BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 489
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 22, 2010
Consultant: Stefani Salt
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
AB 489 (Cook) - As Introduced: February 15, 2011
SUMMARY : Reinstates the Commission on Peace Officer Standards
and Training (CPOST) to succeed the Corrections Standards
Authority's (CSA) duties to develop, approve and monitor
standards for the selection and training of state correctional
peace officers and apprentices. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes the following legislative findings and declarations:
a) The Legislature finds and declares that peace officers
of the California correctional system, including youth and
adult correctional facilities, have a role in the criminal
justice system that has been previously ignored in terms of
creation and application of sound selection criteria for
applicants and their training prior to assuming their
duties. For the purposes of this section, correctional
peace officers are peace officers as defined in Penal Code
Section 830.5 and employed by the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
b) The Legislature further finds that sound applicant
selection and training are essential to public safety and
in carrying out CDCR's missions in the custody and care of
California's offender population. The greater degree of
professionalism that will result from sound screening
criteria and a significant training curriculum will greatly
aid CDCR in maintaining smooth, efficient, and safe
operations and effective programs.
2)Creates CPOST within CDCR and constructs a position for a
CPOST Commissioner.
3)Mandates that the executive board of CPOST shall be composed
of seven voting members to be determined as follows:
a) Three members from, appointed by, and representing the
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management of CDCR.
b) Three members from, appointed by, and representing the
membership of the California Correctional Peace Officers'
Association (CCPOA). Two members shall be rank-and-file
persons from State Bargaining Unit 6 and one member shall
be supervisory.
c) One member with at least five years of experience in a
higher education environment, providing instruction in
either corrections or employee training, to be selected as
follows:
i) Within three months of appointment, the group of
three members representing the management of CDCR and the
group of three members representing the membership of
CCPOA shall each nominate five persons qualified for
appointment as the seventh member, as specified.
ii) The group of three members representing the
management of CDCR and the group of three members
representing the membership of CCPOA shall alternatively
strike one name from the combined list of 10 nominees.
The last name remaining shall be the seventh member and
shall serve a term of three years. The order in which
the groups strike names from the list shall initially be
determined by lot.
iii) Six months prior to the expiration of the
seventh member's term, the other six members of the
commission shall vote on whether to extend the seventh
member's term for an additional three years. If the six
voting members fail to extend the term by a majority
vote, the Commission shall replace that member with a new
member appointed pursuant to the initial procedure used
to appoint a seventh member.
d) Each appointing authority shall appoint one alternate
member for each regular member whom they appoint. An
alternate member must possess the same qualifications as
the regular member and shall substitute for, and vote in
place of, the regular member whenever he or she is absent.
4)States the rules for voting on the executive board of CPOST as
follows:
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a) Decisions shall be made by a majority vote.
b) Proxy voting shall not be permitted.
c) Tentative approval of a decision may be taken by
telephone vote. The CPOST members' decision shall be
documented in writing and submitted to CPOST for
confirmation at the next scheduled CPOST meeting to become
part of the permanent record.
5)Provides that CPOST's executive board shall adopt rules as it
deems necessary for efficient operations, including, but not
limited to, the appointment of advisory members for forming
whatever subcommittee it deems necessary to conduct its
business. These rules shall be in conformance with the rules
and regulations of the State Personnel Board (SPB) and the
Department of Personnel Administration, and the provisions of
the State Bargaining Unit 6 Memorandum of Understanding.
6)Requires CPOST to develop, approve and monitor standards for
the selection and training of state correctional peace officer
apprentices. States that these standards are subject to the
approval of the SPB.
7)Allows CPOST to approve standards for a course in the carrying
and use of firearms for correctional peace officers.
8)Permits CPOST to determine the length of the probationary
period for correctional peace officer apprentices, subject to
approval by the SPB.
9)Requires CPOST to develop, approve and monitor standards for
advanced rank-and-file and supervisory state correctional
peace officer and training programs for CDCR.
10) Demands CPOST to develop, approve and monitor standards
for training California correctional peace officers in the
handling of stress associated with their duties.
11) Provides that CPOST may confer with, and may avail itself
of the assistance and recommendations of, other state and
local agencies, boards or commissions.
12) Gives CPOST the authority to design, deliver and monitor
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compliance of training programs, and conduct validation
studies thereon.
13) Allows CPOST to disapprove of any training courses created
by CDCR if CPOST determines that the courses do not meet the
prescribed standards.
14) Mandates that CPOST annually submit an estimate of the
costs to conduct inquiries and audits as may be necessary to
determine whether CDCR and each of CDCR's institutions and
parole regions are adhering to the standards developed by
CPOST.
15) States that CPOST shall establish and implement procedures
for reviewing and issuing decisions concerning complaints or
recommendations from interested parties.
16) Demands that each new correctional peace officer cadet who
attends an academy shall complete the course of training,
pursuant to standards approved by CPOST, before he or she may
be assigned to a post or job as a peace officer.
17) Allows CPOST to approve of proposed on-the-job training
requirements for correctional peace officer cadets, as
specified.
18) Declares that previously established training standards,
as specified, shall remain in effect until training
requirements are established by CPOST.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Abolishes CPOST and replaces it with the CSA. �Penal Code
Section 13600(a).]
2)Establishes the CSA within CDCR. (Penal Code Section 6024.)
3)Mandates that the CSA shall be composed of 19 members �Penal
Code Section 6025(a)]:
a) One of whom must be the CDCR Secretary, or his or her
designee, who shall be designated as the chairperson;
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b) Four of whom shall be subordinate officers of the
secretary; and,
c) The remaining 14 members shall be appointed by the
Governor after consultation with, and the advice of, the
CDCR Secretary and with advice and consent of the Senate.
4)Assigns the following duties to the CSA (Penal Code Section
13601):
a) Develop, approve, and monitor standards for the
selection and training of state correctional peace officer
apprentices;
b) Approve standards for a course in the carrying and use
of firearms for correctional peace officers;
c) Develop, approve, and monitor standards for advanced
rank-and-file and supervisory state correctional peace
officer and training programs for CDCR;
d) Develop, approve and monitor standards for the training
of state correctional peace officers in the handling of
stress associated with their duties;
e) Confer with, and may avail itself of the assistance and
recommendations of, other state and local agencies, boards
or commissions;
f) Authority to design, deliver and monitor compliance of
training programs, and conduct validation studies thereon;
g) Right to disapprove of any training courses created by
CDCR if the CSA determines that the courses do not meet the
prescribed standards;
h) Annually submit an estimate of the costs to conduct
those inquiries and audits as may be necessary to determine
whether CDCR and its institutions and parole regions are
adhering to the standards developed by the CSA; and,
i) Establish and implement procedures for reviewing and
issuing decisions concerning complaints or recommendations
from interested parties.
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5)Demands that each new correctional peace officer cadet who
attends an academy shall complete the course of training,
pursuant to standards approved by the CSA before he or she may
be assigned to a post or job as a peace officer. �Penal Code
Section 13602(b).]
6)Allows the CSA to approve of proposed on-the-job training
requirements for correctional peace officer cadets, as
specified. �Penal Code Section 13603(b).]
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "Since the
functions of CPOST were moved to the Correctional Standards
Authority (CSA) in 2005, the quality of correctional officer
training has suffered. In fact, the Office of Inspector
General's 2006 audit of the CSA found that the CSA had almost
entirely failed to conduct oversight of officer training to
the point of the program being out of compliance with state
and federal apprenticeship standards, leaving it at serious
risk of being decertified.
"CSA is a large board with extremely broad responsibilities
relating to the state and local correctional system. During
the ten years of its existence, CPOST made measurable
improvements in the quality of correctional peace officer
training. �This bill] will re-establish the correct authority
to follow through on the mandate for training standards."
2)Background : According to information provided by the author,
"Summary: �This bill] reinstates �CPOST], which will be
responsible for developing, approving, and monitoring
standards for selection and training of state Correctional
Peace Officers, subject to the approval of the �SPB], thereby
removing these functions from the �CSA].
"Purpose: CPOST was created by legislation signed into law by
the Governor in 1994. It consisted of three representatives
each from management and rank-and-file employees within
�CDCR]. CPOST was abolished during the 2005 reorganization of
the former Youth and Adult Correctional agency into the CDCR
and was assigned to the �CSA]. CSA is a nineteen-member
board, which consists of the Secretary of CDCR, four
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subordinate officers, and fourteen persons appointed by the
Governor. The CSA has extremely broad responsibilities
relating to the state and local correctional system.
Oversight of the correctional peace officer training programs
is only one of the Authority's responsibilities. According to
the Inspector General, which released an audit in 2006, 'the
Corrections Standards Authority �failed] to address numerous
shortcomings in the development of correctional peace officer
selection and training standards ...'
"The bill also corrects a structural deficiency that existed
in the original iteration of CPOST - which, at times, resulted
in management-labor deadlocks - by adding a seventh member who
must have at least five years experience in a higher education
environment providing instruction in either corrections or
employee training. This correction will improve the function
of CPOST by establishing a fair process for breaking
stalemates between management and rank-and-file members of the
commission.
"Justification: This bill is needed to reestablish a
responsible and responsive authority to follow through on the
mandate for training standards in CDCR. During the ten years
of its existence, CPOST made measurable improvements in the
quality of correctional peace officer training. Today, the
single largest group of peace officers in the State of
California (approx. 30,000) has the least amount of training
available to them, compared to other peace officers such as
California Highway Patrol or certain members of the Department
of Justice.
"Training is the key to safety for staff and inmates in the
correctional setting. The best method to develop and
implement a valid training program is to insure adequate input
from both management and the rank-and-file officers who work
in the correctional setting. The CPOST model accomplishes
this by having a structure that includes an equitable balance
of management and rank-and-file members."
3)The Inception and Termination of CPOST : CPOST was created in
1994. �AB 1902 (Peace), Chapter 826, Statutes of 1994,
Section 1.] CPOST was comprised of an executive board and a
small staff headed by an executive director. The executive
board was made up of six commissioners, each of whom was
appointed for a four-year term. California Penal Code Section
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13600 required that three commissioners represented management
and three represented labor. Two of the three management
commissioners were appointed by, and represented, CDCR and one
was appointed by, and represented, the Department of the Youth
Authority. The three labor commissioners were appointed by
the Governor upon CCPOA's recommendation. Two of the labor
commissioners were required to be rank-and-file employees and
one was required to be a supervisory employee. An alternate
member was appointed for each commissioner to vote in place of
that commissioner whenever the commissioner was not present.
In 2004, the Corrections Independent Review Panel under the
direction of former Governor George Deukmejian, recommended
that CPOST be eliminated and its function and funding be
consolidated within the CSA. CPOST was abolished in 2005 when
training responsibility was transferred to the CSA, which
itself was restructured from the former Board of Corrections
in the 2005 reorganization of the departments under the former
Youth and Adult Correctional Agency. The CSA is now a
19-member board with a $351 million budget and broad
responsibilities over state and local corrections. These
responsibilities include developing and monitoring standards
for local youth and adult correctional facilities, reviewing
architectural plans for local detention facilities,
establishing recruitment and training standards for local
corrections personnel, administering funds for the
construction or renovation of local detention facilities, and
administering state-funded local corrections programs.
4)The Office of the Inspector General's (OIG) Critical Findings
of CPOST and CSA : In 2005, the OIG published a special review
of CPOST. Although this publication came during the same
month CPOST was abolished, the OIG stated that its
recommendations were still applicable to CPOST's successor,
the CSA. (OIG, Special Review of the Commission on
Correctional Peace Officer Standards and Training, May 2005.)
In its special review of CPOST, the OIG found that since its
inception CPOST had made only minimal progress in developing
correctional peace officer training standards. (Id. at 1.)
The same OIG review discovered that the commission had only
developed training standards for seven of the 27 correctional
peace officer classifications for which it is responsible and
that the commission had yet to approve any of those standards.
(Id. at 8.) The OIG also found that the apprenticeship
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program lacked key components essential to its success and was
under threat of decertification for non-compliance with state
and federal standards. (Id. at 12.) Additionally, the review
noted that CPOST's board had not met for nearly one year and
had inadequately monitored compliance with the few general
curriculum standards that already existed. (Id. at 7-8.)
The OIG found that CPOST's independence was undermined by the
influence of both the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency and
the CCPOA, and that the commission's membership structure
caused institutional paralysis due to consistent voting
deadlocks between management and rank and file, which were the
result of the even split between management and rank-and-file
representatives. (Id. at 15.)
In a 2006 follow-up report, the OIG assessed the CSA's progress
in implementing the recommendations from its 2005 special
review. The OIG criticized the CSA's response to the
deficiencies identified in the review: "Most of the
recommendations from a 2005 special review of the former
�CPOST] have not been implemented. The �CSA] has made limited
progress toward developing selection and training standards
for correctional peace officers, and �CDCR's] Office of
Training and Professional Development has not yet implemented
recommendations pertaining to the correctional peace officer
apprenticeship program." (OIG, Follow-Up Review of
Recommendations Pertaining to the Former CPOST, October 2006,
p. 1.) The report also noted that, at the close of the audit
fieldwork, the CSA had met only twice since its inception.
(OIG, Follow-Up Review of Recommendations Pertaining to the
Former CPOST, October 2006, p. 9.) As a result of the
follow-up audit, the OIG recommended that the CSA ensure that
board members regularly attend board meetings, continue to
diligently develop training standards and monitor compliance
once standards are established. (Id. at 11.)
The OIG did note that the configuration of CSA's 19-member board
appeared to resolve the structural problems that invited
voting deadlocks within CPOST. (Id. at 8.)
5)Arguments in Support : According to the California
Correctional Peace Officers Association , "Prior to the
previous Governor's reorganization of the correctional
bureaucracy, CCPOA and the state had a successful ten-year
partnership through the legislatively mandated �CPOST]. This
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commission ensured the quality of training for correctional
officers and was engaged in a long-term effort to improve the
curriculum. . . .
"�This bill] will re-establish a responsible and responsive
authority to follow through on the mandate for training
standards in CDCR."
6)Previous Legislation :
a) AB 1828 (Cook), in the 2009-10 Legislative Session, was
nearly identical to this bill (minor, non-substantive
changes) and held on Assembly Appropriations Committee's
Suspense File.
b) SB 441 (Ducheny), in the 2009-10 Legislative Session,
would have established the Board of Community Corrections
to replace the Board of Corrections and the CSA. SB 441
was never heard by the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations.
c) AB 890 (Aghazarian), in the 2007-08 Legislative Session,
was substantially similar to this bill, except for the fact
that AB 890 provided that the executive board of CPOST was
to be composed six voting members. AB 890 was held on the
Senate Appropriations Committee's Suspense File.
d) SB 737 (Romero), Chapter 10, Statutes of 2005, amended
the Governor's Reorganization Plan 1 to respond to concerns
regarding, among others, juvenile justice, warden
appointment and agency management. SB 737 abolished CPOST
and transferred its responsibilities to the CSA.
e) SB 1902 (Peace), Chapter 826, Statutes of 1994,
reconstituted the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee
as CPOST.
f) SB 1566 (Hill), of the 1991-92 Legislative Session,
reconstituted the Joint Apprenticeship Committee as a
seven-member commission that was not appointed by the
Governor and required correctional peace officers to meet
psychological screening requirements as outlined by the
SPB. Additionally, SB 1566 proposed to use a portion of
the monies received from telephone providers of pay
telephone services used by inmates and youth authority
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wards for a CPOST training fund. While the Governor
indicated in his veto message that he strongly supported
better training for correctional peace officers, he stated:
"To fund the additional training and services at the
correctional facilities, this bill would divert revenue
away from the General Fund derived from inmate and ward use
of telephones . . . .
"The creation of this special fund through legislative fiat
circumvents the normal budget process. This would hamper
the Administration's ability to allocate money flexibly to
meet the state's needs. Given the state's current austere
fiscal condition, I cannot support a new program that would
unduly restrict the use of General Fund revenues."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Correctional Peace Officers Association
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Stefani Salt / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744