BILL ANALYSIS
AB 312
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Date of Hearing: January 21, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 312 (Ammiano) - As Introduced: February 17, 2009
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 5-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
Creates an Office of Citizen Complaints (OCC) to review and
investigate allegations of misconduct filed against peace
officers in the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)
Police Department. Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides for the nomination of an OCC Director by the district
attorneys of Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco
counties, subject to confirmation by the BART Board.
2)Authorizes the BART Board to organize, reorganize, and manage
the OCC; specifies the OCC shall include investigators and
hearing officers; and specifies the OCC staff shall include no
fewer than one line investigator for every 150 peace officers.
3)Requires the OCC to investigate complaints of police
misconduct, and requires the OCC to recommend disciplinary
action to the BART Police Chief on sustained complaints.
4)States that the OCC Director, after meeting and conferring
with the BART Police Chief or his or her designee, may verify
and file charges with the BART Board against members of the
police department arising out of sustained complaints.
5)Requires the OCC to prepare monthly summaries of complaints
and provide quarterly recommendations, along with a quarterly
report to the BART Board.
FISCAL EFFECT
Ongoing, potentially state-reimbursable, costs in the range of
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$350,000, assuming at a minimum, a director, an investigator, an
administrative assistant, and office equipment and expenses.
This bill should be amended, however, to include a mandate
disclaimer on the basis that BART has the authority to levy
service charges, fees, and assessments sufficient to cover the
cost. BART had a 2009 operating budget of about $675 million,
including 206 peace officers.
COMMENTS :
1)Rationale. According to the author, an independent OCC is
necessary in the wake of the 2009 shooting death of Oscar
Grant and "years of complaints of police misconduct, including
officer-involved shooting deaths? As a result, public faith in
the authority of the BART Police is waning.
"The shooting of Oscar Grant is a sad and unfortunate reminder
that the BART Police needs additional oversight as exists for
other law enforcement agencies. Unfortunately, this isn't the
first time a young person has been shot and killed by an
on-duty officer with BART. There have been other deaths and
untold numbers of cases of brutality. The BART Board's
proposed internal subcommittee to review BART police
practices, while appreciated, is simply not enough. A young
man was killed and the community is justifiably outraged, it's
long overdue for civilian oversight.
"While the BART Police Department does have an Internal
Affairs Department that handles civilian complaints of
misconduct, no group independent of the BART Police has been
established to investigate the actions of BART officers."
2)Supporters , including the cities of Berkeley and Oakland,
contend that an OCC would provide residents the opportunity to
pursue complaints of BART police misconduct with the
confidence that such complaints will not be overlooked.
3)Opponents, including several law enforcement organizations,
contend the measure is unnecessary. According to the Peace
Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), "PORAC is
opposed to this legislation for two main reasons. First, the
language creates an oversight commission that has the final
say as to the imposition of discipline. PORAC is opposed to
any commission having the final authority over an Agency's
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Chief or Sheriff. Second, AB 312 creates a precedence wherein
the Legislature would be passing laws implementing this
oversight commission and its governing rules to local
agencies, bypassing the local community, agency management and
labor, and the Board of Directors.
"PORAC does not understand why Assemblymember Ammiano feels
the need to introduce legislation when the 'system' for this
tragic event is working. The officer has been arrested and is
being prosecuted for murder. The local agency, along with
input from the community, its Board and the labor
organizations, are meeting on a regular basis to put in place
an oversight commission at the local level.
"We appreciate the need for the bill, if the intent of the
measure is to put pressure on the locals to create an
oversight commission. However, knowing that the creation of
an oversight commission is taking place among local
stakeholders, and that the Assemblymember has been invited to
be a part of that process, PORAC feels that there is no need
for this bill. Furthermore, we feel that legislation will
only work against the attempt by all parties involved in the
tragedy to work together to earn back the public's trust."
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081