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AB-1845 Crimes: Grant program for identifying, apprehending, and prosecuting resale of stolen property.(2023-2024)

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Date Published: 02/21/2024 09:00 PM
AB1845:v98#DOCUMENT

Revised  April 10, 2024
Amended  IN  Assembly  February 21, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1845

Introduced by Assembly Member Alanis Members Alanis, Davies, and Hoover
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Zbur)

January 17, 2024

An act to add and repeal Article 8 (commencing with Section 6049) of Chapter 5 of Title 7 of Part 3 of the Penal Code, relating to crimes.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1845, as amended, Alanis. Crimes: Grant program for identifying, apprehending, and prosecuting resale of stolen property.
Existing law, as amended by the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, enacted as an initiative statute by Proposition 47, as approved by voters at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, makes it a crime to buy, receive, conceal, sell, or withhold any property that has been stolen or that has been obtained in any manner constituting theft or extortion, knowing that the property has been so obtained. Under existing law, this offense is punishable as either a misdemeanor or a felony, unless the value of the property does not exceed $950, in which case an offense is punishable as a misdemeanor.
Existing law establishes the Board of State and Community Corrections to provide statewide leadership, coordination, and technical assistance to promote effective state and local efforts and partnerships in California’s adult and juvenile criminal justice system, as specified. Under existing law, the board administers several grant programs, including a mentally ill offender crime reduction grant program, a medication-assisted treatment grant program, and a violence intervention and prevention grant program.
This bill would, until January 1, 2030, create the Identifying, Apprehending, and Prosecuting Resale of Stolen Property Grant Program to be administered by the board. The bill would require the board to award grants, on a competitive basis, to county district attorneys’ offices and law enforcement agencies, acting jointly to investigate and prosecute receiving stolen goods crimes and criminal profiteering. The bill would require the board to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature, as specified, regarding the impact of the grant program. The bill’s provisions would be operative only to the extent that funding is provided, by express reference, in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 (a) California has devoted resources to combatting vehicle theft and organized retail theft, including $80,000,000 per year in grants to law enforcement agencies to prevent and respond to organized retail theft, motor vehicle or motor vehicle accessory theft, and cargo theft and $10,000,000 per year for vertical prosecution of organized retail theft.
(b) More needs to be done to target the black markets and organized crime organizations that profit from the acquisition and sale of stolen goods. Catalytic converter theft is widespread. They are melted down for the valuable metals that they contain, and the metals resold. Stolen luxury goods, and even mundane products, are sold online or in public venues.
(c) In order to reduce the state’s high levels of theft, organized retail theft, theft of vehicle parts and components, and vehicle theft, we must target the black markets that provide an incentive for thieves, who steal not merely for personal use and consumption but for resale of the stolen goods.
(d) Investigating and prosecuting the criminal networks that acquire stolen goods from thieves is are challenging and labor intensive and requires require additional financial resources.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide additional funding to local prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to target the criminal operations that create a market for theft.

SEC. 2.

 Article 8 (commencing with Section 6049) is added to Chapter 5 of Title 7 of Part 3 of the Penal Code, to read:
Article  8. Identifying, Apprehending, and Prosecuting Resale of Stolen Property Grant Program

6049.
 For purposes of this article, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) “Criminal profiteering” has the same meaning as specified in Section 186.2 where the pattern of criminal profiteering activity is based on a violation of paragraph (13) of subdivision (a) of that section.
(b) “Law enforcement agency” means a police department of a city or city and county and a county sheriff’s department.
(c) “Receiving stolen goods crimes” means a violation of Sections 496, 496a, 496d, and 496e, Section 21610 of the Business and Professions Code, and Section 11500 of the Vehicle Code.

6049.1.
 (a) The Identifying, Apprehending, and Prosecuting Resale of Stolen Property Grant Program is hereby created and shall be administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections.
(b) The board shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to county district attorneys’ offices and law enforcement agencies as authorized by this article. The board shall establish minimum standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants. In order to be eligible for a grant pursuant to this article, an application shall meet all of the following criteria:
(1) Be a joint application by a county district attorney’s office and one or more law enforcement agencies located within that county. Multicounty applications may be submitted by two or more county district attorneys’ offices and two or more law enforcement agencies located within those counties.
(2) The applicant district attorney or district attorneys shall agree to use grant funds to prosecute receiving stolen goods crimes and criminal profiteering. District attorneys awarded grant funds shall do all of the following:
(A) Employ a vertical prosecution methodology for receiving stolen goods crimes.
(B) Dedicate at least one-half of the time of one deputy district attorney and one-half of the time of one district attorney investigator solely to the investigation and prosecution of receiving stolen goods crimes.
(C) Provide the board with annual data on the number of receiving stolen goods cases filed by that county, the number of receiving stolen goods convictions obtained, and the sentences imposed for those convicted of receiving stolen goods crimes in that county. For multicounty grants, data for each county awarded funds shall be provided.
(D) Funding received by district attorneys’ offices pursuant to this program shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, existing financial resources.
(3) The applicant law enforcement agency or agencies shall agree to use grant funds to identify and arrest offenders guilty of receiving stolen goods crimes. Grant funds may be used for officer salaries and overtime for training and equipment appropriate for the investigation of receiving stolen property crimes. Each law enforcement agency receiving grant funds shall do both of the following:
(A) Provide the board with annual data on the number of receiving stolen goods crimes investigated by that agency, the number of receiving stolen goods crimes investigations, and the number of arrests made. For multicounty grants, data for each county awarded funds shall be provided.
(B) Funding received by law enforcement agencies pursuant to this program shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, existing financial resources.
(4) Applications shall include a proposed allocation of funding between the applicant county’s or counties’ district attorneys’ offices and the applicant law enforcement agencies. This may either include dollar allocations or a percentage distribution of any funds received pursuant to the grant.
(5) A law enforcement agency that received funding pursuant to the Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant Program and a district attorney that received funding under the Organized Retail Theft Vertical Prosecution Grant Program may receive additional funding pursuant to this article. The board shall not require applicants to have received funds pursuant to one or more of those programs in order to be eligible for a grant award pursuant to this article.
(6) A law enforcement agency receiving funding pursuant to this article shall share relevant intelligence data obtained in the course of investigations pursuant to this program with agencies receiving funds under the Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant Program and with the Department of the California Highway Patrol.
(7) Grantees receiving funds under this article shall consult with other grant recipients to discuss and exchange best practices for the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of receiving stolen property crimes.
(8) All entities receiving grant funding shall be required to comply with all applicable privacy laws and regulations.
(9) An applicant shall submit a proposal, in a form prescribed by the board, that shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) Data demonstrating the nature and scale of the specific crime problem that the applicant proposes to address using grant funds.
(B) Clearly defined and measurable objectives for the grant.
(C) A description of how the applicant proposes to use the grant funds to achieve the stated objectives, including any plans to coordinate or collaborate with other entities, such as public agencies, community organizations, retailers, or representatives of crime victims organizations.
(D) A discussion of how the applicant plans to sustain the proposed activities once grant funds expire or an explanation of why the proposed activities are limited term in nature.
(E) A description of existing or proposed policies to limit racial bias in utilizing these funds.
(F) If proposing an investment in surveillance technologies, a description of existing or proposed policies to govern the use of those technologies, including how the applicant will comply with applicable privacy laws and secure any data stored.
(G) How the funding will be used to facilitate collaboration with online marketplaces and retailers to address the increase in property crimes in the applicant’s jurisdiction or jurisdictions.
(c) (1) In awarding grants, the board shall give preference to applicants whose grant proposals demonstrate the greatest need for additional resources and likelihood of success in identifying, arresting, and convicting offenders who commit receiving stolen property crimes. The board shall also give a preference to joint applications from two or more county district attorneys’ offices and law enforcement agencies in two or more applicant counties.
(2) In awarding grants, the board shall ensure that grants, to the extent feasible, are allocated to a range of applicants that represent the diversity of communities across the state, including primarily rural, urban, and suburban counties, and equitably distributed to counties located in northern and southern California.
(d) Each grantee shall report to the board, in a form and at intervals prescribed by the board, their progress in receiving grant objectives.
(e) The board shall, no later than 90 days following the close of each grant cycle, prepare and submit a report to the Legislature in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code regarding the impact of the initiatives of the grant. This report, at a minimum, shall include all of the following:
(1) Grant recipients and the amount awarded to each.
(2) How the funding was used.
(3) What outcomes and objectives were achieved.
(f) The board may establish a deadline by which district attorneys’ offices and law enforcement agencies that receive grants pursuant to this article are required to submit data collected and maintained pursuant to this section to the board to enable the board to comply with the reporting requirement in subdivision (e).

6049.2.
 (a) This article shall be operative only to the extent that funding is provided, by express reference, in the annual Budget Act or another statute for the purposes of this article.
(b) Not more than 5 percent of funds appropriated for this program shall be retained by the board for administrative costs, including technical assistance, training, and the cost of producing the report required pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 6049.1.

6049.3.
 This article shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, and as of that date is repealed.

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REVISIONS:
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