BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1330|
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CONSENT
Bill No: SB 1330
Author: Galgiani (D)
Amended: 3/28/16
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: 7-0, 4/19/16
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Glazer, Leno, Liu, Monning, Stone
SUBJECT: Missing persons
SOURCE: UDW/AFSCME Local 3930
DIGEST: This bill expands the current definition of mentally
impaired," which is one of the criteria of an "at-risk" missing
person, to also include "cognitively impaired or developmentally
disabled" individuals.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes the Attorney General to establish and maintain the
Violent Crime Information Center, which combines existing
state, federal, and civilian databases into a single
comprehensive network to assist in the identification and
apprehension of missing individuals, particularly children and
at-risk adults. (Penal Code §§14200-14201.)
2)Authorizes the Attorney General to distribute a missing
children and at-risk adults bulletin on a quarterly basis to
local law enforcement agencies, district attorneys, and public
schools. (Penal Code §14204.)
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3)Authorizes the Attorney General to establish and maintain an
online missing person registry and also a separate and
confidential database of missing children and at-risk adults
for statistical and research purposes. (Penal Code §14205(d).)
4)Authorizes the Department of Justice to operate a statewide,
toll-free telephone hotline 24 hours per day, seven days per
week to receive information regarding missing children and
at-risk adults and to relay this information to the
appropriate authorities. (Penal Code §14210.)
5)Requires police and sheriff's departments to immediately
report and assess missing person cases using checklists and
guidelines to locate a missing person and that if the missing
person is under 21 years of age or at risk, to broadcast a "Be
on the Lookout" bulletin without delay, within its
jurisdiction. (Penal Code §14211(c), (d).)
6)Defines a "missing person" to include any of the following: a)
an at-risk adult; b) a child who was taken, detained,
concealed, enticed away, or retained by a parent illegally; or
c) a child who is missing voluntarily or involuntarily or
under circumstances not conforming to his or her ordinary
habits or behavior and who may be need of assistance. (Penal
Code §14215(a).)
7)Defines an "at-risk" individual to be any of the following: a
victim of a crime or foul play; in need of medical attention;
has no pattern of running away or disappearing; may be a
victim of parental abduction; or mentally impaired. (Penal
Code §14215(b).)
This bill clarifies that an at-risk individual who is mentally
impaired can include "a person who is cognitively impaired or
developmentally disabled."
Background
There are many protocols that apply to individuals who are
"at-risk" and missing. For instance, existing law establishes
that any "at-risk" and missing individuals' information will be
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in the Attorney General's quarterly bulletin to local law
enforcement agencies, district attorneys, and public schools and
will be in the Attorney General's confidential database for
missing children and at-risk adults created for statistical and
research purposes. Current law also dedicates a statewide,
toll-free 24/7 telephone hotline to receive information to help
locate missing children and at-risk adults and to relay this
information to the appropriate authorities and also requires
police and sheriff's departments to immediately report and
assess missing person cases and that if the missing person is
under 21 years of age or at risk, to broadcast them a "Be On the
Lookout" bulletin without delay, within its jurisdiction. This
bill clarifies that a mentally impaired person, who is generally
defined as "at-risk" if missing, also includes a "cognitively
impaired or developmentally disabled" individual, which will
help ensure that current law also applies to help locate
missing, at-risk individuals with cognitive or developmental
disabilities.
There can be an overlap in defining developmental and cognitive
disabilities. "Developmental" and "cognitive" are very broad
labels, and do not particularly indicate the level of skill or
ability that an individual may have." Developmental disability"
is a legal umbrella term that refers to disabilities present
before an individual reaches age 22. Congenital developmental
disabilities exist at birth, but developmental disabilities can
also be acquired post birth. Examples of developmental
disabilities are: Cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, hearing
loss, Down syndrome, mental retardation, spinal injury and brain
injury. Though not all of these disabilities necessarily result
in decreased intellectual functioning, often people use the term
to refer to disabilities that have a component affecting
cognitive function. "Cognitive disabilities" generally refers to
any disability affecting mental processes, and examples include
mental retardation, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD), dyslexia, aphasia, brain injury, language delay and
learning disabilities.
In 2015, there were 83,144 reported cases of children who went
missing in California and of them 45,647 were female and 37,497
were male children. It is unknown from the data how many of
these children were cognitively impaired or developmentally
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disabled at the time that they went missing. In 2015, there were
40,823 reported cases of missing adults. From the total amount
of adults who went missing, 23,958 were male and 16,865 were
female adults. Of these cases, there were 1,943 "dependent
adults," which was defined as "any adult who has physical or
mental limitations that restrict his or her ability to carry out
normal activities."
The number of active missing person cases in California averages
around 25,000 individuals and currently, there are over 3,000
reports of unidentified individuals (including homicide victims)
in the California Attorney General's database. There is no
waiting period to report a missing person and the police and
sheriff's departments across California must accept any report,
whether it is made by telephone of missing persons and runaways,
immediately and give priority to handling such reports. Law
enforcement officers regularly highlight missing individuals on
the Web site either in the Featured Missing Children and Adult
Cases Section or through the Missing Person Bulletin. In order
to add photographs of a missing person on the Web site, family
members must submit the photo of the missing person to their
local law enforcement agency through a missing person's report.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 4/21/16)
UDW/AFSCME Local 3930 (source)
OPPOSITION: (Verified4/21/16)
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None received
Prepared by:Molly Lao / PUB. S. /
4/22/16 12:32:08
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