BILL ANALYSIS
SB 839
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 839 (Runner)
As Amended June 14, 2010
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :36-0
PUBLIC SAFETY 6-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Hagman, Beall, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Conway, |
| |Gilmore, Hill, Portantino | |Bradford, |
| | | |Charles Calderon, Coto, |
| | | |Davis, De Leon, Gatto, |
| | | |Hall, Harkey, Miller, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Skinner, |
| | | |Solorio, Torlakson, |
| | | |Torrico |
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SUMMARY : Requires the California Highway Patrol (CHP), at the
request of an authorized person at a law enforcement agency, to
activate the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and issue a "blue
alert", as defined, if a law enforcement officer has been
killed, suffers serious bodily injury, or is assaulted with a
deadly weapon, the suspect has fled the scene of the offense,
and other specified conditions are met. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Defines "blue alert" as a quick response system designed to
issue and coordinate alerts following an attack upon a law
enforcement officer, as specified.
2)Provides that in addition to the circumstances described under
existing law, upon the request of an authorized person at a
law enforcement agency that is investigating an offense, the
CHP shall activate the EAS and issue a blue alert if all of
the following conditions are met:
a) 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;
b) A law enforcement agency investigating the offense has
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determined that the suspect poses an imminent threat to the
public or other law enforcement personnel;
c) A detailed description of the suspect's vehicle or
license plate is available for broadcast;
d) Public dissemination of available information may help
avert further harm or accelerate apprehension of the
suspect; and,
e) The CHP has been designated to use the federally
authorized EAS for the issuance of blue alerts.
3)Provides that the blue alert system incorporates a variety of
notification resources and developing technologies that may be
tailored to the circumstances and geography of the underlying
attack. The blue alert system shall utilize the
state-controlled Emergency Digital Information System (EDIS),
local digital signs, focused text, or other technologies, as
appropriate, in addition to the federal EAS, if authorized and
under conditions permitted by the Federal Government.
4)Directs, on or before December 31, 2011, the CHP to augment
the CHP'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 law
enforcement 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.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, minor, if any, new state costs for blue
alerts. According to the CHP, the process prescribed by this
bill is current practice. In essence, this bill creates a name
- "blue alert" - for current practice.
According to the CHP, there have been two blue alerts in the
past five years. Based on Amber Alert experience, the average
cost of an alert is about $45,000.
COMMENTS : According to the author of this bill, "SB 839 would
allow the CHP to issue a Blue Alert, which is a quick response
system designed to issue and coordinate alerts following an
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attack upon a law enforcement officer if 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; and,
5)"The CHP has been designated to use the federally authorized
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 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.
"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.
Okalahoma has legislation ready to be introduced.
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"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."
Please see the policy committee for a full discussion of this
bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Nicole J. Hanson / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744
FN: 0005675