BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1669
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 29, 2003
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
Lou Correa, Chair
AB 1669 (Chu) - As Amended: April 28, 2003
SUBJECT : Peace officers: psychological evaluations.
SUMMARY : Revises the qualifications for a licensed physician
and surgeon and psychologist who evaluates a peace officer's
mental and emotional fitness for duty, and provides that only a
licensed physician and surgeon or psychologist meeting the
qualifications can perform psychological evaluations.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the emotional and mental evaluations and fitness for
duty evaluations to be conducted by either of the following,
both of whom must meet any applicable education and training
standards adopted by the California Commission on Peace
Officer Standards and Training (POST):
a) A licensed physician and surgeon who is board-certified
in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and
Neurology.
b) A licensed psychologist who has a doctoral degree in
psychology and at least five years post-graduate experience
in diagnosing and treating emotional disorders. Also,
requires at least three of those years to be accrued in
post-doctorate practice.
2)Specifies that certified physicians and surgeons and licensed
psychologists must meet the requirements, as specified in this
bill, prior to performing emotional and mental evaluations on
peace officer candidates or evaluations on sworn peace
officers to determine their fitness for duty.
3)Authorizes the Board of Psychology to deny a license, issue a
license with terms and conditions, or suspend or revoke the
registration or license of a psychologist for conducting
evaluations on peace officer candidates concerning their
emotional and mental conditions or for conducting fitness for
duty evaluations on sworn peace officers without meeting the
specified requirements of this bill.
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4)Requires law enforcement departments and agencies to employ
licensed physicians and surgeons, or licensed psychologists,
who meet specified requirements in this bill, when conducting
mental and emotional evaluations of peace officer recruits or
when evaluating sworn peace officers to determine their
fitness for duty.
5)Makes other relating technical and non-substantive amendments.
6)Provides for a delayed, unspecified enactment date.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires a "physician's and surgeon's certificate," issued by
the Medical Board of California, Division of Licensing, to
practice medicine. Also, existing law makes it a misdemeanor
to practice medicine without such a license or certificate.
2)Requires a license to be issued by the Division of Allied
Health Professions of the Medical Board of California for the
practice of psychology, and provides that the Division shall
issue licenses upon the recommendation and direction of the
Board of Psychology.
3)Allows the Board of Psychology to: order the denial of an
application for licensure; issue a license with terms and
conditions; and, suspend or revoke the registration or license
of a psychologist for unprofessional conduct.
4)Requires each specified class of public safety officers or
employees declared by law to be peace officers to meet
specified minimum requirements.
5)States that the purpose of establishing standards for peace
officer training is to raise the level of competence of local
law enforcement officers, and requires POST to conduct
research concerning job-related educational standards and
job-related selection standards, including vision, hearing,
physical ability, and emotional stability.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author, this bill would
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ensure that specified mental health professionals performing
fitness for duty evaluations or pre-employment screenings on
sworn peace officers and peace officer candidates are adequately
trained and qualified. The author states that this bill would
also allow sworn peace officers to feel confident that the
licensed physician and surgeon or psychologist who is evaluating
their mental and emotional conditions has the essential
expertise to make a clear determination of their psychological
condition. Additionally, this bill provides the general public
with the assurance that sworn peace officers patrolling their
neighborhoods have been properly screened for mental and
emotional conditions that would make them unfit for duty.
Background on the Speaker's Commission on Police Conduct . In
response to the videotape of the beating of a handcuffed
adolescent by Inglewood police officers on July 2, 2002,
Assembly Speaker Wesson created the Speaker's Commission on
Police Conduct (Commission). The Commission is composed of
several key members of the Assembly, experts from law
enforcement, civil rights advocates and other community
activists. The Commission's primary focus is to examine the use
of excessive force with the intent of improving existing
policies and procedures to protect the public safety and civil
rights. The Commission is also examining the current
occupational training (POST) that sworn peace officers and peace
officer candidates receive as well as the existing psychological
programs used by law enforcement agencies to help minimize work
related stress factors that may cause police officers to use
excessive force.
The Commission's Subcommittee on Police Psychology and the Use
of Force (Subcommittee) . The Subcommittee's role is to examine
various key psychological factors effecting the way peace
officers determine when, and to what degree, the use of force is
necessary. The Subcommittee also reviews current psychological
support resources that are available to peace officers and makes
recommendations on whether or not those resources are
sufficient.
POST's Psychological Evaluations for Admitting New Officers and
Trainees . According to POST representatives who testified at a
Subcommittee hearing, POST is currently in the process of
updating its existing guidelines and procedures to enhance the
quality of various existing evaluation tests. Representatives
suggested that POST could sponsor the initial training and
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continuing education for psychologists who screen police.
Evaluating a Peace Officer's Fitness for Duty is a Specialized
and Difficult Task . The Subcommittee examined the various
challenges involved in evaluating a police officer's fitness for
duty. These challenges include how to detect early warning
signals of imminent behavioral problems, and the difficulty of
viewing the police department as the evaluator's client rather
than the peace officers being evaluated. Also, there are
current confidentiality issues that exist - California law
limits the information an evaluator can report to the department
after the evaluation, aside from a general finding of fitness or
unfitness for duty. There is also the possibility of reluctance
by evaluators to find an officer unfit for duty because of the
stigma attached to being labeled unfit. Additionally, an
evaluator may fear that the peace officer might sue in
retaliation. Also, evaluators need to be able to differentiate
between a person who is generally unsuited for police duty
versus a police officer who reacts badly in a stressful
situation and whose responses could be improved with proper
training.
This bill addresses the specified issues raised by the
Commission and its Subcommittee by establishing the specified
standards and qualifications for physicians and surgeons and
psychologists. The provisions of this bill will help the
specified mental health professionals to successfully perform
the specialized and challenging task of evaluating a peace
officer's fitness for duty or a peace officer candidate's mental
and emotional condition.
According to the author, this bill's delayed enactment date
allows POST to continue to research, develop and finalize the
education and training standards that will allow evaluators to
properly screen a peace officer candidate and evaluate a peace
officer's fitness for duty.
Related Legislation . AB 1383 (Wesson) would require continuing
professional training requirements adopted by POST to include
study of the racial and cultural differences among California
residents and entitle every peace officer employed by local law
enforcement to consult an independent psychologist on a
one-time, one-visit basis, every four years at the department's
expense. AB 1383 would also require local law enforcement
agencies to institute courses of training for peace officers in
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anger management, frustration tolerance, and information
regarding past damage awards for peace officer abuse cases. AB
1383 is currently in the Assembly Public Safety Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chris L. Gallardo / B. & P. / (916)
319-3301