BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY Senator Loni Hancock, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Bill No: AB 2524 Hearing Date: June 28, 2016 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Author: |Irwin | |-----------+-----------------------------------------------------| |Version: |May 31, 2016 | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes | ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Consultant:|ML | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: OpenJustice Data Act of 2016 HISTORY Source: California Attorney General Kamala Harris Prior Legislation:SB 1075 (Runner), pending in Assembly Public Safety SB 1654 (Santiago), pending in Assembly Appropriations Committee AB 953 (Weber), Chapter 466, Statutes of 2015 AB 71 (Rodriguez), Chapter 462, Statutes of 2015 Support: Anti-Defamation League; Socrata Opposition:None Known Assembly Floor Vote: 78 - 0 PURPOSE The purpose of this bill is to require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make available to the public its mandatory criminal justice statistics reports through the OpenJustice Web Portal, which is to be updated at least quarterly. This bill also makes conforming changes to existing provisions related to criminal AB 2524 (Irwin ) Page 2 of ? statistics. Existing law requires DOJ to annually interpret and present crime statistics, required to be reported by law enforcement and other agencies and information, to the Governor. (Penal Code, §§ 13010, subd. (g), 13020.) Existing law requires DOJ to interpret and present statistics and information to the Legislature and to those in charge or concerned with of the apprehension, prosecution, and treatment of the criminals and delinquents. (Penal Code, § 13012(b).) Existing law allows the Attorney General to issue special reports on crime statistics. (Penal Code, § 13010, subd. (g).) Existing law requires the Racial and Identity Profiling Board (RIPA) to annually analyze and report to the Attorney General statistics collected from law enforcement agencies regarding citizen complaints. (Penal Code, § 13012, subds.(a) and (c).) Existing law requires the Attorney General to make available a sufficient number of copies of both the required annual report on crime statistics and any special reports. (Pen. Code, § 13010, subd. (g).) Existing law requires DOJ to prepare and distribute to any person or agency required to submit crime statistics the cards, forms, or electronic means used in reporting data to the department. The cards, forms, or electronic means may, in addition to other items, include items of information needed by federal bureaus or departments engaged in the development of national and uniform criminal statistics. (Penal Code, § 13010, subd. (b).) Existing law requires DOJ to periodically review the requirements of units of government using criminal justice statistics, and to make recommendations for changes it deems necessary in the design of criminal justice statistics systems, including new techniques of collection and processing made possible by automation. (Pen. Code, § 13010, subd. (h).) Existing law requires DOJ, beginning January 1, 2017, to issue an annual summary of incidents reported by law enforcement including: AB 2524 (Irwin ) Page 3 of ? a) The shooting of a civilian by a peace officer; b) The shooting of a peace officer by a civilian; c) The use of force by a peace officer against a civilian that results in serious bodily injury or death; and d) The use of force by a civilian against a peace officer that results in serious bodily injury or death; (Gov. Code, § 12525.2, subds. (a) and (c).) Existing law requires DOJ's annual summary of shootings of and by peace officers, and of use of force by or against peace officers, to include the number and demographics of those involved, if the civilian was armed, the type of force used, and a description of the incident, as provided. (Gov. Code, § 12525.2, subds. (a), (b) and (c).) Existing law requires DOJ to collect data pertaining to the juvenile justice system for criminal history and statistical purposes, including all of the following: a) The amount and the types of offenses known to the public authorities; b) The personal and social characteristics of criminals and delinquents; c) The administrative actions taken by law enforcement, judicial, penal, and correctional agencies or institutions, including those in the juvenile justice system, in dealing with criminals or delinquents; d) The administrative actions taken by law enforcement, prosecutorial, judicial, penal, and correctional agencies including those in the juvenile justice system, in dealing with minors who are the subject of a petition or hearing in the juvenile court to transfer their case to the jurisdiction of an adult criminal court or whose cases are directly filed or otherwise initiated in an adult criminal court; and e) The total number of each of the following, disaggregated AB 2524 (Irwin ) Page 4 of ? by individual law enforcement agency, including whether the disposition of the complaints was sustained, not sustained, exonerated or unfounded, as defined: i) Citizen complaints received by law enforcement agencies; ii) Citizen complaints alleging criminal conduct of either a felony or misdemeanor; and iii) Citizen complaints alleging racial or identity profiling, as defined. These statistics shall be disaggregated by the specific type of racial or identity profiling alleged, such as based on a consideration of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or mental or physical disability. (Pen. Code, §§ 832.5, 13012(a), 13519.4.) Existing law requires the annual report published by DOJ to include information concerning arrests for identity theft. (Penal Code, §§ 530.5, 13010, 13012.6.) Existing law requires DOJ to maintain a data set, updated annually, that contains the number of crimes reported, number of clearances and clearance rates in California as reported by individual law enforcement agencies for required-to-be-reported crimes. The data set shall be made available through a prominently displayed hypertext link on the Department's Internet Web site or through the Department's OpenJustice data portal. (Penal Code, §§ 13012, 13013.) Existing law requires DOJ to perform the following duties concerning the investigation and prosecution of homicide cases: a) Collect information on all persons who are the victims of, and all persons who are charged with, homicide; b) Adopt and distribute as a written form or by electronic means to all state and governmental entities that are responsible for the investigation and prosecution of homicide cases forms that will include information to be provided to the department; and AB 2524 (Irwin ) Page 5 of ? c) Compile, collate, index, and maintain an electronic file of the information regarding victims of and those charged with homicide into a report available to the public. (Penal Code, §13014.) Existing law requires local law enforcement agencies to report to DOJ, in a manner prescribed by the Attorney General, any information that may be required relative to hate crimes so that the Department can report, on or before July 1 of each year, the Department's analysis to the Legislature. (Pen. Code, §§ 422.55, 13023.) This bill eliminates DOJ's requirement to annually present a report on criminal justice statistics to the Governor and the Legislature, but requires that a downloadable summary of this information shall be annually prepared so that the Attorney General may send a copy to the Governor and other entities. This bill specifies that the provisions of this bill shall not be construed to require more frequent reporting by local agencies than what is required by any other law. This bill requires DOJ to add prosecutorial administrative actions to its criminal justice statistics collection and summaries. This bill states that, on or before January 1, 2021, it shall be the duty of DOJ to transition all of California's crime data from summary crime reporting to incident-based crime reporting, through electronic means, in alignment with the federal National Incident-Based Reporting System. AB 2524 (Irwin ) Page 6 of ? This bill requires DOJ to evaluate, on an annual basis, the probability of meeting the January 1, 2021, implementation deadline and report its findings to the Legislature annually through 2019. This bill provides that local and state agencies that are unable to meet this implementation deadline and that have committed to transitioning to incident-based crime reporting shall collaborate with DOJ to develop a transition plan with a timeline for the transition. This bill provides that local and state agencies that are unable to meet this implementation deadline and that have committed to transitioning to incident-based crime reporting shall collaborate with DOJ to develop a transition plan with a timeline for the transition. This bill states that, commencing January 1, 2021, it shall be the duty of DOJ to accept the collection of crime data from local and state crime reporting agencies only through electronic means. This bill requires, commencing January 1, 2021, local and state crime reporting agencies to submit crime data to DOJ only AB 2524 (Irwin ) Page 7 of ? through electronic means. This bill states that, on or before January 1, 2022, it shall be the duty of DOJ to ensure that the statistical systems of DOJ are electronic, allowing for criminal justice statistical data to be updated more frequently than annually on the OpenJustice Web portal. RECEIVERSHIP/OVERCROWDING CRISIS AGGRAVATION For the past several years this Committee has scrutinized legislation referred to its jurisdiction for any potential impact on prison overcrowding. Mindful of the United States Supreme Court ruling and federal court orders relating to the state's ability to provide a constitutional level of health care to its inmate population and the related issue of prison overcrowding, this Committee has applied its "ROCA" policy as a content-neutral, provisional measure necessary to ensure that the Legislature does not erode progress in reducing prison overcrowding. On February 10, 2014, the federal court ordered California to reduce its in-state adult institution population to 137.5% of design capacity by February 28, 2016, as follows: 143% of design bed capacity by June 30, 2014; 141.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2015; and, 137.5% of design bed capacity by February 28, 2016. In December of 2015 the administration reported that as "of December 9, 2015, 112,510 inmates were housed in the State's 34 adult institutions, which amounts to 136.0% of design bed capacity, and 5,264 inmates were housed in out-of-state facilities. The current population is 1,212 inmates below the final court-ordered population benchmark of 137.5% of design bed capacity, and has been under that benchmark since February 2015." (Defendants' December 2015 Status Report in Response to February 10, 2014 Order, 2:90-cv-00520 KJM DAD PC, 3-Judge Court, Coleman v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (fn. omitted).) One year ago, 115,826 inmates were housed in the State's 34 adult institutions, which amounted to 140.0% of design bed capacity, and 8,864 inmates were housed in out-of-state facilities. (Defendants' December 2014 Status Report in Response to February AB 2524 (Irwin ) Page 8 of ? 10, 2014 Order, 2:90-cv-00520 KJM DAD PC, 3-Judge Court, Coleman v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (fn. omitted).) While significant gains have been made in reducing the prison population, the state must stabilize these advances and demonstrate to the federal court that California has in place the "durable solution" to prison overcrowding "consistently demanded" by the court. (Opinion Re: Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Defendants' Request For Extension of December 31, 2013 Deadline, NO. 2:90-cv-0520 LKK DAD (PC), 3-Judge Court, Coleman v. Brown, Plata v. Brown (2-10-14). The Committee's consideration of bills that may impact the prison population therefore will be informed by the following questions: Whether a proposal erodes a measure which has contributed to reducing the prison population; Whether a proposal addresses a major area of public safety or criminal activity for which there is no other reasonable, appropriate remedy; Whether a proposal addresses a crime which is directly dangerous to the physical safety of others for which there is no other reasonably appropriate sanction; Whether a proposal corrects a constitutional problem or legislative drafting error; and Whether a proposal proposes penalties which are proportionate, and cannot be achieved through any other reasonably appropriate remedy. COMMENTS 1. Need for Legislation According to the author: AB 2524 modernizes the state's publication of criminal justice data by replacing references to DOJ's "annual report" in code with a directive to release all public crime statistics into the OpenJustice Web portal. This change would significantly democratize access to data collected by the state, replacing static print publications - relics of the pre-internet age - with dynamic tools for Californians to perform their own analysis of statistics significant to them. Whereas DOJ's current crime reports often lack important context, such as AB 2524 (Irwin ) Page 9 of ? demographic information or yearly trends, information viewed through OpenJustice will provide a complete picture of criminal justice for the public. AB 2524 also requires the DOJ to update data on the website quarterly with new data that is currently provided monthly from local law enforcement agencies. The bill clarifies that these changes do not require law enforcement agencies to report more frequently than currently required. AB 2524 would also modernize the way DOJ receives information from local agencies. Currently, despite significant advances in digital technologies, as much as 60% of local law enforcement agencies provide their statistics to DOJ on paper cards, which must be then re-entered by DOJ's Criminal Justice Statistics Center. This bill would direct local law enforcement to transition into providing their criminal justice information electronically by January 1, 2021, bringing this process into the 21st century and ensuring that information compiled for public access is accurate, economical, and timely. In 2021, the Federal Government will implement the National Incident-Based Reporting System or NIBRS in place of the current E-CARS system. AB 2524 aligns the electronic submission requirement to match with the rollout of NIBRS. 2. Background Various provisions of the Government and Penal Codes require DOJ to collect, analyze, and report on criminal justice statistics. Each individual law enforcement agency must report criminal justice statistics to DOJ so that the agency can both aggregate the data to present a statewide overview and to present data on each individual law enforcement agency. Currently, the agency's statistics may be submitted by paper forms and cards. The statistics which agencies are required to report include: officer involved incidents with the demographics of the individuals involved and a description of the incident, case clearance rates, juvenile delinquency, the disposition of civilian complaints, the demographics of victims and individuals charged in homicides, the incidents and demographics targeted by hate crimes, the incidents and demographics of "stop and frisk" detentions, the incidents and demographics of potential profiling incidents, and other data leading to the apprehension, prosecution, and treatment of the criminals and delinquents. AB 2524 (Irwin ) Page 10 of ? Separate provisions require DOJ to prepare a summary of these criminal justice statistics every year in reports, mainly the Crime in California report, to the Governor and the Legislature, and otherwise make the data and reports available to the public. This bill requires law enforcement agencies to submit their statistics by electronic means only, and require DOJ to post the raw statistics and their summaries quarterly -rather than annually- on the OpenJustice Web Portal, which is easily accessible by the Governor, the Legislature and the public. 3. Statement of Support California Attorney General Kamala Harris stated, in part: The OpenJustice Data Act would revolutionize the public's access to information about the criminal justice system by reinventing the Attorney General's traditional printed reports as datasets within the OpenJustice Data portal. The bill will enable Californians to review the statistical information most important to them in context, using dynamic, interactive tools, rather than rely on preselected, prepackaged summaries. AB 2524 will truly democratize public safety data, significantly strengthening trust in law enforcement. AB 2524 will also modernize the way the state collects this information from locals. Despite the continuing development of digital technologies, as many as 60% of local agencies still report their criminal justice statistics to DOJ on paper; this bill will direct those agencies to submit electronically. By transitioning to an entirely digital reporting process, statewide data collection will be more efficient, accurate, and considerate of the environment. -- END - AB 2524 (Irwin ) Page 11 of ?