BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 237
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   May 6, 2009

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Kevin De Leon, Chair

                    AB 237 (Carter) - As Amended:  April 23, 2009 

          Policy Committee:                              Public  
          SafetyVote:  7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              Yes

           SUMMARY  

          This bill:

          1)Authorizes city police and county sheriff's deputies to stop a  
            vehicle transporting timber, livestock, poultry, produce,  
            petroleum products, inedible kitchen grease or metal products,  
            and inspect documents to determine whether the driver is in  
            legal possession of the load, and, upon reasonable belief that  
            the driver is not in legal possession, to take custody of the  
            vehicle and load. 

            (Current law authorizes only CHP officers to make such stops.)

          2)Adds metal products to the list of vehicle loads (referenced  
            in 1, above) for which the CHP and, pursuant to this bill,  
            city police and county sheriff's deputies, may stop a vehicle  
            to inspect documents to determine whether the driver is in  
            legal possession of the load. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          By adding metal products to the list of loads that may be  
          searched, and by expanding who may do the stopping and  
          searching, from CHP to police and sheriffs' deputies, current  
          local costs - which are potentially state-reimbursable - for  
          safeguarding confiscated loads, as required by current law could  
          increase. According to the San Bernardino's Sheriffs'  
          Department, the sponsor of the bill, safeguarding confiscated  
          loads is rare.  

           COMMENTS  








                                                                  AB 237
                                                                  Page  2


           Rationale  . The author's intent is to provide sheriffs and police  
          the authority afforded the CHP to stop specified transport  
          vehicles and check documentation, and, given the well-publicized  
          increase in metal theft, add metal products to the list of  
          materials that may be inspected. 

          According to the author, "With the prevalence of metal thefts  
          from large construction sites, public utility yards, farms,  
          ranches, schools, etc., it would aid law enforcement to curtail  
          the rampant metal thefts by being allowed to inspect certain  
          loads for metal, in the furtherance of their investigations.   
          Metal theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the state  
          and country.  The recent rise in scrap metal values has made the  
          theft and sale of these materials increasingly profitable.  
          
           Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081