BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1433
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 22, 2014
Counsel: Stella Choe
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Tom Ammiano, Chair
AB 1433 (Gatto) - As Amended: April 21, 2014
SUMMARY : Requires the governing board of each public, private
and independent postsecondary educational institution, as
specified, to adopt and implement written policies and
procedures governing the reporting of specified crimes to law
enforcement agencies. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that the governing board of each public
postsecondary educational institution, as well as the
governing board of any postsecondary educational institution
receiving public funds for student financial assistance, as
specified, shall require any report made by a victim or an
employee of a Part 1 violent crime, sexual assault, or hate
crime, received by a campus law enforcement agency, to be
immediately, or as soon as practicably possible, disclosed to
the local law enforcement agency with which the institution
has a written agreement, without identifying the victim,
unless the victim consents to being identified.
2)States if the victim does not consent to being identified, the
alleged assailant shall not be identified in the information
disclosed to local law enforcement agency.
3)Defines "part 1 violent crime" as willful homicide, forcible
rape, robbery, or aggravated assault, as defined in the
Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
4)Provides that "sexual assault" includes, but is not limited
to, rape, forced sodomy, forced oral copulation, rape by a
foreign object, sexual battery, or the threat of any of these.
5)Mandates, by July 1, 2015, all public, private and independent
postsecondary educational institutions to adopt and implement
written policies and procedures to ensure that any report of a
Part 1 violent crime, sexual assault, or hate crime, committed
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on or off campus, received by any employee, and made by the
victim for purposes of notifying the institution or law
enforcement, is immediately forwarded to the appropriate law
enforcement agency, without identifying the victim unless the
victim consents.
6)States for purposes of this section, the appropriate law
enforcement agency shall be a campus law enforcement agency if
one has been established on the campus where the report was
made.
7)Provides if no campus law enforcement agency has been
established, the report shall be immediately forwarded to a
local law enforcement agency.
8)Defines "local law enforcement agency" as a city or county law
enforcement agency with operational responsibilities for
police services in the community in which the campus is
located.
9)Contains an urgency clause.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States that the governing board of each public postsecondary
educational institution, as well as the governing board of any
postsecondary educational institution receiving public funds
for student financial assistance, as specified, shall require
the appropriate officials at each campus within their
respective jurisdictions to compile records of all occurrences
reported to campus police, campus security personnel, or
campus safety authorities of, and arrests for, crimes that are
committed on campus and that involve violence, hate violence,
theft, destruction of property, illegal drugs, or alcohol
intoxication. (Ed. Code, � 67380, subd. (a)(1)(A).)
2)Requires the records compiled pursuant to the above provision
to be made available within two business days following the
request of any student or employee of, or applicant for
admission to, any campus within their respective
jurisdictions, or to the media, unless the information is
exempt from disclosure. The name of a victim of the crimes
specified shall not be disclosed without the permission of the
victim, or the victim's parent or guardian if the victim is a
minor. (Ed. Code, � 67380, subd. (a)(3)(A).)
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3)Requires the governing board of each public postsecondary
educational institution to each adopt and implement at each
campus or other facilities, a written procedure or protocols
to ensure, to the fullest extent possible, that students,
faculty and staff who are victims of sexual assault committed
on grounds maintained by the institution or affiliated student
organizations, receive treatment and information. (Ed. Code,
� 67385, subd. (a).)
4)States that the written procedures or protocols must contain
at least the following information (Ed. Code, � 67385, subd.
(b)):
a) The college policy regarding sexual assault on campus;
b) Personnel on campus who should be notified, and
procedures for notification, with the consent of the
victim;
c) Legal reporting requirements, and procedures for
fulfilling them;
d) Services available to victims, and personnel responsible
for providing these services, such as the person assigned
to transport the victim to the hospital, to refer the
victim to a counseling center, and to notify the police,
with the victim's concurrence;
e) A description of campus resources available to victims,
as well as appropriate off-campus services;
f) Procedures for ongoing case management, including
procedures for keeping the victim informed of the status of
any student disciplinary proceedings in connection with the
sexual assault, and the results of any disciplinary action
or appeal, and helping the victim deal with academic
difficulties that may arise because of the victimization
and its impact;
g) Procedures for guaranteeing confidentiality and
appropriately handling requests for information from the
press, concerned students, and parents; and,
h) Each victim of sexual assault should receive information
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about the existence of at least the following options:
criminal prosecutions, civil prosecutions, the disciplinary
process through the college, the availability of mediation,
alternative housing assignments, and academic assistance
alternatives.
5)Requires public postsecondary educational institution campuses
to develop policies to encourage students to report any campus
crimes involving sexual violence to the appropriate campus
authorities. (Ed. Code, � 67385.7, subd. (c).)
6)Urges campuses to adopt policies to eliminate barriers for
victims who come forward to report sexual assaults, and to
advise students regarding these policies. These policies may
include, but are not necessarily limited to, exempting the
victim from campus sanctions for being in violation of any
campus policies, including alcohol or substance abuse policies
or other policies of the campus, at the time of the incident.
(Ed. Code, � 67385.7, subd. (d).)
7)Reaffirms that campus law enforcement agencies have the
primary authority for providing police or security services,
including the investigation of criminal activity, to their
campuses. (Ed. Code, � 67385.7, subd. (a).)
8)Requires the governing board of each community college
district, the Trustees of the California State University, the
Regents of the University of California, and the governing
board of independent postsecondary institutions, as defined,
to adopt rules requiring each of their respective campuses to
enter into written agreements with local law enforcement
agencies that clarify operational responsibilities for
investigations of Part 1 violent crimes occurring on each
campus. (Ed. Code, � 67381, subd. (b).)
9)States that each written agreement entered into pursuant to
this section shall designate which law enforcement agency
shall have operational responsibility for the investigation of
each Part 1 violent crime and delineate the specific
geographical boundaries of each agency's operational
responsibility, including maps as necessary. (Ed. Code, �
67381, subd. (d).)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
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COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement : According to the author, "Many victims of
violent crimes on college campuses face a number of hurdles
when seeking justice. They simply are not afforded the same
opportunities for justice as those who suffer the exact same
crimes off-campus. There is growing concern among victims'
groups that thorough investigations of on-campus crimes are
not happening because of a lack of expertise and resources, or
a built-in conflict for college officials, attempting to keep
their campus crime statistics down. A survey conducted by the
Chicago Tribune found that of the sex crimes reported on
college campuses in the past six years, only seven percent
resulted in arrests and less than three percent resulted in
convictions. That is well below the national average; about
25 percent of reported rapes result in arrests and about
two-thirds of those arrests turn into convictions.
"Crimes that occur on campus should not be treated any
differently than those that occur elsewhere in our community.
California law needs to make sure that college administrators
involve law enforcement when appropriate. AB 1433 seeks to
ensure that local law enforcement agencies are aware of crime
trends in their jurisdiction, by requiring that campus
security pass along reports of Part 1 violent crimes and hate
crimes that occur on campus. This will also alleviate
concerns about some colleges not properly reporting crime
statistics in their Annual Report, because these numbers will
have already been brought to light due to the requirement of
immediately notifying local law enforcement. Ideally, this
will establish a closer working relationship between campus
security and local police and sheriffs' departments, which
will result in more thorough investigations, better outcomes
for victims, and safer communities as a whole."
2)Applicable Federal Statutes : Federal statutes addressing
sexual assault on or around institutions of higher education
include Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus
Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act).
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. �� 1681
et seq. prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex in
education programs and activities operated by recipients of
federal financial assistance. Sexual harassment of students,
which includes acts of sexual violence, is a form of sexual
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discrimination prohibited by Title IX. Schools that receive
federal financial assistance are required to take immediate
steps to address any sex discrimination, sexual harassment or
sexual violence happening on campus to prevent it from
affecting students further. These schools must have a Title IX
Coordinator who manages complaints and an established
procedure for handling complaints of sex discrimination,
sexual harassment or sexual violence.
The Clery Act requires public and private postsecondary
educational institutions that receive federal financial aid to
disclose information about crimes on and around campuses as
well as establish certain rights for victims of sexual
assault. Those rights include notification to victims of the
right to file criminal charges, available counseling services,
the results of disciplinary proceedings, and the option for
victims to change their academic schedule or living
arrangements.
3)Underreporting of Sexual Assault incidents on Campus : A
recent Huffington Post article reported that the University of
Southern California (USC), along with several other colleges,
has underreported incidents of sexual assault on their campus
in order to keep crime statistics low.
According to the article, "[USC] senior Ariella Mostov wondered
in May why neither the Los Angeles Police Department nor the
school Department of Public Safety had attempted to contact
her more than a month after she reported being sexually
assaulted.
"Mostov said she visited the campus Department of Public
Safety to follow up, but the records manager couldn't find the
crime report she had filed March 27. When the report was
located later, it listed the crime as "injury response,"
rather than rape or sexual assault, according to a copy
provided to The Huffington Post. Mostov said the campus police
later told her the crime wasn't rape because the assailant
didn't orgasm.
"Mostov joined with several other USC students in filing a
complaint with the U.S. Department of Education against the
university over the weekend, alleging violations of the Clery
Act, a federal law mandating accurate and timely reporting of
crime on campus, including sexual violence. Mostov said she
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believes her case shows USC's routine failures in responding
to sexual assaults and reporting the crimes.
"USC is 'persistently underreporting sexual battery, sexual
assault, and rape in the Annual Clery Security Report by ...
categorizing instances of "'rape'" as '"personal injury,"'
'"domestic dispute,"' and other less serious crimes or
non-crimes,' the complaint says.
"Mostov said the campus police report of her attack also was
inaccurate, and she was "furious" about the discrepancies. She
said she told an officer she had asked the assailant several
times during the attack to stop. The police report said Mostov
told the suspect once to stop and he did. Mostov said campus
detectives discouraged her from reporting the crime to Los
Angeles police on her own, saying the district attorney would
never take the case. 'They made it seem like it'd be a total
nightmare to go through the justice system,' Mostov said.
"'I feel like I was denied justice,' Mostov said. 'These
people who are assigned to protect us and guarantee our
safety, who are supposed to help us through these especially
hard times, are people who are incredibly incompetent.'
"The Clery filing adds to USC's woes. The U.S. Education
Department's Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation
of the school in late June under Title IX, the federal
education law that bars sexual discrimination. A lead
complainant in the Title IX filing that sparked the U.S.
investigation, USC senior Tucker Reed, organized the Clery
complaint.
"Other prominent universities also face complaints from
students alleging misreporting of sexual assault under the
Clery Act, including Dartmouth College, Occidental College,
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Swarthmore
College and the University of California, Berkeley.
"If the Education Department decides to investigate the Clery
complaint against USC and finds errors on the school's part,
it could fine the university up to $35,000 per violation."
( (as of April 9, 2014).)
The Los Angeles Times reported that USC and Occidental College
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have disclosed that they underreported the number of sexual
assault cases in recent years. "At USC, officials indicated
that they had not reported 13 accounts of sexual assaults to
federal officials for 2010 and 2011, bringing the total for
those years to 39. Occidental acknowledged that it had failed
to include 24 reports during that period, bringing the total
to 36.
"The disclosures could lead to hundreds of thousands of
dollars in penalties for each school under the federal Clery
Act, the 1990 law that requires schools to report campus crime
statistics to the Department of Education.
"The law, which stemmed from a 1986 rape and killing on a
Pennsylvania campus, is intended to give the public an
accurate view of campus safety, and the statistics are
consulted by parents, students and others evaluating the
campuses. The law covers criminal allegations, regardless of
whether they are reported to police or adjudicated in court.
"Over the last two years, women at USC, Occidental and college
campuses across the country have organized - mostly through
social media - to file complaints with the Department of
Education alleging that administrators discouraged them from
reporting sexual assaults or downplayed the severity of the
attacks."
( (as of April 9, 2014).)
The State Auditor is currently reviewing UCLA's and UC
Berkeley's sexual assault policies and procedures as part of a
regular review of four state universities. Two Cal State
universities will also be included in the audit. The report
is expected to be completed June 2014.
( (as of April 9, 2014).)
4)Arguments in Support :
a) The University of California Student Association states,
"The victims of hate and violent crimes are too often
overlooked and sometimes even explicitly ignored by their
defenders and advocates within campus administrations.
University of California (UC) students place trust in
campus administrations and law enforcement officials to
provide a safe and secure environment to learn and grow.
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In an instance where a bad actor violates a safe space like
a campus, students expect that due diligence in law
enforcement communication is done with their privacy is
respected. The UC has seen several incidents of sexual
assault this year alone, and students are taking a stance.
AB 1433 will help preserve the integrity of a victim coming
forward by not allowing campuses to hide information."
b) The Anti-Defamation League writes, "While existing
federal law requires colleges and universities to disclose
information about crimes that happen on or hear campuses,
gaps in disclosure exist on several higher education
campuses in California, resulting in lawsuits and
investigations by the federal government. Victims groups
allege that pressure to avoid negative publicity may affect
the school's willingness to pursue investigations on
campus. AB 1433 will result in a closer working
relationship between campuses, local police and sheriffs'
departments, which - in turn - will lead to more thorough
investigations and better outcomes for victims. By
alerting local law enforcement agencies to crime trends
within their jurisdiction, surrounding communities will be
better served and protected. Additionally, this law will
help ensure victims' privacy by allowing for their names to
be redacted from the report to local law enforcement if
they expressly request this."
5)Current Legislation : SB 967 (De Le�n) requires the governing
board of each postsecondary educational institution in
California to each adopt a policy concerning campus sexual
violence, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking that
includes specified components and standards. SB 967 was held
on the Senate Committee on Appropriations' Suspense File.
6)Prior Legislation : SB 1729 (Thompson), Chapter 284, Statutes
of 1998, enacted the Kristin Smart Campus Safety Act of 1998
which requires the governing board of each postsecondary
educational institutions, as specified, to enter into a
written agreement with local law enforcement agencies
regarding coordination and responsibility for investigating
on-campus violent crimes.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
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Anti-Defamation League
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
California College and University Police Chiefs Association
California Police Chiefs Association
Community College League of California
Crime Victims United of California
Equality California
Los Angeles Probation Officers' Union, AFSCME, Local 685
Riverside Sheriffs' Association
University of California Student Association
Opposition
None
Analysis Prepared by : Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744