BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Loni Hancock, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 1127 Hearing Date: April 19, 2016
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|Author: |Hancock |
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|Version: |April 6, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|ML |
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Subject: Commission on Correctional Peace Officer Standards and
Training: Internet Web Site
HISTORY
Source: Author
Prior Legislation:SB 85 - Budget Act of 2015 (Committee on
Budget and Fiscal Review) - Chaptered 26, Stats.
2015
Support: Unknown
Opposition:None known
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to require the Commission on
Correctional Peace Officer Standards and Training to establish
and maintain a web site to be more transparent and accountable
to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
employees and also the public.
Existing law establishes the Commission on Correctional Peace
Officer Standards and Training (CPOST), which is composed of six
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voting members: three members representing the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation where one shall be from the
Division of Juvenile Justice or the Division of Juvenile Justice
and three members appointed by the governor where two members
shall be rank-and -file persons from State Bargaining Unit 6.
(Penal Code §13600(A)-(D).)
Existing law establishes CPOST in order to develop, approve and
monitor standards for the selection and training of state
correctional peace officer apprentices. (Penal Code §13601(a).)
Existing law authorizes the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation to design and deliver training programs, conduct
validation studies, and provide program support, while the
Commission on Correctional Peace Officer Standards and Training
monitors the department's program compliance. (Penal Code
§13601(g).)
This bill adds Section 13605 to the Penal Code, which requires
the Commission on Correctional Peace Officer Standards and
Training (CPOST) to establish and maintain an Internet Web site
that will publish the following in order to promote transparency
and accountability:
Meeting minutes, agendas, and related supporting
documents.
An archive of past meeting minutes, agendas, and related
supporting documents.
Documents to provide employees and the public with
greater access to professional development materials.
This bill requires that CPOST transmit live video and audio of
its meetings via the internet and provide an archive of these
recordings on its website.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
For the past several years this Committee has scrutinized
legislation referred to its jurisdiction for any potential
impact on prison overcrowding. Mindful of the United States
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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 December of 2015 the administration reported that as "of
December 9, 2015, 112,510 inmates were housed in the State's 34
adult institutions, which amounts to 136.0% of design bed
capacity, and 5,264 inmates were housed in out-of-state
facilities. The current population is 1,212 inmates below the
final court-ordered population benchmark of 137.5% of design bed
capacity, and has been under that benchmark since February
2015." (Defendants' December 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).) One
year ago, 115,826 inmates were housed in the State's 34 adult
institutions, which amounted to 140.0% of design bed capacity,
and 8,864 inmates were housed in out-of-state facilities.
(Defendants' December 2014 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 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:
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Whether a proposal erodes a measure which has contributed
to reducing the prison population;
Whether a proposal addresses a major area of public safety
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 This Bill
According to the author:
This bill will require the Commission on Correctional Peace
Officer Standards and Training within the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation to establish an Internet Web
site, in order to promote transparency and accountability. The
Web site will include meeting minutes, agendas, supporting
documents and an archive of past meeting minutes, agendas,
supporting documents, video and audio of past meetings. The
bill would also require the commission to transmit live video
and audio of all its meetings and include documents on the Web
site to provide employees and the public with greater access
to professional development materials.
Therefore this bill is intended to provide the career officer
support necessary to create an excellent workforce under
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. In
turn, this will increase employee wellness and professional
satisfaction to create safer and more effective institutions,
leading to inmate rehabilitation and reduced recidivism.
Ultimately, all of this will lead to safer communities.
2. Background
Effective July 1, 2005, as part of the corrections agency
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consolidation, the Corrections Standards Authority (CSA) was
created within the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) by bringing together the BOC and the
Correctional Peace Officers Standards and Training (CPOST)
Commission. The reorganization consolidated the duties and
functions of the BOC and CPOST and entrusted the CSA with new
responsibilities. Legislation associated with the 2011 Budget
Act (Senate Bill 92) abolished the California Council on
Criminal Justice and also the CSA, assigning their former duties
to the newly created 12-member Board of State and Community
Corrections that commenced on July 1, 2012. SB 92 also created
the Commission on Correctional Peace Officer Standards and
Training specifically to take over the CSA functions of
developing, approving and monitoring standards for the selection
and training of state correctional peace officers and
apprentices.
Last year, the Senate took made the following changes to CPOST
through the budget,
The budget reduces the length of the correctional officer
training academy from 16 to 12 weeks and re-establishes the
commission on Correctional Peace Officer Standards and
Training (CPOST). CPOST is responsible for developing and
monitoring standards for the selection and training of
correctional officers and will be governed by six members
(three from CDCR management and three from the correctional
officers' union) appointed by the Governor. In addition,
the budget requires CPOST to regularly consult with experts
in the area of correctional officer training.<1>
3. Effect of Legislation
As discussed above, CPOST was reestablished last year. The CDCR
web site currently has a section for CPOST-that section contains
one meeting notice for April 14, 2016 and two agendas for the
February 11, 2016 and December 10, 2015.<2> This bill requires
CPOST to publish much more substantial meeting and training
information online, including notes regarding what happens at
these meetings, access to the meetings via live and archived
video and audio meeting clips along with documents that
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<1> http://sbud.senate.ca.gov/sites/
sbud.senate.ca.gov/files/FAR/2015FinalActionReport.pdf
<2> http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/cpost/index.html
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highlight professional development training and techniques to
current CDCR employees and other members of the public.
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