BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1718
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1718 (Hertzberg)
As Amended June 20, 2000
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |72-0 |(April 24, |SENATE: |37-0 |(June 29, |
| | |2000) | | |2000) |
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Original Committee Reference: PUB. S.
SUMMARY : Requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and
Training (POST) to establish and update a continuing education
classroom training course regarding persons with developmental
disabilities or mental illness.
The Senate amendments extend the:
1)Date upon which the report is due to the Legislature from July
1, 2002 to October 1, 2003.
2)Time period for data collection regarding the number of
agencies and officers that attended the training.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Required POST to establish and update a continuing education
classroom-training course regarding persons with developmental
disabilities or mental illness on or before June 30, 2001.
The training course would be developed by POST in consultation
with community, state and local agencies that have expertise
in the field.
2)Provided that in developing the course, POST would examine
existing courses. The course would be made available to law
enforcement agencies in California and include the following
topics:
a)The cause and nature of mental illness and developmental
disability;
b)How to identify indicators of mental illness and
developmental disability and how to respond appropriately
in a variety of situations;
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c)Conflict resolution and de-escalation techniques for
potentially dangerous situations;
d)Appropriate language usage when interacting with
potentially dangerous persons; and,
e)Community and state resources available to serve mentally
ill and developmentally disabled persons and how these
resources can be best utilized by law enforcement.
3)Required POST to submit a report to the Legislature by July 1,
2002, that included a description of the curriculum
development process, information on the number of law
enforcement agencies and officers who utilized POST-certified
courses relating to the mentally ill and developmentally
disabled, from July 1, 2000 to July 1, 2002.
4)Stated that it was the Legislature's intent to evaluate the
extent to which law enforcement officers were receiving
adequate training in how to interact with mentally ill and
developmentally disabled persons.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, absorbable costs to POST for course
development and reports to the Legislature. Future state costs
for actual training would also be minor and absorbable.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Under current law, law
enforcement officers are required to receive six hours of
training in how to deal with persons with mental illnesses and
developmental disabilities during basic training. There is no
continuing education requirement. This lack of significant
training in such an important area is clearly a problem. The
mentally ill and developmentally disabled are some of the most
vulnerable members of our society and they are often
misunderstood and mistreated.
"Alarmingly, recent reports indicate that there have been a
disproportionately large number of police shootings of mentally
ill people and that the numbers of such incidents are growing.
Since 1994, the Los Angeles Police Department has shot and
killed 25 people who were exhibiting signs of mental illness.
During that same period, the Los Angeles Sheriff's office has
reported that mentally ill people accounted for 12% of all
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shootings, 28% this last year. They also estimate that about
25% of their law enforcement contacts involve persons who are
psychologically disturbed. In Los Angeles County, approximately
60% of the homeless are assessed as being mentally ill and there
is evidence that these estimates apply nationwide. A survey
conducted by the National Alliance for the mentally ill in
Sacramento found that 66% of families with a mentally ill family
member had contact with the criminal justice system at least
once relating to their ill family member. There are also large
numbers of people with developmental disabilities, such as
mental retardation, cerebral palsy and autism, who are often not
treated properly by law enforcement because officers lack an
adequate understanding of the nature of their disabilities.
"Continuing education classroom training would better enable law
enforcement officers to recognize and then appropriately respond
to behavioral indicators and diffuse confrontational situations
involving these vulnerable populations. Six hours in basic
training is not enough, considering the importance of the issue
and the sheer numbers of people with these conditions officers
encounter on a daily basis. Furthermore, confrontations with
the mentally ill and developmentally disabled are some of the
most sensitive and potentially dangerous situations that law
enforcement officers encounter. For example, a person with
cerebral palsy or autism may exhibit overt signs of intoxication
or disorientation. If officers in the field are trained in how
to interact with these populations throughout their careers,
they will be better able to respond to the needs of that
community and handle delicate and potentially dangerous
situations. This measure will help better prepare officers to
more successfully deal with an unstable and unpredictable
population.
"Persons with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities
have historically been underrepresented and mistreated. They
are entitled to the protections afforded all citizens and better
training is a way to ensure equal treatment. Providing law
enforcement with a classroom continuing education training
course that they can utilize will enable them to better equip
themselves with the tools to more successfully interact with the
developmentally disabled and mentally ill communities."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a more
comprehensive discussion of this bill.
AB 1718
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Analysis Prepared by : Bruce Chan / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
FN: 0005522