BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1890
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 11, 2000
Counsel: Gregory Pagan
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Carl Washington, Chair
AB 1890 (Rod Pacheco) - As Amended: April 3, 2000
SUMMARY : Requires the California Department of Corrections
(CDC) to provide adequate security for work or fire crews
outside the prison grounds, and requires that distinctive
clothing be worn for identification purposes. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires the CDC to provide adequate security with respect to
prisoners who are working outside the prison grounds in road
clean-up crews or fire crews so as to ensure that prisoners do
not escape.
2)States that CDC shall require that prisoners who are working
outside the prison grounds in road clean-up crews or fire
crews wear distinctive clothing for identification purposes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)States the CDC shall require of every able-bodied prisoner
imprisoned in any state prison as many hours of faithful labor
in each day and every day during his or her term of
imprisonment as shall be prescribed by the rules and
regulations of the CDC Director. (Penal Code Section 2700.)
2)Authorizes the Department of Transportation to employ, or
cause to employ, prisoners confined in the state prisons in
the improvement and maintenance of any state highway. (Penal
Code Section 2760.)
3)Authorizes any department, division, bureau, or other agency
of the State of California to use convicts confined in the
state prisons to perform work necessary and proper to be done
by them at permanent, temporary, and mobile camps. (Penal
Code Section 2780.)
AB 1890
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4)Establishes the Prison Industry Authority for the purpose of
developing and operating industrial, agricultural, and service
enterprises employing prisoners in institutions under the
jurisdiction of CDC. (Penal Code Sections 2800 and 2801.)
5)Establishes within the CDC a joint-venture program allowing
private businesses to establish manufacturing and service
enterprises on prison property employing inmates confined in
the state prison. (Penal Code Section 2117.2.)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Author's Statement . According to the author, "Recently, an
inmate from the California Rehabilitation Center, a
medium-security facility in Norco, walked away from a fire
crew while assigned to clear away brush at the California
Citrus State Historic Park. The prisoner later kidnapped a
16-year-old Riverside girl at gunpoint and forced her to drive
to Bakersfield where she finally escaped.
"It is the practice of the CDC to use prisoners to work on fire
crews. These crews are used throughout local communities and
are not staffed by correctional officers nor armed.
Additionally, prisoners on fire crews are not required to wear
distinctive clothing, which serves to warn the public they are
prisoners."
"AB 1890 will require the CDC to provide adequate security for
fire and clean-up crews. It will also require all prisoners
to wear distinctive clothing while working off prison grounds.
This measure will assure protection of the public by
increasing the security and supervision of work crew
prisoners, as well as ensuring their identification."
2)Background . In March 2000, an inmate at the California
Rehabilitation Center at Norco, California, walked away from a
fire crew that was clearing brush at the California Citrus
State Historic Park. The inmate later kidnapped a 16-year-old
female and forced her to drive him to Bakersfield.
According a Press-Enterprise Newspaper article dated March 25,
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2000, a California Department of Forestry (CDF) fire captain
was supervising the 18-member crew when the inmate walked
away. The inmate and other crew members were wearing
prison-issued denim shirts and pants.
The newspaper further reported that when inmates are working
with city crews in Norco, they are required to wear bright
lime-green jump suits. Inmates who work with fire crews are
required to wear bright-orange jump suits when they are on
actual fire lines, but they are allowed to wear their
prison-issue denim shirt and pants when they perform other
duties. This bill requires that work and fire crews wear
distinctive clothing, and that adequate security be provided
to prevent escape.
3)Security Costs . The CDC camp program is operated by the CDF.
Inmates are housed in dormitories in various camps throughout
the state. Those inmates in the firefighter program are
virtually all classified as Level 1, which is the lowest level
of security risk. During the non-fire season, firefighter
inmates perform community service projects such as cleaning
parks and re-roofing buildings. Correctional officers are
assigned to each camp, and there are two correctional officers
on duty each shift. Work details and fire-lines are
supervised by CDF personnel, who are trained by the CDC to
prevent "walkaways". CDF captains are required to conduct
inmate counts every half-hour. According to CDC, there are
approximately 4,000 inmates assigned to camps. The cost of
using correctional officers to provide security on work
details and fire-lines could be enormous. If CDC cannot
absorb the costs of providing additional security, would this
jeopardize CDF's fire fighting capability?
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California State Sheriffs' Association
Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by : Gregory Pagan / PUB. S. / (916)
AB 1890
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