More Law Enforcement Bills Head to Governor

As the Legislature winds down the 2015-2016 session, they sent another handful of public safety bills to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk last week. CPOA has lobbied and supported a number of these measures in both the Assembly and Senate, and we will be urging the Governor over the next few weeks to sign them into law. Bills that our Law & Legislation Committee have not taken positions on will continue to be watched and CPOA will update our legislative positions to our membership. Current bills heading to Governor Brown can be found here.

Over the course of the 2016 legislative year, we have lobbied for support on the following bills, which now await action from the Governor:

AB 1276 (Santiago D) Child witnesses: human trafficking.

This bill would authorize a minor (defined as 15 years of age or younger) to testify by contemporaneous examination and cross-examination in another place and out of the presence of the judge, jury, defendant or defendants, and attorneys if the testimony will involve the recitation of the facts of an alleged offense of human trafficking.

AB 1564 (Williams D) Emergency services: wireless 911 calls: routing.

Requires the Office of Emergency Services (OES), working with the California Highway Patrol, and county coordinators to review and ensure the most efficient routing of mobile calls to the 911 system. Provides that after completion of annual comprehensive statewide review and routing decision making process, a local fire, police, sheriff, or emergency medical services agency, or a local public safety answering point, may submit a written request for a review of a specific cell sector based on specified criteria.

AB 1705 (Rodriguez D) Jails: searches.

This bill would also allow law enforcement personnel to subject a person who is arrested and taken into custody to a body scanner search for concealed weapons or substances. The bill would require an agency utilizing a body scanner to endeavor to avoid knowingly using a body scanner to scan a woman who is pregnant. The bill would require a person within sight of the visual display of a body scanner depicting the body during a scan to be of the same sex as the person being scanned, except for physicians or licensed medical personnel.

AB 1798 (Cooper D) Firearms: imitation firearms: gun-shaped phone cases.

Would specify that the definition of imitation firearm includes, but is not limited to, a protective case for a cellular telephone that is so substantially similar in coloration and overall appearance to an existing firearm as to lead a reasonable person to perceive that the device is a firearm.

 

 

By: Shaun Rundle, Government Affairs & Public Safety Specialist