BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Mark Leno, Chair A
2009-2010 Regular Session B
3
3
AB 33 (Nava and Cook)
As Amended June 22, 2010
Hearing date: June 29, 2010
Penal Code
SM:dl
CHILD ABDUCTIONS
HISTORY
Source: More Kids
Prior Legislation:SB 1128 (Alquist) - Ch. 337, Stats. 2006
SBx1 12 (Thompson) - Ch. 6, Stats. 1994
SB 2282 (Presley) - Ch. 1456, Stats. 1988
Support: Crime Victims United of California
Opposition:None known
Assembly Floor Vote: Not relevant
KEY ISSUES
SHOULD THE LEGISLATURE SUGGEST THAT EACH LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
ADOPT, PROMULGATE, AND OFFER TRAINING REGARDING MISSING CHILDREN
AND THE REPORTING OF MISSING CHILDREN, AS SPECIFIED?
SHOULD THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (DOJ) BE REQUIRED TO MAKE
ACCESSIBLE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, AS SPECIFIED, THE PEACE
OFFICER STANDARDS AND TRAINING COMMISSION'S (POST) "GUIDELINES
FOR HANDLING MISSING PERSONS INVESTIGATIONS," RELATING TO THE
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INVESTIGATION OF MISSING PERSONS?
(CONTINUED)
SHOULD LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES BE REQUIRED, BY JANUARY 1, 2012, TO
ADOPT A CHECKLIST DOCUMENT DIRECTING PEACE OFFICERS ON INVESTIGATION
GUIDELINES AND RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO THEM IN THE EARLY HOURS OF A
MISSING PERSONS INVESTIGATION, AS SPECIFIED?
SHOULD LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES BE REQUIRED, BY JANUARY 1, 2012, TO
ADOPT A POLICY, REGULATIONS, OR GUIDELINES ON MISSING PERSONS
INVESTIGATIONS, AS SPECIFIED?
SHOULD LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES BE REQUIRED, BY JANUARY 1, 2012, TO
ADOPT AND UTILIZE DOJ'S MISSING PERSON REPORTING FORM, AT A MINIMUM
FOR THE INITIAL CONTACT WITH THE PARENT OR FAMILY MEMBER REPORTING A
MISSING PERSON?
SHOULD THE POST COMMISSION BE REQUIRED TO, AS NECESSARY AND
APPROPRIATE, MODIFY ITS MISSING PERSONS INVESTIGATIONS GUIDELINES
AND CURRICULUM WITH CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION, AS SPECIFIED?
SHOULD THE VIOLENT CRIME INFORMATION CENTER BE REQUIRED TO MAKE
AVAILABLE TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT WITHIN TWO HOURS OF A REPORTED
STRANGER ABDUCTION OF A CHILD, A LIST OF REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS
BASED ON MODUS OPERANDI OR GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION, AS SPECIFIED?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to (1) state that it is the intent
of the Legislature to encourage law enforcement agencies to
obtain and utilize the list, as specified, of registered sex
offenders from the Violent Crime Information Center in the event
of a reported stranger abduction of a child; (2) state that the
Legislature suggests that each law enforcement agency adopt,
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promulgate, and offer training regarding missing children and
the reporting of missing children, as specified; (3) require
that DOJ make accessible to law enforcement agencies, as
specified, the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission's
(POST) "Guidelines for Handling Missing Persons Investigations,"
relating to the investigation of missing persons; (4) require
that, by January 1, 2012, law enforcement agencies adopt a
checklist document directing peace officers on investigation
guidelines and resources available to them in the early hours of
a missing persons investigation, as specified; (5) require that
by January 1, 2012, law enforcement agencies adopt a policy,
regulations, or guidelines on missing persons investigations, as
specified; (6) require that, by January 1, 2012, law enforcement
agencies utilize DOJ's missing person reporting form, at a
minimum for the initial contact with the parent or family member
reporting a missing person; (7) require that, as necessary and
appropriate, the POST commission modify its missing persons
investigations guidelines and curriculum with contemporary
information, as specified; and (8) require that DOJ's Violent
Crime Information Center make available, within two hours of a
reported stranger abduction of a child, a list of persons
required to register as sex offenders based upon the modus
operandi, if available, or the specified geographical location
from which the child was abducted.
Current law requires the Attorney General to establish and
maintain the Violent Crime Information Center to assist in the
identification and the apprehension of persons responsible for
specific violent crimes and for the disappearance and
exploitation of persons, particularly children and dependent
adults. The center shall establish and maintain programs which
include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
developing violent offender profiles; assisting local law
enforcement agencies and county district attorneys by providing
investigative information on persons responsible for specific
violent crimes and missing person cases; providing physical
description information and photographs, if available, of
missing persons to county district attorneys, nonprofit missing
persons organizations, and schools; and providing statistics on
missing dependent adults and on missing children, including, as
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may be applicable, family abductions, non-family abductions,
voluntary missing, and lost children or lost dependent adults.
(Penal Code 14200.)
Current law further requires the Attorney General to establish
within the center and maintain "an online, automated computer
system designed to effect an immediate law enforcement response
to reports of missing persons," and requires the Attorney
General to make information available to law enforcement
agencies regarding active files maintained pursuant to these
provisions, as specified. (Penal Code 14201.)
Current law requires the Attorney General to establish and
maintain within the center an investigative support unit and an
automated violent crime method of operation system to facilitate
the identification and apprehension of persons responsible for
murder, kidnap, including parental abduction, false
imprisonment, or sexual assault. This unit shall be responsible
for identifying perpetrators of violent felonies collected from
the center and analyzing and comparing data on missing persons
in order to determine possible leads which could assist local
law enforcement agencies. This unit shall only release
information about active investigations by police and sheriffs'
departments to local law enforcement agencies.
The Attorney General shall make available to the investigative
support unit files organized by category of offender or victim
and shall seek information from other files as needed by the
unit. This set of files may include, among others, the
following:
Missing or unidentified, deceased persons' dental files
filed pursuant to this title, Section 27521 of the
Government Code, or Section 102870 of the Health and Safety
Code.
Child abuse reports filed pursuant to Section 11169.
Sex offender registration files maintained pursuant to
Section 290.
State summary criminal history information maintained
pursuant to Section 11105.
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Information obtained pursuant to the parent locator
service maintained pursuant to Section 11478.5 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code.
Information furnished to the Department of Justice
pursuant to Section 11107.
Other Attorney General's office files as requested by
the investigative support unit.(Penal Code 14202.)
Current law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards
and Training (POST) to implement a course or courses of
instruction for the training of law enforcement officers and law
enforcement dispatchers in the handling of missing person and
runaway cases and to develop guidelines for law enforcement
response to missing person and runaway cases. The course or
courses of instruction and the guidelines shall include, but not
be limited to:
Timeliness and priority of response;
Assisting persons who make missing person reports to
contact the appropriate law enforcement agency in the
jurisdiction of the residence address of the missing person
or runaway and the appropriate law enforcement agency in
the jurisdiction where the missing person or runaway was
last seen; and
Coordinating law enforcement agencies for the purpose of
efficiently and effectively taking and investigating
missing person reports.
As used in this section, "law enforcement" includes any officers
or employees of a local police or sheriff's office or of the
California Highway Patrol.
This course of training on investigation of missing person
reports is required to be included within the course of basic
training for law enforcement officers and law enforcement
dispatchers.(Penal Code 13519.1.)
Current law requires local law enforcement to "accept any
report, including any telephonic report, of a missing person,
including runaways, without delay and shall give priority to the
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handling of these reports over the handling of reports relating
to crimes involving property. In cases where the person making
a report of a missing person or runaway, contacts, including by
telephone, the California Highway Patrol, the California Highway
Patrol may take the report, and shall immediately advise the
person making the report of the name and telephone number of the
police or sheriff's department having jurisdiction of the
residence address of the missing person and of the name and
telephone number of the police or sheriff's department having
jurisdiction of the place where the person was last seen. In
cases of reports involving missing persons, including, but not
limited to, runaways, the local police or sheriff's department
shall immediately take the report and make an assessment of
reasonable steps to be taken to locate the person. If the
missing person is under 16 years of age, or there is evidence
that the person is at risk, the department shall broadcast a "Be
On the Look-Out" bulletin, without delay, within its
jurisdiction." (Penal Code 14205(a).)
Current law further provides that if "the person reported
missing is under 16 years of age, or if
there is evidence that the person is at risk, the local police,
sheriff's department, or the California Highway Patrol shall
submit the report to the Attorney General's office within four
hours after
accepting the report. After the California Law Enforcement
Telecommunications System online missing person registry becomes
operational, the reports shall be submitted, within four hours
after accepting the report, to the Attorney General's office
through the use of the California Telecommunications System."
(Penal Code 14205(b).)
This bill would declare that it is the intent of the Legislature
to encourage law enforcement agencies to obtain and utilize the
list, created pursuant to Section 14202 of the Penal Code, of
registered sex offenders from the Violent Crime Information
Center in the event of a reported stranger abduction of a child.
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This bill states that the Legislature suggests that each law
enforcement agency adopt, promulgate, and offer training that is
consistent with state and federal law and with the agency's
specific policy regarding missing children and the reporting of
missing children.
This bill requires that DOJ shall make accessible to law
enforcement agencies, via a department bulletin and the
California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, the Peace
Officer Standards and Training Commission's "Guidelines for
Handling Missing Persons Investigations" or any subsequent
similar guidelines created by the commission, relating to the
investigation of missing persons.
This bill requires that, by January 1, 2012, law enforcement
agencies shall adopt a checklist document directing peace
officers on investigation guidelines and resources available to
them in the early hours of an investigation. The POST
commission's "Guidelines for Handling Missing Persons
Investigations" should be used as a model policy or example in
developing the checklist document.
This bill requires, by January 1, 2012, law enforcement agencies
adopt a policy, regulations, or guidelines on missing persons
investigations that are consistent with state and federal law.
The POST commission's "Guidelines for Handling Missing Persons
Investigations" should be used as a model policy or example in
developing the policy, regulations, or guidelines.
This bill requires, by January 1, 2012, law enforcement agencies
utilize DOJ's missing person reporting form, at a minimum for
the initial contact with the parent or family member reporting a
missing person.
This bill requires that, as necessary and appropriate, the POST
commission shall modify its missing persons investigations
guidelines and curriculum with contemporary information.
Specifically, the commission should consider including and
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revising their guidelines to include both of the following:
Steps for law enforcement agencies in the first few
hours after the reporting of a missing person.
Information on the availability of the department task
forces, the SAFE Task Force Regional Teams, and other
entities that can assist in the search for a missing
person.
This bill requires that DOJ's Violent Crime Information Center
make available, within two hours of a reported stranger
abduction of a child, a list of persons required to register as
sex offenders based upon the modus operandi, if available, or
the specified geographical location from which the child was
abducted.
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION
The severe prison overcrowding problem California has
experienced for the last several years has not been solved. In
December of 2006 plaintiffs in two federal lawsuits against the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sought a
court-ordered limit on the prison population pursuant to the
federal Prison Litigation Reform Act. On January 12, 2010, a
federal three-judge panel issued an order requiring the state to
reduce its inmate population to 137.5 percent of design capacity
-- a reduction of roughly 40,000 inmates -- within two years.
In a prior, related 184-page Opinion and Order dated August 4,
2009, that court stated in part:
"California's correctional system is in a tailspin,"
the state's independent oversight agency has reported.
. . . (Jan. 2007 Little Hoover Commission Report,
"Solving California's Corrections Crisis: Time Is
Running Out"). Tough-on-crime politics have increased
the population of California's prisons dramatically
while making necessary reforms impossible. . . . As a
result, the state's prisons have become places "of
extreme peril to the safety of persons" they house, .
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. . (Governor Schwarzenegger's Oct. 4, 2006 Prison
Overcrowding State of Emergency Declaration), while
contributing little to the safety of California's
residents, . . . . California "spends more on
corrections than most countries in the world," but the
state "reaps fewer public safety benefits." . . . .
Although California's existing prison system serves
neither the public nor the inmates well, the state has
for years been unable or unwilling to implement the
reforms necessary to reverse its continuing
deterioration. (Some citations omitted.)
. . .
The massive 750% increase in the California prison
population since the mid-1970s is the result of
political decisions made over three decades, including
the shift to inflexible determinate sentencing and the
passage of harsh mandatory minimum and three-strikes
laws, as well as the state's counterproductive parole
system. Unfortunately, as California's prison
population has grown, California's political
decision-makers have failed to provide the resources
and facilities required to meet the additional need
for space and for other necessities of prison
existence. Likewise, although state-appointed experts
have repeatedly provided numerous methods by which the
state could safely reduce its prison population, their
recommendations have been ignored, underfunded, or
postponed indefinitely. The convergence of
tough-on-crime policies and an unwillingness to expend
the necessary funds to support the population growth
has brought California's prisons to the breaking
point. The
state of emergency declared by Governor Schwarzenegger
almost three years ago continues to this day,
California's prisons remain severely overcrowded, and
inmates in the California prison system continue to
languish without constitutionally adequate medical and
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mental health care.<1>
The court stayed implementation of its January 12, 2010 ruling
pending the state's appeal of the decision to the U.S. Supreme
Court. On Monday, June 14, 2010, The U.S. Supreme Court agreed
to hear the state's appeal in this case.
This bill does not appear to aggravate the prison overcrowding
crisis described above.
COMMENTS
1. Need for This Bill
According to the author:
AB 33 is critical for improving government's response
when a child goes missing. It is a careful measure,
with policies derived from conversations with law
enforcement and nonprofit groups focusing on missing
children. These conversations demonstrated that there
are many resources available to aid in the search for
a missing child. These range from
search-and-investigation model policies for law
enforcement to advanced databases on violent criminals
to task forces that can assist in a search. Yet
knowledge of these resources is lacking. Moreover,
California does not require all law enforcement
agencies to have policies in place to deal with a
missing child. Without awareness of these resources
and without policies in place at the local level, our
ability to find a missing child is greatly reduced.
----------------------
<1> Three Judge Court Opinion and Order, Coleman v.
Schwarzenegger, Plata v. Schwarzenegger, in the United States
District Courts for the Eastern District of California and the
Northern District of California United States District Court
composed of three judges pursuant to Section 2284, Title 28
United States Code (August 4, 2009).
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AB 33 addresses these issues.
The California Peace Officers Standards and Training
Commission (POST) has created guidelines for
investigations, yet these guidelines are not
necessarily known, nor are they necessarily in use.
To increase awareness, the Department of Justice (DOJ)
under AB 33 will disseminate POST's "Guidelines For
Handling Missing Persons Investigations" via a DOJ
bulletin and through the California Law Enforcement
Telecommunications System. Additionally, AB 33 will
require law enforcement agencies to adopt a checklist
document directing officers during the early hours of
a missing person investigation - a critical time for
the safe recovery of a child. Furthermore, it will
require law enforcement agencies to have policy,
regulations, or guidelines on missing persons
investigations in place by January 1, 2012. Law
enforcement agencies may implement their own policies
or look to POST guidelines as a model. AB 33 will
also require law enforcement agencies to utilize a
missing person reporting form during the initial
investigation of a missing person. This will ensure
that officers collect all necessary details in order
to aid in the search for that missing person.
Many law enforcement agencies already comply with the
requirements of AB 33. However, others might meet
some requirements or none at all. Without a
comprehensive approach in place for all jurisdictions,
critical details can be overlooked, and a child's life
could be endangered. With model policies available
from POST, it is reasonable and prudent to that
require policies be in place at each law enforcement
agency.
AB 33 also directs POST to update their Guidelines For
Handling Missing Persons Investigations. In
discussions with POST, the DOJ, and members of law
enforcement, it became apparent that POST's guidelines
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lacked references to important resources, such as SAFE
(Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement) Task Force
Regional Teams and various task forces under the DOJ
Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, which can assist in
the search for a missing child. These resources are
critical when local law enforcement is in need of
assistance. Without knowledge of these resources and
without inclusion in POST's guidelines, which can
serve as a model for all law enforcement, we do not
maximize our ability to find a missing child.
Finally, AB 33 points to important technology in
searching for a suspect in a missing child case.
While the state and federal governments retain
detailed information on sex offenders and other
dangerous criminals, this information is of little use
at the time of a stranger abduction of a child if it
is not in the hands of law enforcement. The Violent
Crimes Information Center (VCIC) has the capability to
create a list of possible suspects, based on a number
of criteria, and provide that list to law enforcement.
AB 33 directs VCIC to do so and states that it is the
intent of the Legislature that law enforcement obtain
and utilize this list. We must maximize all tools in
the search for a missing child, and producing a list
of possible suspects is of the utmost importance. The
sophistication and wealth of information retained at
the VCIC reflect a drive to incorporate advanced
technology in our fight against crime and in our fight
to keep children safe. The next logical step is to
make sure information moves from the database to the
front lines, where law enforcement can use it.
2. Background: DOJ Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit
The Department of Justice ("DOJ") provides the following
information on its website:
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The Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit in the
California Department of Justice assists law
enforcement and criminal justice agencies in locating
missing persons and identifying unknown live and
deceased persons through the comparison of physical
characteristics, fingerprints and dental/body X-rays.
Subscribe to receive Missing Persons Bulletins in your
e-mail inbox.
In California, a missing person is someone whose
whereabouts is unknown to the reporting party. This
includes any child who may have run away, been taken
involuntary or may be in need of assistance. It
includes a child illegally taken, held or hidden by a
parent or non-parent family member (See California
Penal Code Sections 277-280 ).
There is NO waiting period for reporting a person
missing. All California police and sheriffs'
departments must accept any report, including a report
by telephone, of a missing person, including runaways,
without delay and will give priority to the handling
of the report.
Schools are part of the network to help find missing
children, not only through notices required to be
given to a public school district or private school
within 10 days of a child's disappearance but also
through use of our Missing Person Bulletin.
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By making photographs of missing persons available, we
seek to aid in the identification and recovery of
missing persons. According to the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children , one in six missing
children are recovered as a direct result of someone
recognizing their photo and notifying authorities. We
also offer resources on this website for locating
missing persons and safeguarding your children.
The following offers a summary of some of our
programs. Further information is available by
selecting the program categories on the left menu.
Missing Persons Search. A searchable database of
missing persons allows you to look for a missing
person by name, description, county and several other
categories.
Missing Children Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse
provides a nationwide, toll-free hotline to receive
tips on the whereabouts of missing persons. Call
toll-free: 1-800-222-FIND (1-800-222-3463)
Featured Missing Children and Adult Cases. The number
of active missing person cases averages around 25,000
in California. The Featured Missing Children and
Featured Missing Adults highlight cases where
photographs have been submitted by law enforcement for
use in accordance with laws and policies for sharing
the image of the missing person. To have a photograph
added, family members of a missing person should
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submit their photographs to the law enforcement agency
taking the missing person report.
Featured Unidentified Person. There are currently over
2,100 reports of unidentified persons in our automated
database. Periodically, we will be providing
photographs or drawings of selected cases.<2>
3. Background - CalEMA's Child Abduction Task Force
According to its 2008 Summary Report, Fourth Addition, in July
1998 the California Children's Justice Act Task Force, located
within the California Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA),
formally became the California Child Abduction Task Force (Task
Force). The Task Force consists of members from the original ad
hoc committee and of new members considered experts in child
abduction prevention and/or intervention, who meet three-to-four
times a year to maintain an ongoing review of current child
abduction issues.
Since 1999, the Task Force has presented twenty-nine trainings
throughout California. These trainings have attracted over
2,000 participants, primarily professionals who are first
responders to reports of child abduction. According to the
Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST)
training evaluations, participants have found the training
worthwhile and the trainings have provided relevant and
pertinent information.
(http://www.calema.ca.gov/WebPage/oeswebsite.nsf/PDF/California%2
0Child%20Abduction%20Task%20Force:%202008%20Summary%20Report/$fil
e/Child%20Abduction%20Summary%202008.pdf)
CalEMA also appears to be the state's lead agency for federal
Children's Justice Act funds, and has administered child
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<2> http://ag.ca.gov/missing/ .
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abduction training requests for applications.<3>
While not an issue directly raised by this bill, in light of its
goals the authors may wish to consider whether the goals of this
bill could be furthered by consolidating the state's efforts
relating to missing persons and child abduction under one state
entity.
4. POST'S "Guidelines for Handling Missing Persons
Investigations"
The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and
Training, pursuant to statutory mandate (Penal Code 13519.1),
produces a course of training and guidelines for the
investigation of missing persons. This training is a required
component of the basic training of all California peace
officers. The training curriculum includes:
Acceptance of Initial Call
Guideline 1: Determination of missing person case and
sensitivity to the reporting party
Guideline 2: Confirmation of responsibility for
acceptance of report, priority in handling, and agency
notification.
Officer's Initial Contact at the Scene
Guideline 3: Officer's initial contact: making an
assessment at the scene.
Guideline 4: Making a further assessment to determine
what reasonable steps should be taken to locate the
missing person.
Guideline 5: Provide reporting party with Department
of Justice Form #BCIA 4048 authorizing the release of
----------------------
<3> See
http://www.oes.ca.gov/WebPage/oeswebsite.nsf/OESLevsPDF/2010%20Ch
ild%20Abduction%
20Training%20Program%20(AC)/$file/AC10%20RFA.pdf.
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dental or skeletal X-rays or both, and photograph(s),
including instructions on when to obtain these and
submit them to the agency, per Penal Code Section
14206[a][1].
Guideline 6: Initiate follow-up contacts within 30
days.
Guideline 7: Obtain the photograph, dental/skeletal
X-rays, and medical records by "written declaration"
when a person is still missing after 30 days, per
Penal Code Section 14206[a] [1].
Guideline 8: Law enforcement agencies shall advise
family or relatives of a missing person of their right
to provide a voluntary sample for DNA testing, per
Penal Code Section 14250[c](2)
Guideline 9: Confer with the Coroner or Medical
Examiner and submit a Missing Person Report and the
dental charts and original (preferred) dental X-rays,
skeletal X-rays, or both, and photographs to the
Attorney General's Office, Department of Justice when
any Missing Person has not been found within 45 days,
per Penal Code Section 14206[b].
Reporting Responsibilities
Guideline 10: Reporting responsibilities: the agency
taking the missing person report shall submit the
report to the Attorney General's Office, Department of
Justice, per Penal Code Section 14205[b].
Guideline 11: When a missing person report is taken,
the agency shall promptly notify and send a copy of
the report to the department that has jurisdiction
over the missing person's resident address and to the
agency where the missing person was last seen per
Penal Code Section 14205[c].
Guideline 12: Missing person reports must be entered
into the Department of Justice's Missing Persons
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System (MPS) within four (4) hours.
Guideline 13: Within ten (10) days of a child's
disappearance, the agency responsible for
investigation of the missing child shall inform the
child's school that he/she is missing. The notice
shall be in writing and, if available, include a
photograph per California Education Code 49068.6(a).
Law enforcement agencies may establish a process to
inform local schools about abducted children per
California Education Code 49068.6(c)
Guideline 14: When a missing person is found, the
agency must report this to the Attorney General's
Office, Department of Justice and shall report it to
the other agencies as appropriate, per Penal Code
Section 14207.
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Closure of Missing Person Investigation
Guideline 15: Considerations for closure of missing
person investigation.
Missing Person Reporting Responsibility Reference
Chart
(Missing Persons Investigations, Guidelines and Curriculum,
Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training,
http://lib.post.ca.gov/Publications/missing.pdf )
5. What This Bill Would Do
As the foregoing illustrates, several law enforcement agencies
have been given responsibilities and developed different
programs with respect to missing person investigations. This
bill is one of a package of bills that seek to improve the
handling of missing persons cases by utilizing these existing
resources and seeking better coordination of effort and
dissemination of information by various law enforcement
agencies. Specifically, this bill:
Encourages law enforcement agencies to obtain and
utilize the list of registered sex offenders from the
Violent Crime Information Center in the event of a reported
stranger abduction of a child;
Suggests that each law enforcement agency adopt,
promulgate, and offer training regarding missing children
and the reporting of missing children, as specified;
Requires that DOJ make accessible to law enforcement
agencies, as specified, the Peace Officer Standards and
Training Commission's (POST) "Guidelines for Handling
Missing Persons Investigations," relating to the
investigation of missing persons;
Requires that, by January 1, 2012, law enforcement
agencies adopt a checklist document directing peace
officers on investigation guidelines and resources
available to them in the early hours of a missing persons
investigation, as specified;
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Requires that by January 1, 2012, law enforcement
agencies adopt a policy, regulations, or guidelines on
missing persons investigations, as specified;
Requires that, by January 1, 2012, law enforcement
agencies utilize DOJ's missing person reporting form, at a
minimum, for the initial contact with the parent or family
member reporting a missing person; and
Require that, as necessary and appropriate, the POST
commission modify its missing persons investigations
guidelines and curriculum with contemporary information, as
specified.
Additionally, AB 33 would require the Violent Crime Information
Center (VCIC) of the Department of Justice to "make available
within two hours of a reported stranger abduction of a child, a
list of persons required to register as sex offenders based upon
the modus operandi, if available, or the specified geographical
location from which the child was abducted."
WOULD THESE MEASURES HELP POLICE FIND ABDUCTED CHILDREN MORE
QUICKLY?
6. Proposed Amendments
The requirement in the bill that the "center" (meaning the VCIC)
"make available within two hours of a reported stranger
abduction of a child, a list of persons required to register as
sex offenders based upon the modus operandi, if available, or
the specified geographical location from which the child was
abducted" amends a section that refers to a subsection of the
Violent Crime Information Center known as the Investigative
Support Unit. Current law requires that this unit only release
information about active investigations by police and sheriffs'
departments to local law enforcement agencies." (Penal Code
section 14202(b).) The language of the bill does not specify to
whom this disclosure would be made. The author may wish to
amend the bill to refer to the Investigative Support Unit rather
than the "center." The dissemination of this information would
then be restricted to law enforcement agencies.
AB 33 (Nava and Cook)
PageV
SHOULD THIS AMENDMENT BE TAKEN?
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