BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1066
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 29, 2010
Counsel: Kimberly A. Horiuchi
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
SB 1066 (Oropeza) - As Amended: June 23, 2010
SUMMARY : Requires that the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) to oversee and conduct periodic and random
searches of all employees and vendors entering all state prisons
under CDCR's jurisdiction for contraband. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Mandates that the searches shall include random searches of
all property, personal or otherwise, brought into the prison
by those individuals and CDCR shall provide the Inspector
General (IG) with a minimum of five working days' notice prior
to the date of those random searches CDCR plans to conduct.
2)Requires that searches be conducted at each institution at a
minimum of once per month for each staff shift.
3)Provides that CDCR shall, in consultation with the Inspector
General, as specified, provide a written report to the
Legislature quarterly detailing the following:
a) The names of the prisons where the searches took place;
b) The dates of the searches;
c) The shifts during which the searches took place;
d) The number of employees searched;
e) The number of employees scheduled to work on those
shifts;
f) The number of vendors searched;
g) The number of vendors scheduled to arrive during those
shifts;
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h) The number of cell phones discovered;
i) The number of items of portable computer equipment
found, including, but not limited to, iPods, MP3 players,
DVD players, CD players, CDs, and portable video game
players;
j) The tobacco products found, including lighters and
matches; and,
aa) Illegal substances found, categorized by type of
substance.
4)Requires that the report to the Legislature also contain a
general comment section for use by the IG and CDCR to discuss
the issues they find relevant to the searches and shall
include a section detailing the actions taken as a result of
the discovery of contraband possessed by an employee or vendor
and the results of any disciplinary process resulting from the
discovery of contraband.
5)States the reports to the Legislature are to be submitted in
accordance with Government Code provisions.
6)Mandates that the IG oversee, at a minimum, CDCR's search of
one staff shift per year at each adult institution in order to
ensure the integrity of the process and of the searches, and
the accuracy of the reports submitted pursuant to the terms of
this bill.
7)States that nothing in these provisions shall be interpreted
to allow the IG to direct CDCR regarding when the random
searches shall take place, to allow the IG to direct CDCR
regarding how the random searches shall be carried out, or as
requiring the IG's approval prior to CDCR conducting the
random searches.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides that any report required or requested by law to be
submitted by a state or local agency to the Members of either
house of the Legislature generally, shall instead be submitted
as a printed copy to both the Legislative Counsel and the
Secretary of the Senate, and as an electronic copy to the
Chief Clerk of the Assembly. Each report shall include a
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summary of its contents, not to exceed one page in length. If
the report is submitted by a state agency, that agency shall
also provide an electronic copy of the summary directly to
each member of the appropriate house or houses of the
Legislature. Notice of receipt of the report shall also be
recorded in the journal of the appropriate house or houses of
the Legislature by the secretary or clerk of that house.
[Government Code Section 9795(a)(1).]
2)Mandates that the IG shall review CDCR policy and procedures,
conduct audits of investigatory practices and other audits, be
responsible for contemporaneous oversight of internal affairs
investigations and the disciplinary process, and conduct
investigations of CDCR, as requested by either the CDCR
Secretary or a Member of the Legislature, pursuant to the
approval of the IG under policies to be developed by the IG.
The IG may, under policies developed by the IG, initiate an
investigation or an audit on his or her own accord. [Penal
Code Section 6126(a)(1).]
3)States that any person who knowingly brings into any state
prison or other institution under the jurisdiction of CDCR, or
into any prison camp, prison farm, or any other place where
prisoners or inmates of these institutions are located under
the custody of prison or institution officials, officers, or
employees, or into any county, city and county, or city jail,
road camp, farm or any other institution or place where
prisoners or inmates are being held under the custody of any
sheriff, chief of police, peace officer, probation officer, or
employees, or within the grounds belonging to any institution
or place, any alcoholic beverage, any drugs, other than
controlled substances, in any manner, shape, form, dispenser,
or container, or any device, contrivance, instrument, or
paraphernalia intended to be used for unlawfully injecting or
consuming any drug other than controlled substances, without
having authority so to do by the rules of CDCR, the rules of
the prison, institution, camp, farm, place, or jail, or by the
specific authorization of the warden, superintendent, jailer,
or other person in charge of the prison, jail, institution,
camp, farm, or place, is guilty of a felony. [Penal Code
Section 4573.5.]
4)States any person in a local correctional facility who
possesses a wireless communication device, including, but not
limited to, a cellular telephone, pager, or wireless Internet
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device, who is not authorized to possess that item is guilty
of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than
$1,000. [Penal Code Section 4575(a).]
5)Provides any person housed in a local correctional facility
that possesses any tobacco products in any form, including
snuff products, smoking paraphernalia, any device that is
intended to be used for ingesting or consuming tobacco, or any
container or dispenser used for any of those products, is
guilty of an infraction, punishable by a fine not exceeding
$250. Money collected pursuant to this section shall be
placed into the inmate welfare fund, as specified. [Penal
Code Section 4575(b) and (c).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "The number of
cell phones confiscated in prison in 2006 was 261. Last year,
6,995 cell phones were confiscated. That constitutes an
increase of 2,580%. Reports have inmates paying $500 to
$1,500 per phone.
"The California Senate Rules Committee for the last several
years has focused on cell phones entering prisons during the
confirmation hearings of CDCR officials.
"A recent KCRA 3 report quoted Avenal spokesman saying inmates
with cell phones 'can order hits. They can organize escapes.'
An Associated Press story discusses how Mexican drug
traffickers call prisons gangs in the United States via cell
phones when they 'need someone killed or kidnapped or drugs
distributed in the United States.'
"In May of 2009, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) sent
a special report entitled 'Inmate Cell Phone Use Endangers
Prison Security and Public Safety' to CDCR Secretary Matthew
Cate. Among other things the report found, 'Inmates access to
cell phone technology facilitates their ability to communicate
amongst themselves and their associates outside of prison, to
plan prison assaults, plot prison escapes, and orchestrate a
myriad of other illegal activities. In addition, these
devices can provide an inmate unrestricted and unmonitored
access to the Internet, whereby they can communicate with
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unsuspecting victims, including minors.'
"The report also found that, 'In addition to staff, other
conduits for smuggling cell phones include visitor, outside
accomplices, minimum support facility inmates working outside
perimeter fences, and contracted employees.'
"In July 2008, CDCR's Department of Internal Affairs conducted
surprise screenings for two days called 'Project Disconnect.'
During these searches, one employee's vehicle was searched and
50 cell phones, labeled with the inmates' names, were found.
Since November 2009, CDCR has continued the random once a
month searches of employees entering every prison in
California with 'Operation Disconnect.'
"SB 1066 codifies the activities of 'Operation Disconnect' into
law and includes vendors as those subject to the search. SB
1066 requires the OIG to oversee a sample size of the searches
to ensure the integrity of the process. Finally, SB 1066
requires that CDCR and the OIG submit a report to the
Legislature detailing the finding of the searches as well as a
general comment section."
2)OIG Report : In May 2009, the OIG published a report, "Inmate
Cell Phone Use Endangers Prison Security and Public Safety".
The report stated, "According to numerous California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (Department)
officials, the possession of cell phones and electronic
communication devices by California's inmates is one of the
most significant problems facing the Department today.
"Therefore, in February 2009, the Office of the Inspector
General (OIG) began a review into the proliferation of
contraband cell phones in California prisons and how their use
puts Department staff, inmates, and the general public at
risk. During 2006, correctional officers seized approximately
261 cell phones in the state's prisons and camps. However, by
2008, that number increased ten-fold to 2,811 with no end in
sight. Inmates' access to cell phone technology facilitates
their ability to communicate amongst themselves and their
associates outside of prison to plan prison assaults, plot
prison escapes, and orchestrate a myriad of other illegal
activity.
"In addition, these devices can provide an inmate unrestricted
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and unmonitored access to the Internet, whereby they can
communicate with unsuspecting victims, including minors.
According to the Department, inmates are paying those involved
in smuggling cell phones into California prisons between $500
and $1,000 per phone. There are currently no criminal
consequences for the introduction or possession of cell phones
in prison, making this activity merely an administrative
violation.
"Furthermore, current security entrance procedures provide ample
opportunities for staff and visitors to bring contraband into
prison facilities without fear of discovery. Therefore, the
introduction of cell phones into state prisons is a low-risk,
high-reward endeavor. In addition to staff, other conduits
for smuggling cell phones include visitors, outside
accomplices, minimum support facility inmates working outside
perimeter fences, and contracted employees. In an effort to
combat this growing threat, the Department is supporting
legislation making it a crime to introduce or possess cell
phones in California's prisons. Unfortunately, previous
efforts to pass similar legislation have failed. In addition,
technology that detects or jams cell phone signals is
commercially available but potentially expensive and would
require federal authorization to place into use. Other
detection methods that have been used or are now in sporadic
use, such as hands-on searches, metal detectors, and x-ray
equipment, are more labor intensive and would require an
increase in staffing and funding."
The OIG made several recommendations in its report to ameliorate
the harm caused by the proliferation of cell phones in prisons
and found "the dramatic rise in cell phones confiscated by
CDCR staff is a clear indicator that the current methods used
to interdict the introduction of cell phones are ineffective.
"To truly eradicate cell phone usage, the Office of the
Inspector General recommends that the Secretary of the
Department take the following actions: continue efforts to
seek legislative change to make the introduction or possession
of cell phones in all correctional facilities a criminal
offense; collaborate with other state and federal correctional
agencies to lobby the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
for an exemption in using cell phone jamming devices; request
additional funds to purchase cell phone detection solutions
and jamming devices (if subsequently approved by the FCC);
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request resources and funds to conduct airport-style screening
including metal and canine detection, and, when necessary,
manual searches of persons entering California prison
facilities; restrict the size of all carrying cases being
brought into the secure areas of prisons by all persons
including backpacks, briefcases, purses, ice chests, lunch
boxes, file boxes, etc., so that they may be x-rayed; require
staff and visitors to place all personal items in see-through
plastic containers; request additional resources and funds to
increase detection activities similar to 'Operation
Disconnect;' ensure all quarterly contract vendor packages be
shipped directly to prisons and correctional camps; and
implement an anonymous cell phone smuggling reporting system
for employees and inmates."
3)Related Legislation :
a) SB 268 (Harman) creates a misdemeanor for the possession
of a cellular telephone device or wireless communication
device with the intent to deliver that device to an inmate
or ward in CDCR's custody. SB 268 has not been heard by
this Committee.
b) SB 434 (Benoit) states any inmate or ward who possesses
any cellular telephone or other wireless communication
device, or any component thereof, including, but not
limited to, subscriber identity module (SIM) cards and
memory storage devices, or any person who possesses with
the intent to deliver, or delivers, to an inmate or ward in
the custody of CDCR, any cellular telephone or other
wireless communication device or component, including, but
not limited to, SIM cards and memory storage devices, is
guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed
$5,000. SB 434 was held on the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations' Suspense File.
c) SB 525 (Padilla) creates a misdemeanor for the
possession of a cellular telephone device or wireless
communication device with the intent to deliver that device
to an inmate or ward in CDCR's custody. SB 525 is pending
hearing by the Assembly Committee on Appropriations.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
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None
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Horiuchi / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744