BILL NUMBER: AB 504	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 1, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Furutani
    (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members 
 Ma,   Skinner,   and Yamada   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2009

   An act to add Section 13515.45 to the Penal Code, relating to
peace officers.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 504, as amended, Furutani. Peace officers: training.
   Existing law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards
and Training within the Department of Justice. Under existing law,
the commission is required to develop and implement trainings for
peace officers relative to certain areas of criminal law or
procedure.
   This bill would require the commission to create and make
available to all law enforcement agencies  as part of basic
training a training component   training content 
on how to recognize and interact with persons carrying a kirpan, as
specified.  The bill would require that the training content
include instruction on how arrests of Sikhs carrying a kirpan have
historically been treated and   the alternatives to those
arrests and detentions that have successfully been used.  This
bill would define a kirpan as a blade that resembles a sword and is
required to be carried as an integral part of the practice of the
Sikh faith.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares the following:
   (a) The United States was founded on the core principles of
religious freedom, diversity, and equality for all.
   (b) Sikh Americans form a vibrant, peaceful, and law-abiding part
of the United States community. California was one of the first
places that Sikhs settled in this country over 100 years ago. Today,
California is home to a large number of the nation's 500,000 Sikhs.
   (c) Sikhs are mandated by their religion to keep five articles of
faith on or as part of their person at all times. These articles of
faith are physical manifestations and reminders of core Sikh
spiritual values which include honesty, remembering God, and
providing service to humanity.
   (d) The five Sikh articles of faith include the kirpan. A kirpan
is a religious article resembling a sword, which is integral to the
practice of the Sikh faith. The kirpan is carried in a shoulder strap
known as a gatra, as mandated by the Sikh Code of Conduct. The
kirpan acts as a constant reminder to its bearer of a Sikh's solemn
duty to protect the weak and promote justice for all. The kirpan is
also an allusion to spiritual knowledge that cuts through ignorance
and sin.
   (e) In the years since the attacks of September 11, 2001, Sikhs
have experienced an unprecedented increase in  prosecutions
  arrests  for carrying the kirpan. 
   (f) State and local resources are unnecessarily burdened when law
enforcement officers detain law-abiding Sikhs for carrying a kirpan,
when its possession is in accordance with their faith.  

   (f) 
    (g)  It is the responsibility of the Legislature to
protect religious freedoms, while ensuring public safety. Keeping
those obligations in mind, it is the Legislature's goal to promote
education and awareness of the carrying of the kirpan by Sikhs in
California when its possession is in accordance with an integral part
of the recognized religious practice of the person carrying it and
there is a benign intent in carrying it.
  SEC. 2.  Section 13515.45 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
   13515.45.  (a) The commission shall, upon the next regularly
scheduled  review of a training module   update
of training content  relating to weapons violations and cultural
diversity, create and  make available   add
 training content on how to recognize and interact with 
persons carrying   Sikhs possessing articles of faith,
including  a kirpan. The training content shall be designed for,
and made available  , as part of its mandatory basic
training,  to  ,  peace officers employed by law
enforcement agencies that participate in  , and comply with,
  training that complies with  training standards
set forth by the commission.
   (b) For purposes of this section, "kirpan" means a blade that
resembles a sword and is required to be carried as an integral part
of the practice of the Sikh faith. 
   (c) The training content shall include instruction on how arrests
of Sikhs carrying a kirpan have historically been treated by the
criminal justice system in California, including the alternatives to
arrest and detention that have been successfully used by law
enforcement officers when contacting a Sikh carrying a kirpan with a
benign intent and in accordance with an integral part of his or her
recognized religious practice.  
   (c) 
    (d)  The training  course  content
 shall be developed by the commission in consultation with
appropriate subject matter experts. The commission shall make the
 course   content  available  , as
part of its mandatory basic training,  to California law
enforcement agencies that participate in, and comply with, training
standards set forth by the commission. 
   (d) 
    (e)  In addition to the duties contained in subdivisions
(a) and  (c)   (d)  , the commission shall
electronically distribute, as necessary, a training bulletin  on
the topic of the kirpan  to law enforcement agencies
participating in the commission's program  on the topic of
the kirpan  .