Larkspur, Marin County. SMART began construction on the system in May 2012, and plans to begin revenue service in 2016. This bill: 1)Authorizes the SMART board to establish the position of chief of police. 2)Specifies that the police chief will be a duly sworn police officer and must meet the standards for recruitment and training of peace officers established in existing law. 3)Specifies that, should the SMART board determine that more than one officer is needed, it may contract for those services with any law enforcement agencies located within Marin and/or Sonoma counties. Comments Purpose. The author contends that, without a sworn police officer on staff, law enforcement agencies will not share sensitive information with SMART. Without this information, SMART becomes vulnerable and unable to respond to sensitive information pertaining to service disruption, acts of vandalism, and violence. The author suggests that this bill solves this problem; with a sworn police chief, SMART will be able to access sensitive information from other law enforcement agencies. Transit operator police forces. Very few transit operators in California have legislative authority to establish their own police forces. In fact, of the roughly 250 entities statewide that are eligible to receive state transit funding, only four transit operators are statutorily allowed to maintain their own police department. All other transit service providers contract with local law enforcement or private entities to provide their security needs. Some operators cite the increased costs of in-house peace officers, including the higher benefit and retirement costs of these types of employees, as the reason they contract for security services. Others point to the high risk involved with managing a police force authorized to use deadly force, suggesting that recent incidents some transit operators have experienced demonstrate the problems that can arise with an SB 626 Page 3 in-house police force. Finally, some suggest that an organization dedicated to providing transit service is ill-equipped to, at the same time, manage a police force and would therefore appreciate the benefits of contracting out for such services. This bill does not propose to authorize the SMART board to establish a police force, but instead grants authority to only hire one sworn police officer and to contract for any additional law enforcement services deemed necessary. While a sworn police chief would be eligible under existing law to review sensitive law enforcement information, as the author suggests, it is unclear whether this would assure timely access to this information, nor whether the increased cost of a sworn officer on staff is worth this access. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:NoLocal: No SUPPORT: (Verified5/14/15) Sonoma-Marin Rail Transit District Central Marin Police Authority Marin County Sheriff's Office Novato Police Department San Rafael Police Department Sonoma County Sheriff's Office OPPOSITION: (Verified5/14/15) None received Prepared by:Eric Thronson / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121 5/15/15 15:29:08 **** END **** SB 626 Page 4