BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2506|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2506
Author: Salas (D)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/17/14
AYES: Hancock, De Le�n, Liu, Mitchell, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Anderson, Knight
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 69-0, 5/8/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Peace officers
SOURCE : California Correctional Peace Officers Association
DIGEST : This bill permits medical technical assistants (MTAs)
who are peace officers employed by the state hospitals to carry
firearms while off-duty.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Provides that every peace officer shall satisfactorily
complete a course of training prescribed by the Commission on
Peace Officer Standards and Training.
2.States MTAs are peace officers whose authority extends to any
place in the state while engaged in the performance of the
duties of their respective employment and for the purpose of
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carrying out the primary function of their employment.
3.Provides that a correctional officer employed by the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), or of
CDCR Division of Juvenile Justice, having custody of wards or
any employee of CDCR designated by the Secretary or any
correctional counselor series employee of CDCR or any MTA
series employee designated by the Secretary or designated by
the Secretary and employed by the Department of Mental Health
or any employee of the Board of Parole Hearings designated by
the Secretary or employee of CDCR, Division of Juvenile
Justice, designated by the Secretary or any superintendent,
supervisor, or employee having custodial responsibilities in
an institution operated by a probation department, or any
transportation officer of a probation department, may carry
firearms only if authorized and under those terms and
conditions specified by their employing agency.
4.Provides that the following persons may carry a firearm while
not on duty: a parole officer of the CDCR, or CDCR Division of
Juvenile Justice, a correctional officer or correctional
counselor employed by CDCR, or an employee of CDCR, Division
of Juvenile Justice, having custody of wards or any employee
of CDCR designated by the Secretary. A parole officer of the
Juvenile Parole Board may carry a firearm while not on duty
only when so authorized by the chairperson of the Board and
only under the terms and conditions specified by the
chairperson. The Director or chairperson may deny, suspend,
or revoke for good cause a person's right to carry a firearm
under this subdivision. That person shall, upon request,
receive a hearing, as provided for in the negotiated grievance
procedure between the exclusive employee representative and
CDCR Division of Juvenile Justice, or the Juvenile Parole
Board, to review the Director's or the chairperson's decision.
This bill permits MTA series employees designated by the
Secretary of CDCR or designated by the Secretary and employed by
the Department of State Hospitals as peace officers authorized
to carry a firearm while not on duty.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
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SUPPORT : (Verified 6/18/14)
California Correctional Peace Officers Association (source)
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/18/14)
Taxpayers for Improving Public Safety
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "When current
law was amended to allow the Department of State Hospitals (DSH)
to employ Medical Technical Assistants (MTA's) directly (instead
of through an agreement with CDCR), the section allowing on-duty
carry was properly amended (Penal code section 830.5(b)),
however the parallel section authorizing off-duty carry was not
so amended."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Taxpayers for Improving Public
Safety state, "As has been demonstrated so many times in the
last few weeks, too many people with too many guns are causing
too many shooting incidents. The fear incidental to these
incidents causes individuals who should not be fearful to become
so, increasing the number of individuals carrying weapons in
public. With each new class of individuals, irrational fear
grips those who would never need to be fearful to demand that
they also be allowed to possess weapons. The final outcome is
innumerable individuals carrying weapons converting a free
society into a fearful armed camp."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 69-0, 5/8/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra,
Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh,
Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines,
Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall,
Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine,
Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina, Melendez,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson,
Perea, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski,
Wilk, Williams, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Ammiano, Eggman, Fong, Gordon, Gorell,
Mansoor, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Yamada, Vacancy
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JG:k 6/18/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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