BILL NUMBER: SB 1147 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Senator DeSaulnier
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
An act to add Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 13839) to
Title 6 of Part 4 of the Penal Code, relating to public
safety.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1147, as amended, DeSaulnier. Department of Public
Safety. Coordinated Public Safety System Committee.
Existing law provides for the safety of the public, as specified.
This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to
create a Department of Public Safety, the head of which shall serve
in the Governor's cabinet establish the Coordinated
Public Safety System Committee. The bill would specify the makeup of
the committee's members and how they are to be appointed, would
specify how, when, and where the committee meetings would be held,
and would require that the committee provide, by December 31, 2011, a
Master Plan for California Public Safety to the Legislature and
Governor which has the objective of making the public safer and which
addresses specified issues relating to that objective. The bill
would provide that the committee meet only upon
appropriation by the Legislature for its expenses .
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section
13839) is added to Title 6 of Part 4 of the Penal Code
, to read:
CHAPTER 4.5. COORDINATED PUBLIC SAFETY SYSTEM
13839. The Legislature makes the following findings and
declarations:
(a) Recent crimes committed by parolees raise serious questions
about the parole system, monitoring of parolees, and resources
available for this purpose.
(b) Correctional facilities under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation are at a dangerous and
unsafe level of overcrowding. Additionally, the health care provided
to prisoners at those facilities is so inadequate that the
correctional system is under receivership. There is little doubt that
the entire correctional system is failing.
(c) California's rank and file peace officers, parole agents, and
prison guards are currently working without a collective bargaining
agreement or will soon see their agreement expire. These agreements
are paramount to the successful delivery of critical public safety
services.
(d) Recent legislation has been interpreted by some county
sheriffs to require the release of certain prisoners. Other sheriffs
view the law as having no such requirement. Ultimately, there has
been no statewide criteria applied and the courts have had to
interpret the law for the sheriffs.
(e) California is a diverse state with public safety issues that
are unique to geographic areas and to socioeconomic groups. However,
California law seems to disregard these factors and apply a universal
approach to public safety.
(f) California spends more than $12 billion on public safety
annually. This is more than the state spends on any other public
service. Each public safety program is viewed, funded, and evaluated
in isolation instead of together with other public safety programs.
(g) A coordinated, adequately funded and staffed, and accountable
public safety system is needed in California.
13839.2. (a) There is hereby established in the agency or
agencies designated by the Director of Finance pursuant to Section
13820 the Coordinated Public Safety System Committee.
(b) (1) The committee shall be composed of the Attorney General,
the State Public Defender, the Secretary of the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Secretary of California Emergency
Management, the Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, the
Director of the California Office of Traffic Safety, the State Chief
Information Officer, the Director of Alcohol and Drug Programs, and
the Director of the Emergency Medical Services Authority.
(2) The committee shall be composed of the following additional
members, six of whom shall be appointed by the Governor, four of whom
shall be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, and four of
whom shall be appointed by the Assembly Committee on Rules.
(A) A representative from an association representing victims of
crime in California.
(B) A representative from an association representing a majority
of California's county sheriffs.
(C) A representative from an association representing a majority
of California's police chiefs.
(D) A representative from an association representing a majority
of California's district attorneys.
(E) A representative from an association representing a majority
of California's city attorneys.
(F) A representative from an association representing a majority
of California's public defenders.
(G) A representative from an association representing a majority
of California's firefighters.
(H) Two representatives from two associations (one from each
association) representing California's rank and file peace officers.
(I) A representative from an association representing California's
rank and file emergency medical technicians.
(J) A representative from an association representing a majority
of California's probation officers.
(K) A representative from an association representing a majority
of California's correctional officers.
(L) A representative from an association representing a majority
of California's parole officers.
(M) A representative with hands-on experience and advocacy work
relative to California's "911" program and system.
(3) The committee shall also include as members any federal public
safety official who agrees to participate upon the invitation of the
Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules, or the Speaker of the
Assembly.
(c) (1) The committee shall be led by two cochairs and a vice
chair. The Governor and the Senate Committee on Rules shall each
select a cochair. The Speaker of the Assembly shall select the vice
chair.
(2) Of the three members specified in paragraph (1), one shall
represent the interests of state government, one shall represent the
interests of local government, and one shall represent the interests
of the public.
(d) Committee member appointments shall be announced by a news
release or similar public statement that shall be made jointly by the
Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules, and the Speaker of the
Assembly.
13839.4. (a) By December 31, 2011, the committee shall provide to
the Legislature and the Governor a report, entitled the Master Plan
for California Public Safety, which shall have the objective of
making the public safer and which shall address issues, including,
but not limited to, the following:
(1) Better coordination between all local, state, and federal
public safety agencies and the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation and other detainment agencies.
(2) Establishment of best practices to reduce crime rates in
California.
(3) Requirement that public safety agencies base their actions on
measurable evidence.
(4) Identify and recommend methods to obtain potential grants
available to local, state, and federal public safety agencies, and to
the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and other
detainment agencies in California to be used to enhance the public
safety.
(b) (1) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall
be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(2) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this
section is repealed on December 31, 2015.
13839.6. (a) The committee shall meet and hold hearings at least
monthly in various areas around the state, including metropolitan,
urban, rural, northern, southern, coastal, and inland.
(b) The committee shall hold hearings in compliance with the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section
11120) of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
(c) The committee shall only meet if the Legislature and Governor
have identified and appropriated funds in the budget act for the
purposes of funding the costs of the committee.
13839.8. The Governor, Legislature, county boards of supervisors,
mayors, and city councils are encouraged in the strongest terms to
adopt and implement legislation, regulations, executive orders, and
resolutions in order to effectuate as soon as possible the
recommendations of the committee.
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to create a Department of Public Safety, the head of which shall
serve in the Governor's cabinet.