BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1511
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 28, 2009
Counsel: Nicole J. Hanson
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Jose Solorio, Chair
AB 1511 (De Leon) - As Amended: April 14, 2009
As Proposed to be Amended in Committee
SUMMARY : Authorizes a governing board of a school district or
county superintendent of schools to enter into a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) with a prosecuting city attorney's office or
district attorney's office to facilitate the placement of one or
more prosecutors on school district campuses to promote public
safety. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that the health, safety, and welfare of the people of
California depend upon the ability to provide a proper
education for children. Unfortunately, children simply cannot
learn in an environment that is unsafe. Strong partnerships
between law enforcement, schools, and communities are
essential in ensuring that school campuses remain safe havens
that are conducive to learning and achievement instead of
serving as recruitment centers for gangs and criminal
activity. Therefore, the purpose of this act is to enable
local municipalities, local school districts, and local law
enforcement to form these strong partnerships to better
provide for the safety and security of children.
2)Makes it the criminal prosecutor's responsibility to ensure
that children feel safe in and around schools so that they can
focus on learning, and it is the educator's responsibility to
provide that learning. Although the roles of schools and law
enforcement agencies differ, the Legislature finds that there
are some significant areas of commonality. First, both
schools and law enforcement agencies are responsible for the
safety and well-being of pupils. Second, schools represent
the natural centers of communities. Working within the
schools is a logical extension of law enforcement's
responsibility for public safety in the broader community.
Third, both schools and law enforcement agencies can play an
important role in helping youth become productive, law-abiding
residents. With these complimentary roles in mind, it is
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declared that the local prosecutor's office is in an ideal
position to work with the corresponding local school district
to implement strategies aimed at reversing conditions that
produce and perpetuate an unsafe school environment.
3)Asserts that a successful partnership between prosecutor and
school district has already proven successful under the
toughest circumstances. Markham Middle School, located in the
Watts area of South Los Angeles, had long been plagued by
crime and gang violence. The area surrounding the Markham
campus was home to seven criminal street gangs, and the school
was widely considered to be among the most dangerous within
the Los Angeles Unified School District. In February 2007,
the Los Angeles City Attorney partnered with the Los Angeles
Unified School District to place a prosecutor on campus. From
the beginning, the city attorney's team understood that school
safety requires a broad-based effort by the entire community,
including educators, pupils, parents, law enforcement
agencies, businesses, and community-based organizations. At
the end of the first full academic year, without any change to
the teaching or the curriculum, the city attorney, the Los
Angeles Unified School District, the Los Angeles Police
Department, and the Los Angeles School Police Department
observed that:
a) Markham was significantly safer than at any point in
recent memory.
b) Markham's pupil standardized test scores rose for the
first time in years, going from 519 to 542, beating the
academic performance index target set by the State
Department of Education by more than 55%.
c) Markham's 8th grade graduation rate increased 14% from
the year before, going from 66% to 80%.
d) The Markham Middle School Safety Prosecutor Program
demonstrated that a renewed dedication to pupils in the
most underserved schools can create an environment where
crime decreases, test scores rise, and pupils once again
focus on learning. It is, therefore, declared that this
educator-prosecutor partnership is a hopeful model for
school safety reform, and its replication should be
encouraged in other jurisdictions.
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4)Mandates that the governing board of a school district or a
county superintendent of schools may enter into a MOU with a
district attorney or prosecuting city attorney having filing
jurisdiction over the school district in order to facilitate
the placement of one or more prosecutors on one or more school
district campuses in order to promote public safety.
5)Provides that participation shall be at the option of each
agency. A school district, district attorney, or prosecuting
city attorney shall not be required by the other party to
enter into the MOU.
6)States that the two agencies shall work together to develop
the terms and conditions of the MOU. The MOU shall
incorporate the conditions described in this section, and
provisions deemed by the agencies as reasonably necessary to
fulfill the purpose of school safety and to ensure compliance
with the MOU and this section. The MOU shall include, but is
not limited to, the following provisions:
a) The time period for the agencies' participation in the
school safety program and the procedures for the placement
of one or more prosecutors directly onto one or more
campuses under the jurisdiction of the school district.
b) The scope of work to be given to the prosecutor and how
the prosecutor is to work with the administration of the
specific school.
c) A procedure for funding the school safety program that
includes, but is not limited to, declarations that the
agencies have adequate funds available to provide for the
costs that arise from placing a prosecutor on a school
campus.
d) Performance measures to evaluate the effectiveness of
the school safety program, including, but not limited to,
annual progress reports.
e) A statement that the primary purpose of the partnership
is to promote pupil safety and that the prosecutor shall
attempt, whenever possible, to prevent problems before they
escalate.
7)Proscribes for purposes of this section:
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a) "Agency" is defined as a governing board of a school
district, a county superintendent of schools, a district
attorney, or a prosecuting city attorney.
b) "School safety program" is defined as the placement of
one or more prosecutors on one or more local school
district campuses in order to promote public safety.
8)Allows a governing board of a school district or a county
superintendent of schools to adopt alternative models.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires every school police reserve officer, to complete a
course of training approved by the Commission on Peace Officer
Standards and Training (POST) relating directly to the role of
school police reserve officers. The school police reserve
officer training course shall address guidelines and
procedures for reporting offenses to other law enforcement
agencies that deal with violence on campus and other school
related matters, as determined by the Commission on POST.
(Penal Code Section 832.2.)
2)Requires any school police officer first employed by a K-12
public school district or California community college
district after July 1, 1999, shall successfully complete a
basic course of training before exercising the powers of a
peace officer. A school police officer shall not be subject
to this subdivision while participating as a trainee in a
supervised field training program approved by the Commission
on POST. [Penal Code Section 832.3(f).]
3)Mandates that the commission shall prepare a specialized
course of instruction for the training of school peace
officers, to meet the unique safety needs of a school
environment. This course is intended to supplement any other
training requirements. [Penal Code Section 832.3(g).]
4)Allows the governing board of any school district may
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. In
accordance with existing law, the governing board may employ
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personnel to ensure the safety of school district personnel
and pupils and the security of the real and personal property
of the school district. In addition, a school district may
assign a school police reserve officer who is deputized to a
school site to supplement the duties of school police
personnel pursuant to this section. It is the intention of
the Legislature in enacting this section that a school
district police or security department is supplementary to
city and county law enforcement agencies and is not vested
with general police powers. [Education Code Section
38000(a).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "AB 1511 will
encourage and enable local school districts and local
prosecutors to form strong school-based partnerships to secure
a school campus, and ensure that learning, not fearing for
one's safety, is priority on campus. Proven models
established in the Los Angeles Unified School District provide
us with an opportunity to assist statewide students and
schools improve their safety and academic success."
2)Background : According to information provided by the author,
"In Los Angeles, we have already seen a successful partnership
between the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office and the Los
Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) flourish under the
toughest of circumstances.
"Markham Middle School, located in the Watts area of South Los
Angeles, had long been plagued by crime and gang violence.
The area surrounding the Markham campus was home to seven
criminal street gangs, and the school was widely considered to
be among the most dangerous within LAUSD. In February 2007,
the Los Angeles City Attorney partnered with the LAUSD to
place a prosecutor directly on campus at Markham.
"From the beginning, the team understood that school safety
requires a broad-based effort by the entire community,
including educators, students, parents, neighbors, businesses,
law enforcement agencies and community-based organizations.
They recognized that traditional law enforcement tools were
not a panacea; they could not arrest their way out of the
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problems around Markham.
"At the end of the first full academic year, without any change
to the teaching or the curriculum, the City Attorney's Office
and the LAUSD, along with the Los Angeles Police Department
and the Los Angeles School Police Department observed that:
a) "Markham was significantly safer than at any point in
recent memory;
b) "Markham's student standardized test scores rose for the
first time in years - rising from 519 to 542 - beating the
API target set by the California Department of Education by
more than 55%; and
c) "Markham's 8th grade graduation rate increased 14% from
the year before, rising from 66% to 80%.
"The Markham Middle School Safety Prosecutor Program
demonstrated that a renewed dedication to students in the most
underserved and challenged schools can create an environment
where crime decreases, test scores rise, and students once
again focus on learning.
"On the heels of this success, the LAUSD Board of Education
and LAUSD Superintendent Ray Cortines asked the City
Attorney's Office to use the Markham model at other challenged
schools in the district. In August 2008, City Attorney Rocky
Delgadillo created a new School Safety Division within the
City Attorney's Office, and expanded the school safety efforts
to nine new LAUSD middle schools throughout Los Angeles."
3)A Deputy District Attorney's nor City Attorney's Duties
Include Policing : This bill indicates that it is the
"prosecutor's responsibility to ensure that children feel safe
in and around schools so that they can focus on learning." Is
that really what attorneys are trained to do? What makes a
deputy district attorney or city attorney more qualified to
enhance school safety? These attorneys are not trained in the
same manner as peace officers. Peace officers placed on
school campuses receive special training to deal with the
specialized problems faced in such environments. No such
training is being given to these attorneys. Peace officers
are trained and hired to ensure the safety of all; prosecutors
are trained and hired to prosecute crimes after those crimes
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have happened. There is little nexus between an attorney
being present on campus and the prevention of crime.
Moreover, in a time where district attorney's offices and city
attorney offices are facing layoffs, staff shortages, and
budget constraints, it makes little sense to send an attorney
unqualified in the dealings with children, let alone campus
safety or violence, away from prosecuting crimes, which
increase during times of financial crisis.
4)Argument in Support : According to the Chief Operating Officer
of the LAUSD, Earl Perkins and the Los Angeles School Police
Department Chief, Lawrence Manion , "UAUSC has benefited
tremendously by partnering with the Los Angeles City
Attorney's Office on school safety efforts in and around LAUSD
schools. Our partnership began in 2007 at Markham Middle
School and our work resulted in a significantly safer campus a
year later. Our successes included a 55% increase in API test
scores and 14% increase in graduation rates.
"On the heels of our successful collaboration at Markham Middle
School, Superintendent Ramon Cortines asked the City Attorney
to expand the School Safety Prosecutor program to other
schools within the District. City Attorney Delgadillo created
the new School Safety Division within the City Attorney's
Office and expanded school safety efforts to nine new LAUSD
middle schools throughout Los Angeles.
"Our collaboration with the City Attorney's Office has
demonstrated that a renewed dedication to the safety of
students and schools can create an environment where crime
decreases, test scores rise, and students focus on learning."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
City Attorney of Los Angeles, Rocky Delgadillo (Sponsor)
Chief Operating Officer of the Los Angeles Unified School
District, Earl Perkins
Los Angeles School Police Department Chief, Lawrence Manion
Opposition
American Civil Liberties Union
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Analysis Prepared by : Nicole J. Hanson / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744