BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      AB 71


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          Date of Hearing:  March 24, 2015
          Counsel:               Stella Choe



                         ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY


                                  Bill Quirk, Chair





          AB  
                   71 (Rodriguez) - As Introduced  December 18, 2014


                       As Proposed to be Amended in Committee


          SUMMARY:  Requires each sheriff and police chief to annually  
          furnish a report to the Department of Justice (DOJ) of all  
          instances when a peace officer is involved in shootings that  
          occur in his or her jurisdiction where an individual or a peace  
          officer is injured or killed.  Specifically, this bill:

          1)States that in instances where an individual is killed or  
            injured, the agency shall report how many cases resulted in  
            criminal prosecution.

          2)Provides in cases where both a sheriff and chief of police  
            would be required to report an officer involved shooting under  
            this section, only the chief of police shall report the  
            instance.

          3)Requires DOJ to include a summary of the information contained  
            in the reports received pursuant to the above provisions in  
            its annual crime report and classify the data according to the  
            reporting law enforcement jurisdiction. 

          4)Specifies in cases involving a peace officer who is injured or  








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            killed, the report shall list the officer's employing  
            jurisdiction and the jurisdiction where the injury or death  
            occurred, if they are not the same.

          EXISTING LAW:  

          1)Provides that it is the duty of each city marshal, chief of  
            police, railroad and steamship police, sheriff, coroner,  
            district attorney, city attorney and city prosecutor having  
            criminal jurisdiction, as well as other agencies or persons  
            dealing with crimes and criminals or with delinquency or  
            delinquents, when requested by the Attorney General (AG):

             a)   To install and maintain records needed for the correct  
               reporting of statistical data required by the AG; 

             b)   To report statistical data to the DOJ at those times and  
               in the manner that the AG proscribes; and,

             c)   To give to the AG, or his or her accredited agent,  
               access to the statistical data for the purpose of carrying  
               out the purposes of carrying out the relevant law.  (Pen.  
               Code, § 13020.)

          2)Requires each sheriff and chief of police to annually furnish  
            the DOJ, in the manner prescribed by the Attorney General, a  
            report of all justifiable homicides committed in his or her  
            jurisdiction. In cases where both a sheriff and chief of  
            police would be required to report a justifiable homicide  
            under this section, only the chief of police shall report the  
            homicide.  (Pen. Code, § 13022.)

          3)States that, subject to the availability of adequate funding,  
            the AG shall direct local law enforcement agencies to report  
            to DOJ, in a manner to be prescribed by the AG, any  
            information that may be required relative to hate crimes, as  
            specified, and requires, on or before July 1 of each year, DOJ  
            to submit a report to the Legislature analyzing the results of  
            the information obtained from local law enforcement agencies.   
            (Pen. Code, § 13023, subds. (a) and (b).)

          4)Includes within DOJ's annual reporting requirements the number  








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            of citizens' complaints received by law enforcement agencies.  
            These statistics shall indicate the total number of these  
            complaints, the number alleging criminal conduct of either a  
            felony or misdemeanor, and the number sustained in each  
            category. The report shall not contain a reference to any  
            individual agency but shall be by gross numbers only.  (Pen.  
            Code, § 13012, subd. (e).)

          5)Mandates in any case in which a person dies while in the  
            custody of any law enforcement agency or while in custody in a  
            local or state correctional facility in this state, the law  
            enforcement agency or the agency in charge of the correctional  
            facility shall report in writing to the AG, within 10 days  
            after the death, all facts in the possession of the law  
            enforcement agency or agency in charge of the correctional  
            facility concerning the death.  Proscribes that these writings  
            are public records within the meaning of the California Public  
            Records Act and are open to public inspection, except  
            confidential medical information. (Gov. Code, § 12525.)

          FISCAL EFFECT:  Unknown.

          COMMENTS:  

          1)Author's Statement:  According to the author, "AB 71 was  
            introduced to collect needed statistics and to start a  
            dialogue as to what California needs to do to increase  
            community and officer safety and to improve confidence in law  
            our enforcement agencies and personnel.

          "AB 71 will provide much needed data on officer involved  
            shootings in California.  This will allow the state to study  
            the issue and to appropriately adjust law enforcement training  
            and procedures as needed.  Through better training standards  
            from POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) we can  
            improve outcomes and foster better relations and confidence  
            with our communities.

          "AB 71 will also track data on an officer involved shooting  
            where it is the law enforcement officer that is shot and  
            killed or injured.  Law enforcement work is dangerous and our  
            peace officers are often placed in situations that involve  








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            life and death decisions.  Tracking shootings of law  
            enforcement officers will give California an idea what our law  
            enforcement officers are facing on the street."

          2)President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing: On December  
            18, 2014, amid protests in Ferguson, Missouri, where a grand  
            jury declined to criminally charge police officer Darren  
            Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, President  
            Barack Obama signed an Executive Order establishing the Task  
            Force on 21st Century Policing. "The mission of the task force  
            was to examine how to foster strong, collaborative  
            relationships between local law enforcement and the  
            communities they protect and to make recommendations to the  
            President on how policing practices can promote effective  
            crime reduction while building public trust. The president  
            selected members of the task force based on their ability to  
            contribute to its mission because of their relevant  
            perspective, experience, or subject matter expertise in  
            policing, law enforcement and community relations, civil  
            rights, and civil liberties." (U.S. Department of Justice's  
            Office of Community Oriented Policing Service, Interim Report  
            of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing (Mar.  
            2015), p. 1.)

          In addressing the issue of transparency, the task force  
            recommended that law enforcement agencies should make all  
            department policies available for public review and regularly  
            post on the department's website information about stops,  
            summonses, arrests, reported crime, and other law enforcement  
            data aggregated by demographics. (Id. at p. 11.)   
            Additionally, the task force recommended that when serious  
            incidents occur, including those involving alleged police  
            misconduct, agencies should communicate with citizens and the  
            media swiftly, openly, and neutrally, respecting areas where  
            the law requires confidentiality.  (Ibid.)

          3)Reporting on Criminal Statistics: DOJ is statutorily required  
            to collect and maintain data and develop statistical reports  
            related to crime and the criminal justice process in  
            California. Local agencies are also statutorily required to  
            maintain statistical data and provide those to DOJ.









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          Under existing law, local law enforcement agencies are required  
            to report to DOJ all justifiable homicides committed in that  
            agency's jurisdiction.  (Pen. Code, § 13022.)  Local  
            jurisdictions must also report on the number of non-criminal  
            and criminal complaints reported by citizens against law  
            enforcement personnel and the number of complaints that were  
            sustained.  (Pen. Code, § 13012.)  Arrest information from  
            local agencies must also be provided to DOJ in order to  
            maintain its arrest and citation database. (Pen. Code, §§  
            13020 and 13021.)  This database contains information  
            including name, race/ethnicity, date of birth, sex, date of  
            arrest, offense level, offense type, status of the offense,  
            and law enforcement disposition.  (Office of the Attorney  
            General, Criminal Statistics Reporting Requirements (April  
            2014), p. 8.)  Using statistical data from local  
            jurisdictions, DOJ publishes an annual report on crime, as  
            well as other reports as required by statute.  
            
            This bill requires local law enforcement agencies to report  
            all officer-involved shootings resulting in either death or  
            injury to an officer or an individual.  Under current law,  
            only justifiable homicides are reported to DOJ.  While it is  
            important to know how many killings are determined to be  
            justifiable, there is no way to compare those numbers to those  
            that are not deemed justifiable.  This is due to the lack of  
            data on officer-involved shootings in general.  By requiring  
            local agencies to report all officer-involved shootings that  
            result in either death or injury, the data will be more  
            accurate and complete. This bill increases transparency in  
            officer-involved shootings by requiring this information to be  
            published in DOJ's annual report on crime, which is available  
            to the public. Additionally, by requiring information to be  
            included on how many shootings result in criminal prosecution,  
            the bill addresses concerns over accountability in  
            police-involved shootings.

          4)Argument in Support:  According to the California Police  
            Chiefs Association, "AB 71 would provide much needed statewide  
            data on officer involved shootings where a civilian or a peace  
            officer is injured or killed.  This measure would assist the  
            California Department of Justice in tracking the number of  
            incidents of either uses of force direct at peace officers or  








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            uses of force by peace officers.  AB 71 is consistent with  
            current efforts on the Federal level by the United States  
            Department of Justice.  We believe that this reporting  
            requirement could easily be incorporated into the current UCR  
            reporting forms furnished to the Department of Justice."

          5)Argument in Opposition:  None submitted. 

          6)Related Legislation: 

             a)   AB 86 (McCarty) would establish, within DOJ, an  
               independent review panel to investigate and provide an  
               independent review of peace officer involved shootings and  
               other uses of force resulting in death.  AB 86 is pending  
               referral by the Rules Committee.

             b)   AB 1497 (Chau) would state the intent of the Legislature  
               to enact legislation that requires law enforcement agencies  
               to develop written policies relating to the handling of  
               incidents involving the use of deadly force by a peace  
               officer that resulted in the death of a member of the  
               public.  AB 1497 is pending referral by the Rules  
               Committee.

          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
          
          Support


          California Attorneys for Criminal Justice
          California College and University Police Chiefs
          California Police Chiefs Association
          California Public Defenders Association
          Legal Services for Prisoners with Children


          Opposition


          None










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          Analysis Prepared  
          by:              Stella Choe/PUB. S./(916) 319-3744