BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 71
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
71 (Rodriguez)
As Amended April 6, 2015
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
|Public Safety |7-0 |Quirk, Melendez, | |
| | |Gonzalez, | |
| | |Jones-Sawyer, | |
| | |Lackey, Low, | |
| | |Santiago | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, | |
| | |Eggman, Gallagher, | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gordon, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Quirk, | |
| | |Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
AB 71
Page 2
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
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
AB 71
Page 3
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.
2)Requires each sheriff and chief of police to annually furnish
the DOJ, in the manner prescribed by the AG, 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.
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.
4)Includes within DOJ's annual reporting requirements the number
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.
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
AB 71
Page 4
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.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Potential moderate costs, $80,000 to $100,000 (General Fund), to
DOJ to establish a reporting tool and to update its computer
programming in the Criminal Justice Statistics Center to include
a summary of the new information in its annual report.
2)Potential moderate one-time and ongoing reimbursable mandated
costs (General Fund) in excess of $150,000 to local law
enforcement agencies for costs associated with collecting and
reporting the required information when an individual is killed
or injured, and the number of cases resulting in criminal
prosecution. The one-time cost will depend on reporting tool
prescribed by the DOJ. If 40 agencies incur costs in excess of
$4,000, the one-time costs will be $160,000. The actual
on-going cost will vary based on the number of incidents in a
particular year subject to the reporting requirement.
COMMENTS: 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
AB 71
Page 5
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 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."
Analysis Prepared by:
Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744 FN:
0000656