Status of Current Legislation

AB 667

Assembly Member Maienschein

Firearms: gun violence restraining orders.  

Current law authorizes a court to issue a gun violence restraining order to prohibit a person from purchasing or possessing a firearm or ammunition for a period of one to 5 years, subject to renewal for additional one- to 5-year periods, if the subject of the petition poses a significant danger of self-harm or harm to another in the near future by having a firearm and the order is necessary to prevent personal injury to the subject of the petition or another. Current law makes it a crime to own or possess a firearm in violation of a gun violence restraining order. If the court finds evidence of an extreme risk of violence, including repeated and egregious instances of specified facts, and those facts existed 12 months prior to a petition being filed, this bill would require a court to issue a gun violence restraining order for 5 years. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

AB 1839

Assembly Member Alanis

Peace officers: education and hiring grants

Would, subject to an appropriation, establish the Law Enforcement Officer Grant Program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission to provide grants of up to $6,000 per year to individuals enrolled in a modern policing degree program at a California community college who commit to work for 4 years as a peace officer at a law enforcement agency, as specified. The bill would require grant recipients to agree to repay the grant to the state if certain conditions for the grant are not met, except as specified.

AB 2002

Assembly Member Sanchez

Vehicles: public safety: Blue Envelope Program

Current law establishes the Department of Motor Vehicles, tasked with issuance and renewal of licenses to drivers. Current law requires the department to prescribe and provide suitable forms of applications, certificates of ownership, registration cards, driver’s licenses, and all other forms that are deemed necessary. This bill would, by January 1, 2026, require the department, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, to develop a Blue Envelope Program. Under the program, the bill would require the blue envelope to contain specified information for requesters with a condition or disability, as specified.

Last Amend: 3/6/2024

Status: 3/19/2024-Coauthors revised. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (March 19). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

AB 2020

Assembly Member Bonta

Survivors of Human Trafficking Support Act

Under current law, human trafficking is a crime and law enforcement officers who are assigned field and investigative duties are required to complete minimum training pertaining to the handling of human trafficking complaints. Current law generally provides support services for individuals who are survivors of human trafficking, including public social services and address confidentiality, as specified. Existing law authorizes each county to establish an interagency sexual assault response team. Current law requires each county with a sexual assault response team to meet certain requirements. This bill would require a county that has an interagency sexual assault response team to establish a survivor review board, for the purpose of soliciting, accepting, and reviewing feedback from survivors regarding their experience with service providers, as specified. This bill would require the Commission on POST to develop model policy for law enforcement personnel interactiosn with survivors of human trafficking. By no later than January 1, 2026, each law enforcement agency shall establish and maintain a written policy regarding interactions with survivors of human trafficking, as specified.

Last Amend: 4/9/2024

Status: 4/11/2024-Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. pursuant to Assembly Rule 96.

AB 2042

Assembly Member Ramos

Police canines: standards and training

Would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, on or before January 1, 2026, to develop standards and training guidelines, as specified, for the use of canines by law enforcement. The bill would require each law enforcement agency in California, on or before January 1, 2027, to adopt a policy for the use of canines that, at a minimum, complies with the standards developed by the commission, and to require regular and periodic training for all canines and canine handlers that covers, at a minimum, the training guidelines developed by the commission. Because the bill would impose additional requirements on local law enforcement agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Last Amend: 3/21/2024

Status: 4/10/2024-From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 1.) (April 9). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

AB 2138

Assembly Member Ramos

Peace officers: tribal police pilot project.

Current federal law authorizes tribal governments to employ tribal police for the enforcement of tribal law on tribal lands. Current federal law requires the State of California to exercise criminal jurisdiction on Indian lands. Current state law deems a tribal police officer who has been deputized or appointed by a county sheriff as a reserve or auxiliary deputy to be a peace officer in the State of California. This bill would, from January 1, 2025, until January 1, 2028, establish a pilot program under the Department of Justice granting peace officer authority to certain tribal police officers on Indian lands and elsewhere in the state under specified circumstances. The bill would designate 3 tribal entities authorized to participate, would set certain minimum qualifications and training requirements for a tribal officer to act pursuant to this authority, and would place certain requirements on the employing tribe, including a limited waiver of sovereign immunity, and the adoption of a tribal law or resolution authorizing that exercise of authority and providing for public access to certain records. The bill would require the Department of Justice to provide ongoing monitoring and evaluation and to prepare and submit reports to the Legislature, as specified.

Last Amend: 4/10/2024

Status: 4/11/2024-Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.

AB 2541

Assembly Member Bains

Peace officer training: wandering.

Would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), in consultation with specified subject matter experts and on or before January 1, 2026, to develop guidelines addressing wandering associated with Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and dementia, as specified.

AB 2621

Assembly Member Gabriel

Law Enforcement Training

Current law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, in consultation with specified subject matter experts, to develop a course of instruction that trains law enforcement on, among other things, indicators of hate crimes and techniques, responses to hate crime waves against certain groups, including Arab and Islamic communities, and methods to handle incidents of hate crimes in a noncombative manner. This bill would require instruction to include identifying when a gun violence restraining order is appropriate to prevent a hate crime and the procedure for seeking a gun violence restraining order. The bill would additionally require instruction on responses to hate crime waves against specified groups, including the LGBTQ and Jewish communities.

Last Amend: 4/4/2024

Status: 4/8/2024-Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

AB 2710

Assembly Member Lackey

Active Shooter Incidents

Would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to convene a panel of law enforcement experts to report to the Legislature and the commission, by January 1, 2027, specified topics related to active shooter incidents, including successful trainings and response protocols that have been demonstrated in active shooter incidents and the use of school resource officers on campus for threat prevention, detection, and assessment. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2031.

Last Amend: 4/8/2024

Status: 4/9/2024-Re-referred to Com. on PUB. S.

AB 2923

Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer

Peace officers: public complaints.

Current law requires each department or agency that employs peace officer to establish a procedure to investigate complaints by members of the public against the personnel of the department or agency. This bill would require a form used during the complaint process to include a provision inquiring whether the complaint includes an allegation of racial or identify profiling and a space to describe the allegation. The bill would define “complaint” for these purposes to mean a report, given either in writing or verbally, that brings to the attention of a department or agency an incident during which the complainant perceives that a department or agency employee engaged in misconduct, as specified.

AB 3021

Assembly Member Kalra

Criminal procedure: interrogations

Current law prohibits the prosecuting attorney, attorney for the defendant, or investigator for either the prosecution or the defendant from interviewing, questioning, or speaking to a victim or witness whose name has been disclosed by the defendant pursuant to current law without first clearly identifying themself and identifying the full name of the agency by whom they are employed, and identifying whether they represent, or have been retained by, the prosecution or the defendant. Under current law, if an interview takes place in person, the party is also required to show the victim or witness a business card, official badge, or other form of official identification before commencing the interview or questioning. This bill would require a peace officer, as defined, a prosecuting attorney, or an investigator for the prosecution, prior to interviewing a family member of a person who has been killed or seriously injured by a peace officer, to clearly identify themself, if the interview takes place in person, to show identification, and to state specified information, including that the family member has the right to ask about the status of their family member prior to answering questions, has the right to remain silent, and before speaking with the interviewer, can consult with a trusted person and can have that person with them while they speak to the interviewer.

AB 3038

Assembly Member Essayli

School safety: armed school resource officers. 

Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a security department under the supervision of a chief of security as designated by, and under the direction of, the superintendent of the school district. Existing law also authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a school police department under the supervision of a school chief of police and to employ peace officers.This bill would require a school district or charter school to hire or contract with at least one armed school resource officer, as defined, authorized to carry a loaded firearm to be present at each school of the school district or charter school during regular school hours and any other time when pupils are present on campus, phased in by certain grade spans, as provided. By imposing an additional requirement on school districts and charter schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Last Amend: 4/1/2024

Status: 4/4/2024-In committee: Set, first hearing. Failed passage.

AB 3241

Assembly Member Pacheco

Law Enforcement: police canines

Would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to adopt uniform, minimum guidelines regarding the use of canines by law enforcement, including legal standards established by the bill, and to certify courses of training for all law enforcement canine handlers and those law enforcement supervisors directly overseeing canine programs, as specified. The bill would require, on or before July 1, 2025, each law enforcement agency to maintain a policy for the use of canines by the agency that, at a minimum, complies with the guidelines adopted by POST, and would require law enforcement agencies to establish a training regimen that includes a course certified by the commission. Because the bill would impose additional duties on local law enforcement agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

SB 400

Senator Wahab

Peace officers: confidentiality of records

The California Public Records Act generally requires public records to be open for inspection by the public. Current law provides numerous exceptions to this requirement. Under current law, the personnel records of peace officers and custodial officers are confidential and not subject to public inspection. Current law provides certain exemptions to this confidentiality, including the reports, investigations, and findings of certain incidents involving the use of force by a peace officer. This bill would clarify that this confidentiality does not prohibit an agency that formerly employed a peace officer or custodial officer from disclosing the termination for cause of that officer, as specified.

SB 1020

Senator Bradford

Law enforcement agency regulations: shooting range targets

Current law requires law enforcement agencies to maintain specified policies, including policies regulating the use of force and the use of certain defensive weapons. Current law requires each peace officer to complete all pre-service and in-service training mandated by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. This bill would require each law enforcement agency and police academy to prohibit the use, as specified, of ethnic shooting targets, as defined.

SB 1122

Senator Seyarto

Peace officers: educational requirements

Current law requires the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to develop a modern policing degree program, with the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training and other stakeholders to serve as advisors, as specified, and to submit a report on recommendations to the Legislature outlining a plan to implement the program on or before June 1, 2023. Current law requires the report to include, among other things, recommendations to include both the modern policing degree program and a bachelor’s degree in the discipline of their choosing as minimum education requirements for employment as a peace officer. Current law requires the commission to adopt the recommended criteria within 2 years of when the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges submits its report to the Legislature. This bill would specify that a bachelor’s degree or an associate’s degree required for employment as a peace officer under these provisions may be obtained after completion of the Peace Officer Standards and Training program and within 36 months of employment as a peace officer.

SB 1489

Senator McGuire

Peace officers: Peace Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board

Current law creates the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, and the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division. Current law requires the board to report annually on the activities of the division, board, and commission relating to peace officer certification, including the number of applications for certification, the events reported, the number of investigations conducted, and the number of certificates surrendered or revoked. This bill would require the board to prepare the report no later than February 1 of each year.

Last Amend: 3/20/2024

Status: 4/9/2024-From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (April 9). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

SB 1518

Committee on Public Safety

Public Safety Omnibus

Current law requires law enforcement agencies to provide victims with specified information about victims’ rights and resources. This bill would fix an erroneous cross-reference in these provisions.