BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Gloria Romero, Chair A
2007-2008 Regular Session B
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AB 1448 (Niello) 8
As Amended June 11, 2007
Hearing date: July 10, 2007
Penal Code
SM:mc
PEACE OFFICERS - UNIFORMS
HISTORY
Source: Sacramento County Sheriff's Department
Prior Legislation: None
Support: Peace Officer Research Association of California
(PORAC); California State Sheriff's Association
Opposition:None known
Assembly Floor Vote: Ayes 73 - Noes 0
KEY ISSUE
SHOULD IT BE A MISDEMEANOR, PUNISHABLE BY A FINE OF UP TO $1,000 FOR
A VENDOR OF LAW ENFORCEMENT UNIFORMS TO SELL A UNIFORM IDENTIFYING A
LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY WITHOUT FIRST VERIFYING THAT THE PERSON
PURCHASING THE UNIFORM IS AN EMPLOYEE OF THE AGENCY IDENTIFIED ON
THE UNIFORM?
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PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to create a new misdemeanor,
punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 for a vendor of law
enforcement uniforms to sell a uniform identifying a law
enforcement agency without first verifying that a person
purchasing a uniform is an employee of the agency identified on
the uniform.
Existing law provides that any person other than one who by law
is given the authority of a peace officer, who willfully wears,
exhibits, or uses the authorized uniform, insignia, emblem,
device, label, certificate, card, or writing, of a peace
officer, with the intent of fraudulently impersonating a peace
officer, or of fraudulently inducing the belief that he or she
is a peace officer, is guilty of a misdemeanor. (Penal Code
538d(a).)
Existing law provides that any person, other than the one who by
law is given the authority of a peace officer, who willfully
wears, exhibits, or uses the badge of a peace officer with the
intent of fraudulently impersonating a peace officer, or of
fraudulently inducing the belief that he or she is a peace
officer, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment
in a county jail not to exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed
two thousand dollars ($2,000), or by both that imprisonment and
fine. (Penal Code 538d(b)(1).)
Existing law provides that any person who willfully wears or uses
any badge that falsely purports to be authorized for the use of
one who by law is given the authority of a peace officer, or
which so resembles the authorized badge of a peace officer as
would deceive any ordinary reasonable person into believing that
it is authorized for the use of one who by law is given the
authority of a peace officer, for the purpose of fraudulently
impersonating a peace officer, or of fraudulently inducing the
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belief that he or she is a peace officer, is guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not to
exceed one year, by a fine not to exceed two thousand dollars
($2,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine. (Penal Code
538d(b)(2).)
Existing law provides that any person who willfully wears,
exhibits, or uses, or who willfully makes, sells, loans, gives,
or transfers to another, any badge, insignia, emblem, device, or
any label, certificate, card, or writing, which falsely purports
to be authorized for the use of one who by law is given the
authority of a peace officer, or which so resembles the
authorized badge, insignia, emblem, device, label, certificate,
card, or writing of a peace officer as would deceive an ordinary
reasonable person into believing that it is authorized for the
use of one who by law is given the authority of a peace officer,
is guilty of a misdemeanor, except that any person who makes or
sells any badge under the circumstances described in this
subdivision is subject to a fine not to exceed fifteen thousand
dollars ($15,000). (Penal Code 538d(c).)
Existing law provides that any person who falsely represents
himself or herself to be a deputy or clerk in any state
department and who, in that assumed character, does any of the
following is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment
in a county jail not exceeding six months, by a fine not
exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), or both
the fine and imprisonment:
Arrests, detains, or threatens to arrest or detain any
person.
Otherwise intimidates any person.
Searches any person, building, or other property of any
person.
Obtains money, property, or other thing of value.
(Penal Code 146a(a).)
Existing law provides that any person who falsely represents
himself or herself to be a public officer, investigator, or
inspector in any state department and who, in that assumed
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character, does any of the following shall be punished by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, by a fine
not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), or by
both that fine and imprisonment, or by imprisonment in the state
prison:
Arrests, detains, or threatens to arrest or detain any
person.
Otherwise intimidates any person.
Searches any person, building, or other property of any
person.
Obtains money, property, or other thing of value.
(Penal Code 146a(b).)
Existing law provides that any person who without authority
impersonates, or wears the badge of, a member of the California
Highway Patrol with intention to deceive anyone is guilty of a
misdemeanor. (Vehicle Code 27.)
This bill provides that it will be a misdemeanor, punishable by
a fine of up to $1,000 for a vendor of law enforcement uniforms
to sell a uniform identifying a law enforcement agency without
first verifying that a person purchasing a uniform is an
employee of the agency identified on the uniform.
This bill provides that presentation and examination of a valid
identification card with a picture of the person purchasing the
uniform and identification, on the letterhead of the law
enforcement agency, of the person buying the uniform as an
employee of the agency identified on the uniform shall be
sufficient verification.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION ("ROCA")
IMPLICATIONS
California currently faces an extraordinary and severe prison
and jail overcrowding crisis. California's prison capacity is
nearly exhausted as prisons today are being operated with a
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significant level of overcrowding.<1> In addition, California's
jails likewise are significantly overcrowded. Twenty California
counties are operating under jail population caps. According to
the State Sheriffs' Association, "counties are currently
releasing 18,000 pre and post-sentenced inmates every month and
many counties are so overcrowded they do not accept misdemeanor
bookings in any form, . . . ."<2> In January of this year the
Legislative Analyst's office summarized the trajectory of
California's inmate population over the last two decades:
During the past 20 years, jail and prison
populations have increased significantly. County
jail populations have increased by about 66
percent over that period, an amount that has been
limited by court-ordered population caps. The
prison population has grown even more dramatically
during that period, tripling since the
mid-1980s.<3>
The level of overcrowding, and the impact of the population
crisis on the day-to-day prison operations, is staggering:
As of December 31, 2006, the California Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) was
estimated to have 173,100 inmates in the state
prison system, based on CDCR's fall 2006
population projections. However, . . . the
department only operates or contracts for a total
of 156,500 permanent bed capacity (not including
out-of-state beds, . . . ), resulting in a
shortfall of about 16,600 prison beds relative to
the inmate population. The most significant bed
shortfalls are for Level I, II, and IV inmates, as
well as at reception centers. As a result of the
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<1> Analysis of the 2007-08 Budget Bill: Judicial and Criminal
Justice, Legislative Analyst's Office (February 21, 2007).
<2> Memorandum from CSSA President Gary Penrod to Governor,
February 14, 2007.
<3> California's Criminal Justice System: A Primer.
Legislative Analyst's Office (January 2007).
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bed deficits, CDCR houses about 10 percent of the
inmate population in temporary beds, such as in
dayrooms and gyms. In addition, many inmates are
housed in facilities designed for different
security levels. For example, there are currently
about 6,000 high security (Level IV) inmates
housed in beds designed for Level III inmates.
. . . (S)ignificant overcrowding has both
operational and fiscal consequences. Overcrowding
and the use of temporary beds create security
concerns, particularly for medium- and
high-security inmates. Gyms and dayrooms are not
designed to provide security coverage as well as
in permanent housing units, and overcrowding can
contribute to inmate unrest, disturbances, and
assaults. This can result in additional state
costs for medical treatment, workers'
compensation, and staff overtime. In addition,
overcrowding can limit the ability of prisons to
provide rehabilitative, health care, and other
types of programs because prisons were not
designed with sufficient space to provide these
services to the increased population. The
difficulty in providing inmate programs and
services is exacerbated by the use of program
space to house inmates. Also, to the extent that
inmate unrest is caused by overcrowding,
rehabilitation programs and other services can be
disrupted by the resulting lockdowns.<4>
As a result of numerous lawsuits, the state has entered into
several consent decrees agreeing to improve conditions in the
state's prisons. As these cases have continued over the past
several years, prison conditions nonetheless have failed to
improve and, over the last year, the scrutiny of the federal
courts over California's prisons has intensified.
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<4> Analysis 2007-08 Budget Bill, supra, fn. 1.
In February of 2006, the federal court appointed a receiver to
take over the direct management and operation of the prison
medical health care delivery system from the state. Motions
filed in December of 2006 are now pending before three federal
court judges in which plaintiffs are seeking a court-ordered
limit on the prison population pursuant to the federal Prison
Litigation Reform Act. Medical, mental health and dental care
programs at CDCR each are "currently under varying levels of
federal court supervision based on court rulings that the state
has failed to provide inmates with adequate care as required
under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The courts
found key deficiencies in the state's correctional programs,
including: (1) an inadequate number of staff to deliver health
care services, (2) an inadequate amount of clinical space within
prisons, (3) failures to follow nationally recognized health
care guidelines for treating inmate-patients, and (4) poor
coordination between health care staff and custody staff."<5>
This bill does not appear to aggravate the prison and jail
overcrowding crisis outlined above.
COMMENTS
1. Need for This Bill
According to the author:
Recently in Sacramento County a security guard stated
to a Sacramento police officer that he was a
Sacramento deputy sheriff and worked as a security
guard as a second job. An investigation was conducted
and the person agreed to allow a Sacramento sheriff's
investigator to search his home. A complete
Sacramento County Sheriff's uniform was discovered
which included a pair of trousers, a shirt with
departmental shoulder patches, a stitched badge
identical to a departmental deputy sheriff's badge and
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<5> Primer, supra, fn. 4.
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the person's name stitched above the left hand pocket.
Prior to this investigation, for several months there
were instances where women were being stopped on the
roads in Sacramento County by a person in a sheriff's
deputy uniform. In some cases the women were being
assaulted. The investigation was unable to produce
evidence to tie these crimes to the person who had the
uniform. However, these incidents involving a person
impersonating a deputy sheriff has stopped.
This bill will limit the opportunity for a person who
is not a uniformed employee of law enforcement to
purchase a uniform without their employment being
verified. This will conceivably cut down on
incidences of persons posing as police officers in
order to commit crimes.
2. Effect of This Bill
Under current law anyone who sells, loans, gives, or transfers
to another, any badge, insignia, emblem, or label which falsely
purports to be authorized for the use of one who by law is given
the authority of a peace officer, or which so resembles the
authorized badge, insignia, emblem, device, label, of a peace
officer as would deceive an ordinary reasonable person into
believing that it is authorized for the use of one who by law is
given the authority of a peace officer, has committed a
misdemeanor, punishable by up to 6 months in jail, a fine of
$1,000, or both, except in the case of the sale, etc., of a
badge, in which case the penalty is a fine of up to $15,000.
(Penal Code 538d(c).)
Where it is already a crime to sell an insignia, emblem, badge
or label that purports to be authorized for use by a peace
officer, presumably a vendor of law enforcement uniforms would,
under existing law, need to check a buyer's ID and verify their
authority to own the uniform before selling a uniform
identifying a law enforcement agency. The characteristics of a
uniform that identify a law enforcement agency are the badge,
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insignia, emblem or label. However, the current statute is very
awkwardly worded and this bill clarifies that verification
requirement.
SHOULD ANY PERSON WHO SELLS A UNIFORM THAT IDENTIFIES A LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY BE REQUIRED TO VERIFY THAT THE BUYER IS AN
EMPLOYEE OF THE AGENCY?
SHOULD FAILURE TO SO VERIFY THE BUYER'S AUTHORITY TO BUY THE
UNIFORM, AS SPECIFIED, BE A MISDEMEANOR, PUNISHABLE BY A FINE OF
UP TO $1,000?
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