BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1390
Page A
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 1390 (Blumenfield) - As Amended: April 13, 2009
[Note: This bill has been double referred to the Assembly Public
Safety Committee and will be heard as it relates to issues under
its jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT : School security and police departments
SUMMARY : Requires a school security department or school
police department to make specified notifications to local law
enforcement agencies. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a school security department or school police
department to make a written report, within 24 hours of the
incident, regarding an incident occurring on a school campus
that involves either a crime accompanied by the use or
possession of a firearm or any of the acts that result in
pupil expulsion, to the appropriate law enforcement agency
having jurisdiction over the area in which the incident
occurred.
2)Requires a school security department or school police
department to make a written report, within 24 hours of an
incident, in which a firearm is surrendered to, or otherwise
seized by, a school security officer or a school peace officer
on a school campus to the appropriate law enforcement agency
having jurisdiction over the area in which the incident
occurred.
3)Requires the law enforcement agency, upon receiving the
firearm from the school security department or school police
department, to store the firearm in the same location where
the agency maintains evidence for safekeeping.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes the governing board of any school district to
establish a security department under the supervision of a
chief of security or a police department under the supervision
of a chief of police, as designated by, and under the
direction of, the superintendent of the school district.
AB 1390
Page B
2)Authorizes the governing board of a school district to
establish a school police reserve officer corps to supplement
a police department.
3)Specifies that individuals employed by a police department,
when appointed and duly sworn, are peace officers and may
carry firearms if authorized by the governing board.
4)Defines "school security officer" as any person primarily
employed or assigned to provide security services as a
watchperson, security guard, or patrolperson on or about
premises owned or operated by a school district to protect
persons or property or to prevent the theft or unlawful taking
of district property of any kind or to report any unlawful
activity to the district and local law enforcement agencies.
5)Specifies the acts committed at school or at a school activity
off school grounds that result in the suspension or expulsion
of a pupil.
6)Requires the principal of a school or the principal's designee
to, prior to the suspension or expulsion of any pupil, notify
the appropriate law enforcement authorities of the county or
city in which the school is situated, of any acts of the pupil
that violate specified provisions of the Education and Penal
Codes.
7)Provides that whenever any employee of a school district or of
the office of county superintendent of schools is attacked,
assaulted, or physically threatened by any pupil, it shall be
the duty of the employee, and the duty of the employee's
supervisor, to report the incident to the appropriate local
law enforcement. Provides that failure to make the report
shall be an infraction punishable by a fine of not more than a
$1,000.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill requires a school security department or
school police department to make a written report to the
appropriate law enforcement agency within its jurisdiction
within 24 hours after the occurrence of the following types of
incidences:
AB 1390
Page C
1)A crime accompanied by the use or possession of a firearm;
2)Any of the following offenses that result or may result in
expulsion from school:
a) Causing, attempting to cause, or threatening to cause
physical injury to another person; or willfully using force
or violence upon another person, except in self-defense;
b) Possessing, selling, or otherwise furnishing a firearm,
knife, explosive, or other dangerous object;
c) Unlawfully possessing, using, or selling a controlled
substance;
d) Unlawfully offering, arranging or negotiating to sell a
controlled substance;
e) Committing or attempting to commit robbery or extortion;
f) Causing or attempting to cause damage to school property
or private property;
g) Stealing or attempting to steal school property or
private property;
h) Possessing or using tobacco, or products containing
tobacco or nicotine products;
i) Committing an obscene act or engaging in habitual
profanity or vulgarity;
j) Unlawfully possessing or unlawfully offering, arranging
or negotiating to sell drug paraphernalia;
aa) Disrupting school activities or otherwise willfully
defying the authority of supervisors, teachers,
administrators, school officials or other school personnel
engaged in the performance of their duties;
bb) Knowingly receive stolen school property or private
property;
cc) Possessing an imitation firearm;
dd) Committing or attempting to commit a sexual assault;
ee) Harassing, threatening or intimidating a pupil who is a
complaining witness or a witness in a school disciplinary
proceeding in order to prevent the pupil from being a
witness or retaliating against that pupil for being a
witness, or both;
ff) Unlawfully offering, arranging to sell, or negotiating
to sell the prescription drug Soma;
gg) Engaging in or attempting to engage in hazing;
hh) Committing sexual harassment (grades 4 through 12 only);
ii) Causing or attempting to cause hate violence (grades 4
through 12 only);
jj) Engaging in harassment, threats, or intimidation against
AB 1390
Page D
school district personnel or pupils that have the effect of
disrupting classwork, creating substantial disorder and
invading the rights of either school personnel or pupils by
creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment
(grades 4 through 12 only); and
aaa) Making a terroristic threat against school officials or
school property, or both.
bbb) The surrendering of or seizing of a firearm by school
security officer or school peace officer.
This bill also requires the law enforcement agency, upon
receiving the firearm from the schools security department or
school police department, to store the firearm in the same
location where the agency maintains evidence for safekeeping.
Purpose of the bill . The author states, "Prompt, accurate and
transparent reporting of school-related crimes is a critical
first step toward the development of effective early warning,
prevention and intervention strategies for at-risk youth. This
is particularly important in large urban settings where school
police and city police departments share some concurrent
responsibilities and one or both may be involved in the
investigation of a school incident depending on the nature of
the crime. To effectively address school crime, districts must
first acknowledge it exists (transparency) and principals and
school police must cross report all serious crime to local law
enforcement at the earliest possible stage to assist in early
intervention strategies."
An article provided by the author titled "School Crime Reporting
and School Crime Underreporting"<1> states the following reasons
why school officials should report crimes:
It is the right thing to do. Schools are not islands of
lawlessness where the criminal law does not apply.
Acknowledging the problems by making a police report
will kick in the criminal justice system, which can and
should work simultaneously with the school's
administrative, disciplinary system.
Accurately reporting incidents is the first step in
developing effective prevention strategies. Documented
data can be used for early identification of trends,
--------------------------
<1> National School Safety and Security Services.
AB 1390
Page E
identification of crime patterns, and to provide related
red flags so school and safety officials can intervene
before problems become entrenched.
We are doing a disservice to kids if we teach them that
they can commit crimes at school and there will be no
criminal justice consequences.
Security and Police Departments . Governing boards are
authorized to establish security departments headed by a Chief
of Security and a police department headed by a chief of police.
Security departments are considered supplementary to city and
county law enforcement agencies and are not vested with general
police powers. Individuals employed and compensated as members
of a police department of a school district, when appointed and
duly sworn, are considered peace officers. There is no data on
the number of districts that have security or police
departments. Larger districts are more likely than smaller
districts to have police departments.
School Resource Officers . Many local city or county law
enforcement agencies partner with their local school district(s)
through a School Resource Officer Program (SRO). The SRO
program assigns one or more police officers to work with school
districts to create and maintain a safe environment and provide
support and training to school and district officials on crime
prevention, gang intervention and school safety. Some SROs may
assign one officer to each middle and/or high school or one
officer to work with several middle and/or high schools, while
others may assign one officer to work with the whole district.
Some SROs are on campuses daily.
There are two main issues raised by this bill:
1)Should a district security or police department be required to
report crimes to the law enforcement agencies (local police or
sheriff) within 24 hours of an incident?
Current law already requires a principal or the principal's
designee, frequently a vice principal, to notify law enforcement
authorities of crimes involving assault with a firearm, an
assault weapon, or a deadly weapon or instrument; and possession
or sale of controlled substances, prior to suspending or
expelling the pupil. Current law also specifies that the
willful failure to make a report is an infraction punishable by
AB 1390
Page F
a fine of up to $500 to be paid by the principal or principal's
designee. The author and sponsor state that there is
underreporting currently due to administrators' lack of
understanding of what needs to be reported, the erroneous belief
that they have complied with the law when they report to the
district police department, and a disincentive to report to
avoid being identified as a persistently dangerous school
pursuant to the No Child Left Behind Act. How a school becomes
categorized as "persistently dangerous" does not involve reports
to law enforcement agencies. For serious incidences, especially
one involving firearms, school policy and procedures likely
already require school staff to call 911 and bring in local law
enforcement, who will write a report. Rather than create
another layer of reporting, there should be better education of
or stronger enforcement of the law. Guidelines can be developed
to standardize the process for reporting to law enforcement
agencies.
2)Should the types of crimes required to be reported to local
law enforcements be expanded to include all the offenses that
could result in an expulsion?
While some of the offenses that result or may result in an
expulsion are serious, some are not in comparison. The
expulsion section in the Education Code authorizes a governing
board to consider expulsion for acts that can lead to
suspensions if other means of corrections are not feasible or
have repeatedly failed to bring about proper conduct. For
example, possession and use of tobacco or engaging in habitual
profanity or vulgarity are acts that lead to suspensions and
possible expulsions, but are they offenses that should be
reported to law enforcement agencies within 24 hours of an
occurrence?
The author and sponsor argue that reporting to law enforcement
agencies can trigger intervention strategies. Concern has been
raised by the California Public Defenders Association (CPDA)
that reporting requirements may not be the best strategy in
addressing at-risk youth. CPDA states, "Schools already have
the discretion, in appropriate situations, to contact law
enforcement. In fact, research shows that the drastic
limitation on the school officials' discretion to respond to
incidents - 'zero-tolerance policies' - have done damage to
youth and contributed to 'the school to prison pipeline.' Even
the American Bar Association has condemned zero-tolerance
AB 1390
Page G
policies as inherently unjust: 'zero tolerance has become a
one-size-fits-all solution to all the problems that schools
confront. It has redefined students as criminals, with
unfortunate consequences?.Unfortunately, most current
[zero-tolerance] policies eliminate the common sense that comes
with discretion and, at great cost to society and to children
and families, do little to improve school safety.'"
Clarifications needed . If the committee chooses to pass this
bill, the bill should be amended to address the following:
1) It is unclear whether "school security department" means
a security department established at a schoolsite or by the
district. Security or police departments are usually
established by the district superintendent rather than by
individual schools. Staff recommends clarifying that the
security or police department required to provide the
written report are the district-established departments
authorized pursuant to Education Code section 38000.
2) The bill requires a written report but does not specify
the content or how much details is required to be in the
report. Staff recommends the author clarify the contents
of the report.
However, these are technical amendments and do not address the
issues raised in this analysis.
Arguments in Support . Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky
Delgadillo, the sponsor of the bill, states, "This bill will
assist school police and local police in immediately
coordinating reporting, tracking and investigative responses to
school crimes, leading to identification of patterns and
behaviors and better crime data analysis by both school police
and overlapping county or city agencies. This bill will protect
school children exposed to chronic violence by expediting
corrective action immediately following a serious incident."
Arguments in Opposition . The California Public Defenders
Association states, "School officials already have ability to
respond immediately to any criminal incidents by notifying the
local law enforcement, and law enforcement's duty is to respond
and prepare a report. Adding an additional requirement that the
report be made in writing adds unnecessary responsibilities to
the school security and may in fact cause delay and waste
AB 1390
Page H
resources as responding as written reports take time to prepare.
Resources that could be put towards improving schools are
instead used for inefficient security measures, while there
[sic] very schools may be lacking basic educational resources
like textbooks and libraries."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo
Opposition
California Public Defenders Association
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087