BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1237
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1237 (Leno)
As Amended May 27, 2005
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 5-2 APPROPRIATIONS 13-5
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Leno, Cohn, Dymally, |Ayes:|Chu, Bass, Berg, |
| |Goldberg, Ruskin | |Calderon, Mullin, |
| | | |Karnette, Klehs, Leno, |
| | | |Nation, Oropeza, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Saldana, |
| | | |Yee |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|La Suer, Spitzer |Nays:|Sharon Runner, Emmerson, |
| | | |Haynes, Nakanishi, |
| | | |Walters |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Requires law enforcement agencies that use tasers to
report the use of tasers to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for
one year and for DOJ to report these data to the Legislature.
Authorizes the Department of Health Services (DHS) to contract
with a private entity, funded by private sources, to conduct an
independent medical review of the effects of taser use on humans
and to report any policy recommendations to the Legislature no
later than July 1, 2007.
1)Defines "taser" as any mechanism designed to emit an
electronic, magnetic, or other type of charge or shock through
the use of a projectile, and is designed for the purpose of
temporarily immobilizing a person by the infliction of that
shock or charge.
2)Requires all law enforcement agencies in California that use
tasers to report each month, for the year 2006, to DOJ
specified data regarding the circumstances surrounding each
incident in which a taser was discharged including reasons for
its use, the manner in which its was used, whether the taser
was effective in subduing the suspect, whether the officer had
been informed of any mental illness or intoxication on the
part of the suspect, the suspects age, gender, and ethnicity
AB 1237
Page 2
or race, whether the officer or suspect suffered any injury in
connection with the incident, and whether the suspect required
medical treatment. The officer involved in the incident shall
report this data in a manner and on a form created by DOJ.
3)Requires law enforcement agencies using tasers to collect
specified information for the year 2006 and provide it to DOJ
no later than March 1, 2007. That information includes the
agency's policies for taser use, training required, number of
times tasers were used, racial or ethnic data regarding
suspects who were shocked with a taser compared with all
suspects arrested or cited for a criminal offenses during the
same time period, the overall number of service calls handled
by patrol officers during the period, the number of injuries
requiring hospital admission sustained by persons after being
shocked with a taser and the number of deaths that occurred
following a person being shocked with a taser.
4)Requires DOJ to collect and collate the data described above
and, no later than July 1, 2007, submit a report to the
Legislature that shall include the protocols for training and
use of tasers as submitted by each agency, as well as a
compilation of the responses to the items described above,
collated by agency and statewide.
5)Authorizes DHS to contract with a private entity, funded by
private sources, to conduct an independent medical review of
the effects of taser use on humans and to report any policy
recommendations to the Legislature no later than July 1, 2007.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that a peace officer or custodial officer, as
specified, may if authorized by his or her employing agency
purchase, possess, or transport any less lethal weapon or
ammunition therefore for official use in the discharge of his
or her duties.
2)Defines "less lethal weapon" as any device designed to, or
that has been converted to, expel or propel less lethal
ammunition by any action, mechanism, or process for the
purpose of incapacitating, immobilizing, or stunning a human
being through the infliction of any less than lethal
impairment of physical condition, function, or senses,
AB 1237
Page 3
including physical pain or discomfort. It is not necessary
that a weapon leave any lasting or permanent incapacitation,
discomfort, pain, or other injury or disability in order to
qualify as a less lethal weapon.
3)Defines "stun gun" to include any item, except a taser, used
or intended to be used as either an offensive or defensive
weapon capable of temporarily immobilizing a person by the
infliction of an electrical charge.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis:
1)Significant reimbursable state-mandated General Fund costs to
local law enforcement agencies, likely in the range of several
million dollars, to manually collect detailed information and
provide it to DOJ.
Police and sheriff departments have been working with the
author to revise reporting requirements to make them more
expeditious and cost-effective. For example, requiring
quarterly reports rather than monthly reports, and devising
more of a check-list approach than a narrative-oriented
approach would reduce law enforcement time and expense
considerably.
2)Moderate General Fund costs to DOJ, likely less than $150,000,
for staff to compile the information and issue the report.
(DOJ estimates its costs would be $300,000, which appears
high.)
COMMENTS : According to the author, "This bill does not say that
tasers are 'bad' or that they have no place in the arsenal of
weapons that law enforcement uses to protect the public safety.
On the contrary, if one examines only the instances in which law
enforcement was authorized to use lethal force and instead used
a taser, a survey by the California Chiefs of Police indicates
that hundreds of individuals who could have been shot are still
alive, precisely because of that choice.
But without the benefit of truly independent medical research,
it is impossible for law enforcement officers to develop
informed policies for training and use of those weapons beyond
instances where lethal force would otherwise be authorized."
AB 1237
Page 4
Please see the policy committee analysis for full discussion of
this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Steven Meinrath / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744 FN:
0010947