BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON Public Safety
Senator John Vasconcellos, Chair A
1999-2000 Regular Session B
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AB 2489 (Romero) 9
As Amended June 20, 2000
Hearing date: June 27, 2000
Penal Code
AA:mc
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE:
ALAMEDA, LOS ANGELES AND SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY
LAW ENFORCEMENT PROGRAMS
HISTORY
Source: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Prior Legislation: None
Support: California Commission on the Status of Women; Los
Angeles County District Attorney's Office; Alameda
County Sheriff; Riverside County Sheriff; California
Child, Youth and Family Coalition; California
Federation of Business and Professional Women; Violence
Intervention Program; City of Los Angeles Commission on
the Status of Women; East Los Angeles Women's Center;
Peace and Joy Care Center; spcaLA; YWCA-WINGS San
Gabriel Valley
Opposition:None known
Assembly Floor Vote: Ayes 58 - Noes 14
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KEY ISSUE
SHOULD $5.5 MILLION BE APPROPRIATED FOR SPECIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROGRAMS LOCATED IN LOS ANGELES, ALAMEDA AND SAN
FRANCISCO COUNTIES, AS SPECIFIED?
PURPOSE
The purpose of this bill is to provide $5.5 million in funding
for specified law enforcement domestic violence programs located
in Los Angeles, Alameda and San Francisco Counties, as
specified.
Current law provides that every law enforcement agency in
California shall develop, adopt, and implement written policies
and standards for officers' responses to domestic violence
calls. (Penal Code 13701(a).)
Current law additionally states that the Legislature finds the
problem of family violence to be of serious and increasing
magnitude and often results in other crimes and social problems.
(Penal Code 13823.4(a).)
This bill would expressly authorize the Los Angeles, Riverside
and Alameda County Sheriffs' Departments to "expand and augment
existing Family Violence Emergency Response Teams (Team) to
operate on a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week basis."
This bill additionally would require the San Francisco Police
Department to "use any funds provided by this act to support a
Nighttime Repeat Offender Inspector assigned to the department's
DVRU, the duties of which shall be to respond to calls for
police services that involve repeated crimes against women; to
conduct in-depth interviews with victims, witnesses, and
suspects; and to collect physical evidence."
This bill would require that, in "order to qualify for funding
under this chapter, the Los Angeles County, Riverside County,
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and Alameda County Sheriff's Departments and the San Francisco
Police Department shall agree that participants in their
respective programs be trained for a minimum of 40 hours in a
domestic violence course approved by the Commission on Peace
Officers Standards and Training as set forth in subdivision (c)
of section 13519, and domestic violence advocates shall meet the
minimum requirements set in section 13823.15."
This bill would appropriate $3 million to the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department, $1 million to the Riverside County
Sheriff's Department, and $500,000 to the Alameda County
Sheriff's Department to establish the Team noted above, and $1
million to the San Francisco Police Department to establish the
DVRU described above, for a total appropriation of $5.5 million.
This bill additionally would assert the following legislative
findings and declarations:
"In an effort to curb the escalating problem of family
violence, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, in
1997, developed an emergency response team pilot program
called Safety Through Our Perseverance (STOP); the Riverside
County Sheriff's Department, in
1998, developed a similar pilot program called the Police
Action Counseling Team (PACT); and the Alameda County
Sheriff's Department, in 1999, began preparations to develop a
similar pilot program."
"The STOP/PACT intervention teams were designed to strengthen
the quality of community police service to families in crisis
by providing them with immediate intervention, resource
referral services, victim assistance, threat assessment, and
safety planning."
"The STOP/PACT intervention teams are the most comprehensive
victim-oriented community policing project in this state and
are currently operating in six of 23 sheriff's stations in
Los Angeles County and throughout the central and eastern
communities with Riverside County."
"The Los Angeles County and Riverside County Sheriff's
Departments are interested in providing training to other
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agencies to create their own STOP/PACT teams."
"In 1999, the Alameda County Sheriff's Department began
developing plans to create a pilot project that would
replicate the current programs existing in Los Angeles and
Riverside Counties."
"Since 1990, the San Francisco Police Department has
participated in a multifaceted and coordinated effort by every
component of the criminal justice system to address violent
crimes against women. This partnership has enhanced victims'
ability to use the criminal justice system to prosecute
batterers and extricate themselves from the cycle of violence
and dependency. The partnership includes the Police
Department's Violence Response Unit (DVRU), the courts, the
district attorney, the Commission on the Status of Women, the
Mayor's Criminal Justice Council, the Probation Department, as
well as various nonprofit organizations."
COMMENTS
1. Stated Need for This Bill
The author states:
This bill addresses the fact that domestic
violence continues to be a serious problem in our
communities. AB 2489 would enable the L.A. County
Sheriff's Department to expand a program that
would significantly assist in interrupting the
cycle of family violence.
2. Background: Los Angeles Program
According to a press release issued by Los Angeles County
Sheriff Baca in September of 1999:
Safety Through Our Perseverance, or S.T.O.P.,
provides immediate intervention, resource referral
services, victim assistance, threat assessments,
and safety planning for families in crisis by
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intervention teams comprised of a specially
trained Deputy Sheriff and a Shelter Advocate. The
goal is to reduce the recidivism rate of family
violence incidents through the deployment of
S.T.O.P. intervention teams trained to provide
early intervention to the victims of family
violence.
According to materials provided by Sheriff Baca's office, STOP
teams are comprised of a specially trained deputy sheriff and a
local shelter advocate. "These intervention teams respond as an
assisting unit or as requested by patrol deputies."
3. Domestic Violence Data
As explained above, this bill would fund three law enforcement
domestic violence programs located in San Francisco, Alameda and
Los Angeles. According to the California Department of Justice,
of a total of 56,892 domestic violence arrests statewide in
1998, there were 1,908 domestic violence arrests in Alameda
County; 17,190 in Los Angeles County; and 1,188 in San Francisco
County.
4. Competitive Grants? Existing Funding Available Through Other
Sources
This bill would fund targeted domestic violence programs in
three counties. Many if not all counties might benefit from the
programs this bill proposes to fund. On the other hand,
according to the sponsor, the sheriff's departments included in
the bill are those which have been especially motivated to
implement these programs.
SHOULD THIS BILL BE AMENDED INTO STATEWIDE COMPETITIVE GRANTS?
SHOULD THESE PROGRAMS BE FUNDED THROUGH EXISTING FUNDING SOURCES
FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT?
5. No Evaluation Provisions
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This bill lacks any evaluation or reporting provisions.
SHOULD EVALUATION AND REPORTING PROVISIONS BE ADDED TO THIS
BILL?
6. Findings and Declarations
This bill sets forth a number of legislative findings and
declarations relating to the intent and success of local
domestic violence programs, including an assertion that one of
the programs is "the most comprehensive" in the state. To the
extent state funding is sought to expand and further test the
effectiveness of these programs, some of these findings appear
to be based on subjective impressions rather than independent
evaluation.
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ARE THESE FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS NECESSARY TO THE BILL?
SHOULD THESE FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS BE DELETED OR FURTHER
REFINED?
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