BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 735 Hearing Date: April 28, 2015
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|Author: |Galgiani |
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|Version: |February 27, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|JRD |
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Subject: Postretirement Law Enforcement Officer Cold Case Grant
Program
HISTORY
Source: Author
Prior Legislation:None known
Support: Association of Deputy District Attorneys; Association
for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs; California
Association of Code Enforcement Officers; California
College and University Police Chiefs Association;
California Narcotic Officers Association; Crime
Victims United; Los Angeles Police Protective League;
Riverside Sheriffs Association
Opposition:None known
PURPOSE
This purpose of this bill is to create and fund the
Postretirement Law Enforcement Officer Cold Case Grant Program,
as specified.
SB 735 (Galgiani ) PageB
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Existing law defines "peace officer," as specified. (Penal Code
§ 830, et seq.)
Existing law states that a retired person cannot serve, be
employed by, or be employed through a contract directly by, a
public employer in the same public retirement system from which
the retiree receives the benefit without reinstatement from
retirement, except:
A person who retires from a public employer may serve
without reinstatement from retirement or loss or
interruption of benefits provided by the retirement system
upon appointment by the appointing power of a public
employer either during an emergency to prevent stoppage of
public business or because the retired person has skills
needed to perform work of limited duration.
Appointments cannot exceed a total for all employers in
that public retirement system of 960 hours or other
equivalent limit, in a calendar or fiscal year, depending
on the administrator of the system, as specified.
Any retired person is not eligible to serve or be
employed by a public employer if, during the 12-month
period prior to an appointment described in this section,
the retired person received any unemployment insurance
compensation arising out of prior employment subject to
this section with a public employer, as specified.
A retired person is not eligible to be employed pursuant
for a period of 180 days following the date of retirement
unless he or she meets specified conditions.
(Government Code § 7522.56.)
This bill codifies findings declaring that retired law
enforcement officers are an invaluable resource for the
investigation and solution of unsolved cases, but these officers
are frequently unable to serve in this capacity because of lack
of available funding for local law enforcement agencies for this
purpose and because of state limits on postretirement service by
public employees.
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This bill establishes the Postretirement Law Enforcement Officer
Cold Case Grant Program and would allow a local law enforcement
agency to apply to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for a grant
to fund the hiring of a retired law enforcement officer or
officers dedicated to work on unsolved cases, including, but not
limited to, the following:
Collection and recovery of evidence, including DNA
samples;
Interviewing witnesses and people of interest;
Researching unsolved cases to determine potential
connections and leads;
Providing knowledge and expertise in evaluating criminal
behavior relevant to particular cases; or
Data entry and analysis.
This bill requires the DOJ to administer the grant program
established in this legislation and to establish the guidelines
it deems necessary for the administration of the program. The
guidelines must set forth the terms and conditions upon which
the department is prepared to offer grant of funds. It also
requires all applications be reviewed and evaluated by the DOJ
and grants be awarded on the basis of need, consistency with the
requirements of this chapter, and department rules and
guidelines.
This bill requires grant funds received by applicants be used to
fund officer positions and not to supplant local funds.
Administrative costs associated with a position funded by the
grant program shall be absorbed by the applicant.
This bill appropriates funds from the General Fund to the DOJ
for the purpose of implementing the Postretirement Law
Enforcement Officer Cold Case Grant Program.<1>
This bill states that service, compensation, or any other limits
on a person receiving a pension benefit do not apply to a law
enforcement officer whose position is funded by a grant awarded
pursuant to this chapter.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
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<1> The legislation does not currently state the amount of
funding that will be appropriated.
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For the past eight years, this Committee has scrutinized
legislation referred to its jurisdiction for any potential
impact on prison overcrowding. Mindful of the United States
Supreme Court ruling and federal court orders relating to the
state's ability to provide a constitutional level of health care
to its inmate population and the related issue of prison
overcrowding, this Committee has applied its "ROCA" policy as a
content-neutral, provisional measure necessary to ensure that
the Legislature does not erode progress in reducing prison
overcrowding.
On February 10, 2014, the federal court ordered California to
reduce its in-state adult institution population to 137.5% of
design capacity by February 28, 2016, as follows:
143% of design bed capacity by June 30, 2014;
141.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2015; and,
137.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2016.
In February of this year the administration reported that as "of
February 11, 2015, 112,993 inmates were housed in the State's 34
adult institutions, which amounts to 136.6% of design bed
capacity, and 8,828 inmates were housed in out-of-state
facilities. This current population is now below the
court-ordered reduction to 137.5% of design bed capacity."(
Defendants' February 2015 Status Report In Response To February
10, 2014 Order, 2:90-cv-00520 KJM DAD PC, 3-Judge Court, Coleman
v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (fn. omitted).
While significant gains have been made in reducing the prison
population, the state now must stabilize these advances and
demonstrate to the federal court that California has in place
the "durable solution" to prison overcrowding "consistently
demanded" by the court. (Opinion Re: Order Granting in Part and
Denying in Part Defendants' Request For Extension of December
31, 2013 Deadline, NO. 2:90-cv-0520 LKK DAD (PC), 3-Judge Court,
Coleman v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (2-10-14). The Committee's
consideration of bills that may impact the prison population
therefore will be informed by the following questions:
Whether a proposal erodes a measure which has contributed
to reducing the prison population;
Whether a proposal addresses a major area of public safety
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or criminal activity for which there is no other
reasonable, appropriate remedy;
Whether a proposal addresses a crime which is directly
dangerous to the physical safety of others for which there
is no other reasonably appropriate sanction;
Whether a proposal corrects a constitutional problem or
legislative drafting error; and
Whether a proposal proposes penalties which are
proportionate, and cannot be achieved through any other
reasonably appropriate remedy.
COMMENTS
1. Need for Legislation
According to the Author:
Currently, nationwide there are as many as 100,000
active missing persons cases at any given time.
According to the National Missing and Unidentified
Persons System at the United States Department of
Justice, 4,400 unidentified remains are found every
year and over 1,000 of these remain unidentified
after one year. There are up to 40,000 human remains
that are unidentified at this time.
(http://www.namus.gov/about.htm).
Senate Bill 735 would establish the Postretirement
Law Enforcement Officer Cold Case Grant Program for
the purpose of funding the hiring of retired law
enforcement officers whose employment would be
dedicated to work on unsolved cases. Retired officers
have a unique skill set with regards to these cases.
Many passionate members of law enforcement have
worked these cold cases for years and have an
in-depth understanding of the nuances involved in
this line of work.
In order to assist in bringing lost loved ones home
to their families, California should look to maximize
the potential of using retired officers.
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2. Effect of Legislation
This legislation establishes the Postretirement Law Enforcement
Officer Cold Case Grant Program and would allow a local law
enforcement agency to apply to the DOJ for a grant to fund the
hiring of a retired law enforcement officer or officers
dedicated to work on unsolved cases. While local law
enforcement agencies can currently employ retired peace
officers, there are limitations on when they can be hired and
these peace officers are only allowed to work 960 hours per
fiscal year. This legislation exempts retired annuitants, who
are paid with grant money from the new program, from these
limitations.
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