BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2489
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 12, 2000

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS 
                              Carole Migden, Chairwoman

                AB 2489 (Romero) - As Introduced:  February 24, 2000 

          Policy Committee:                              Public  
          SafetyVote:  5-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill appropriates $4 million to the Los Angeles County  
          Sheriff to augment existing Family Violence Emergency Response  
          Teams to operate on a 24-hour, 7-days-a-week basis out of all  
          stations.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Appropriates $4 million from the General Fund to the Controller  
          for allocation to the L.A. County Sheriff.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  . In 1997, the LASD developed an emergency response  
            team pilot program called "Safety Through Our Perseverance"  
            (STOP) to address family violence.  The STOP team was designed  
            to strengthen community policing services to families in  
            crisis by providing them with immediate intervention, resource  
            referral services, victim assistance, threat assessment and   
            safety planning.  The teams are comprised of a specially  
            trained deputy sheriff and a local shelter advocate, and  
            respond to incidents of family violence as requested by patrol  
            deputies.  The LASD has funded this project for 3 of their 19  
            stations and plan to expand this unit to three additional  
            stations. This funding would expand the program to all 19  
            stations.

           2)To what extent should the state fund local law enforcement  ?  
            Direct state funding for local law enforcement sets a  
            debatable precedent as it essentially commits ongoing General  
            Fund support for local operations.  In the wake of Education  








                                                                  AB 2489
                                                                  Page  2

            Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF) shifts in recent years, the  
            Legislature has provided and suggested a series of funding  
            measures to local governments - particularly in public safety.  
            This rather random, but prescriptive, funding pattern makes  
            local government planning difficult and may actually deter  
            from a more comprehensive solution to the state/local funding  
            puzzle. 

            The governor's 2000-01 budget proposal includes $121 million  
            for the per capita Citizens' Option for Public Safety program  
            (COPS), proposes $100 million per capita for local law  
            enforcement equipment, more than $25 million for grants to  
            prosecutors, and $3.5 million for rural crime prevention.   
            Related legislative proposals include efforts to provide  
            funding for local jail construction, local juvenile detention  
            facilities, mental health training for peace officers, secure  
            local facilities for mentally ill offenders, identity theft  
            teams, repeat juvenile offender grant programs, reduced  
            probation caseloads, gang diversion, substance abuse  
            treatment, rural crime prevention, coastal crime prevention,  
            challenge grants, mental health challenge grants, and other  
            crime prevention programs. 

           3)Should law enforcement subsidy programs be competitive and  
            require a local match?  This bill provides state funds to local  
            law enforcement with neither a match requirement, nor a  
            competitive bid process. A competitive bid process, including  
            a match requirement, tends to encourage and result in a more  
            creative, effective, and equitable result. 




           Analysis Prepared by  :    Geoff Long / APPR. / (916)319-2081