BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Senator Mark Leno, Chair S
2009-2010 Regular Session B
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3
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SB 839 (Runner)
As Amended February 24, 2010
Hearing date: March 23, 2010
Government Code
AA:dl
EMERGENCY SERVICES: "BLUE ALERT" SYSTEM
HISTORY
Sources: Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff; California
State Sheriffs'
Association; California Broadcasters Association; Peace Officers
Research Association of California; California
Association of Highway Patrolmen
Prior Legislation: SB 38 (Alquist) - (2009) pending in Assembly
Appropriations Committee
AB 415 (Runner and Maddox) - Ch. 517, Stats. 2002
HR 8 (Runner) - adopted by the Assembly, 2001
SB 6 (Rainey) - Ch. 579, Stats. 1999
Support: Riverside Police Officers' Association; Los Angeles
Police Protective League; Los Angeles Probation
Officers'Union, AFSCME, Local 685; Riverside
Sheriffs'Association; Los Angeles Police Protective League;
Orange County Board of Supervisors; California Correctional
Supervisors Organization; California State Sheriffs'
Association; Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
Opposition:None Known
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KEY ISSUE
SHOULD A "BLUE ALERT" SYSTEM SIMILAR TO THE "AMBER ALERT" SYSTEM BE
CREATED TO NOTIFY THE PUBLIC WHEN A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER HAS BEEN
ATTACKED, AS SPECIFIED?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to create a "blue alert" system
similar to the "Amber Alert" system to notify the public when a
law enforcement officer has been attacked, as specified.
Existing law , commonly known as "Amber Alert," provides that if
an abduction has been reported to a law enforcement agency and
the agency determines that a child 17 years of age or younger,
or an individual with a proven mental or physical disability,
has been abducted and is in imminent danger of serious bodily
injury or death and there is information available that, if
disseminated to the general public, could assist in the safe
recovery of the victim, the agency, shall request the activation
of the Emergency Alert System within the appropriate local area.
(Government Code 8594 (a).)
Existing law provides that the California Highway Patrol (CHP)
in consultation with the Department of Justice (DOJ) as well as
a representative from the California State Sheriffs'
Association, the California Police Chiefs' Association and the
California Peace Officers' Association shall develop policies
and procedures providing instruction specifying how law
enforcement agencies, broadcasters participating in the
Emergency Alert System, and where appropriate, other
supplemental warning systems, shall proceed after a qualifying
abduction has been reported to a law enforcement agency.
(Government Code 8594 (b).)
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This bill would establish a "Blue Alert" system of public
notification relating to emergencies endangering law enforcement
officers modeled after Amber Alert, with the following specific
features:
"Blue alert" would be defined to mean "a quick response
system designed to issue and coordinate alerts following an
attack upon a law enforcement officer," as specified;
Upon the request of an authorized person at a law
enforcement agency that is investigating an attack upon a
law enforcement officer, the California Highway Patrol
would be required to activate the Emergency Alert System
and issue a blue alert if all of the following conditions
are met:
(1) A law enforcement officer has been killed, suffers
serious bodily injury, or is assaulted with a deadly
weapon, and the suspect has fled the scene of the
offense.
(2) A law enforcement agency investigating the offense
has determined that the suspect poses an imminent
threat to the public or other law enforcement
personnel.
(3) A detailed description of the suspect's vehicle or
license plate is available for broadcast.
(4) Public dissemination of available information may
help avert further harm or accelerate apprehension of
the suspect.
(5) The California Highway Patrol has been designated
to use the federally authorized Emergency Alert System
for the issuance of blue alerts.
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This bill would require that the blue alert response system
"employ the Emergency Alert System, as available, the Emergency
Digital Information Service, local digital signs, focused text
alerts, and other appropriate technologies."
This bill would require, on or before December 31, 2011, the
California Highway Patrol to "augment the department's public
Internet Web site to include a blue alert link that describes
the "blue alert" process, objectives, and available quick
responses. The Internet Web site shall explain that the term
blue alert will communicate that a peace officer has been
attacked or killed and that the scope of an alert will be
tailored to the circumstances of the offense and available
technologies."
RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION IMPLICATIONS
The severe prison overcrowding problem California has
experienced for the last several years has not been solved. In
December of 2006 plaintiffs in two federal lawsuits against the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation sought a
court-ordered limit on the prison population pursuant to the
federal Prison Litigation Reform Act. On January 12, 2010, a
federal three-judge panel issued an order requiring the state to
reduce its inmate population to 137.5 percent of design capacity
-- a reduction of roughly 40,000 inmates -- within two years.
In a prior, related 184-page Opinion and Order dated August 4,
2009, that court stated in part:
"California's correctional system is in a tailspin,"
the state's independent oversight agency has reported.
. . . (Jan. 2007 Little Hoover Commission Report,
"Solving California's Corrections Crisis: Time Is
Running Out"). Tough-on-crime politics have increased
the population of California's prisons dramatically
while making necessary reforms impossible. . . . As a
result, the state's prisons have become places "of
extreme peril to the safety of persons" they house, .
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. . (Governor Schwarzenegger's Oct. 4, 2006 Prison
Overcrowding State of Emergency Declaration), while
contributing little to the safety of California's
residents, . . . . California "spends more on
corrections than most countries in the world," but the
state "reaps fewer public safety benefits." . . . .
Although California's existing prison system serves
neither the public nor the inmates well, the state has
for years been unable or unwilling to implement the
reforms necessary to reverse its continuing
deterioration. (Some citations omitted.)
. . .
The massive 750% increase in the California prison
population since the mid-1970s is the result of
political decisions made over three decades, including
the shift to inflexible determinate sentencing and the
passage of harsh mandatory minimum and three-strikes
laws, as well as the state's counterproductive parole
system. Unfortunately, as California's prison
population has grown, California's political
decision-makers have failed to provide the resources
and facilities required to meet the additional need
for space and for other necessities of prison
existence. Likewise, although state-appointed experts
have repeatedly provided numerous methods by which the
state could safely reduce its prison population, their
recommendations have been ignored, underfunded, or
postponed indefinitely. The convergence of
tough-on-crime policies and an unwillingness to expend
the necessary funds to support the population growth
has brought California's prisons to the breaking
point. The state of emergency declared by Governor
Schwarzenegger almost three years ago continues to
this day, California's prisons remain severely
overcrowded, and inmates in the California prison
system continue to languish without constitutionally
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adequate medical and mental health care.<1>
The court stayed implementation of its January 12, 2010, ruling
pending the state's appeal of the decision to the U.S. Supreme
Court. That appeal, and the final outcome of this litigation,
is not anticipated until later this year or 2011.
This bill does not appear to aggravate the prison overcrowding
crisis described above.
COMMENTS
1. Stated Need for This Bill
The author states:
SB 839 would allow the California Highway Patrol to
issue a Blue Alert, which is a quick response system
designed to issue and coordinate alerts following an
attack upon a law enforcement officer if the following
conditions are met:
A law enforcement officer has been killed, suffers
serious bodily injury, or is assaulted with a deadly
weapon, and the suspect has fled the scene of the
offense;
A law enforcement agency investigating the offense
has determined that the suspect poses an imminent
threat to the public or other law enforcement
personnel;
A detailed description of the suspect's vehicle or
license plate is available for broadcast;
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<1> Three Judge Court Opinion and Order, Coleman v.
Schwarzenegger, Plata v. Schwarzenegger, in the United States
District Courts for the Eastern District of California and the
Northern District of California United States District Court
composed of three judges pursuant to Section 2284, Title 28
United States Code (August 4, 2009).
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Public dissemination of available information may
help avert further harm or accelerate apprehension of
the suspect; and
The California Highway Patrol has been designated
to use the federally authorized Emergency Alert System
(EAS) for the issuance of "blue alerts."
Additionally, the Blue Alert response system shall
employ the broad-based EAS after the federal
government has established a Blue Alert code, as well
as Emergency Digital Information Services (EDIS),
local digital signs, focused cell phone text alerts,
and all other appropriate technologies.
The proposed Blue Alert would serve the same function
as the highly successful AMBER Alert, namely, it would
quickly and effectively get many pairs of eyes looking
for a criminal who kills or assaults a law enforcement
officer.
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It is common for law enforcement personnel at these
crime scenes to have some information about these
violent individuals, including a general description
or a partial license plate number, which emphasizes
the need to use California's existing emergency alert
system to allow the public to partner with law
enforcement officials in the hunt for criminals who
are clearly a threat to society.
As the AMBER Alert system has demonstrated time and
again throughout the United States, a quick response
is vital.
Currently, Texas is the only state using Blue Alerts.
Oklahoma has legislation ready to be introduced.
Allowing the CHP to employ the broad-based EAS, after
the federal government has established a Blue Alert
code as well as EDIS, local digital signs, focused
cell phone text alerts, or other appropriate
technologies to activate a Blue Alert will ensure that
its rare use is an efficient and cost effective way to
bring together the necessary resources to assist in
quickly locating cop killers who often flee the scene
of the crime in a vehicle, as evidenced by the number
of multiple officers killed in Oakland and Seattle
last year.
2. Existing Alert System for Missing Children
Existing law creates an emergency alert system for law
enforcement to alert the public when a child has been abducted
and is believed to be in imminent danger. This is commonly
known as the "Amber Alert" system. CHP along with DOJ and law
enforcement groups create the policies that set forth how and
when the alert system is activated.
According to the CHP Web site:
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AMBER ALERT empowers law enforcement, the media and the
public to combat abduction by sending out immediate,
up-to-date information that aids in the child's safe
recovery. Using radio, television, the Internet,
highway information signs, and even cell phone
networks, AMBER ALERT gives the public the information
needed to locate abducted children.
The AMBER ALERT Program has helped in successfully
recovering over one hundred children since it was
established statewide in California on July 31, 2002.
( http://www.chp.ca.gov/amber/index.html#Guidelines )
Members and the author may wish to discuss how the "Blue Alert"
proposed by this bill can be expected to impact the existing
Amber Alert program.
HOW WOULD THE "BLUE ALERT" SYSTEM PROPOSED BY THIS BILL IMPACT
THE EXISTING AMBER ALERT PROGRAM?
3. Related Legislation
Last year, this Committee passed SB 38 (Alquist), which would
create a "silver alert" system similar to the "Amber Alert"
system to notify the public when a senior person who has an
impaired mental condition goes missing. That bill currently is
pending in Assembly Appropriations Committee.
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