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AB-173 School safety: peace officer interactions with pupils and nonpupils.(2017-2018)



Current Version: 04/25/17 - Amended Assembly

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AB173:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 25, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 173

Introduced by Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer

January 17, 2017

An act to add Article 6 (commencing with Section 32296) to Chapter 2.5 of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1 of Section 38008 to the Education Code, relating to school safety.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 173, as amended, Jones-Sawyer. School safety: peace officer interactions with pupils. pupils and nonpupils.
Existing law, the Interagency School Safety Demonstration Act of 1985, requires school districts and county offices of education to be responsible for the overall development of comprehensive school safety plans for its schools operating kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive. The act establishes the School/Law Enforcement Partnership, comprised of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Attorney General, whose duties include, among others, the development of programs and policies necessary to implement the provisions of the Education Code relating to school safety plans.

This bill would require the governing board of a school district to adopt policies mandating proper protection of pupils’ rights in interactions with peace officers, including, but not limited to, that school staff not call a peace officer to arrest, discipline, or otherwise interact with a pupil for a violation of school rules and that school staff exhaust all alternatives before involving a peace officer for low-level misconduct. The bill would require a school district to collect and publicly report comprehensive data regarding peace officer interactions with pupils and to have a procedure through which pupils and community members can complain about misconduct relating to peace officer interactions with pupils. By imposing additional duties on school districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The bill would impose specified requirements on a peace officer, including, but not limited to, that when deployed to a school campus to question or arrest a pupil, the peace officer immediately notify the principal, identify himself or herself, show proper credentials, and provide the legal authority for his or her actions. The bill would prohibit, unless certain conditions are met, a peace officer from questioning or arresting a pupil on a school campus during school hours absent a real and immediate physical threat to pupils, teachers, or public safety. By imposing additional duties on local law enforcement agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing law 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, for purposes of its provisions, exclude from the definition of “peace officer” a person employed as a member of a police department of a school district and a peace officer employed by a K–12 public school district.

Existing law, the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015, requires, among other things, each state and local agency that employs peace officers to annually report to the Attorney General data on all stops, as defined, conducted by the agency’s peace officers for the preceding calendar year. Existing law requires the reporting to include specified information for each stop, including the time, date, and location of the stop; the reason for the stop; the perceived race or ethnicity, gender, and approximate age of the person stopped, provided that the identification of these characteristics be based on the observation and perception of the peace officer making the stop, and the information not be requested from the person stopped; and specified actions taken by the peace officer during the stop.
This bill would require, on and after January 1, 2019, the governing board of a school district that establishes a school police department, that contracts with or employs peace officers, or that permits a law enforcement agency to assign peace officers or school resource officers to a schoolsite to require the applicable law enforcement agency to report, on a monthly basis, information similar to that reported under the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015 on all stops, as defined, made at a schoolsite. The bill would require the reports to include additional information relating to the law enforcement agency’s interactions with pupils and nonpupils, as specified. The bill would require the collection and reporting of data pursuant to the bill to be undertaken in accordance with the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015 and its implementing regulations. The bill would require the governing board of a school district to forward the monthly report to the Attorney General within 30 days of receipt and to present an annual report based on the monthly reports from the prior academic year during an open session of a regularly scheduled public meeting of the governing board of the school district. By imposing additional duties on school districts and local law enforcement agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 38008 is added to the Education Code, to read:

38008.
 (a) (1) On and after January 1, 2019, the governing board of each school district identified in subdivision (b) shall require the chief of the applicable law enforcement agency to provide data, in accordance with subdivisions (c) and (d), on law enforcement interactions with pupils and nonpupils on a monthly basis.
(2) The governing board of a school district shall forward the monthly report to the Attorney General within 30 days of receipt from the reporting law enforcement agency.
(3) On or before December 31, 2019, and each year thereafter, the governing board of a school district shall present an annual report based on the monthly reports from the prior academic year during an open session of a regularly scheduled public meeting of the governing board of the school district.
(b) This section applies to a school district that does one or more of the following:
(1) Establishes a school police department pursuant to Section 38000.
(2) Contracts with or employs peace officers to ensure the safety of school district personnel and pupils and the security of the real and personal property of the school district.
(3) Permits a city or county law enforcement agency to directly assign peace officers or school resource officers to one or more of its schoolsites.
(c) The monthly report provided to the governing board of a school district pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall include data showing all of the following within the law enforcement agency’s jurisdiction, disaggregated by schoolsite and offense:
(1) Schoolsite crime incidents reported to, or observed by, a peace officer assigned to a schoolsite.
(2) The data specified in subdivision (d) for all stops made at a schoolsite, including stops of pupils and nonpupils, in accordance with the data collection and reporting requirements of the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015 (Chapter 466 of the Statutes of 2015) and its implementing regulations.
(3) The number of times peace officers were called to a schoolsite for matters related to school discipline or minor incidents that did not pose a safety or security risk.
(4) The number of times peace officers contacted pupils not at the schoolsite for matters pertaining to school-related incidents.
(5) (A) The number of complaints against peace officers, disaggregated by the number of complaints lodged against individual peace officers, who shall be identified by the peace officer’s badge number or unique identifying number. The total number of complaints against peace officers shall be further disaggregated by the complaints specifically alleging any of the following:
(i) Injuries or use of excessive force.
(ii) Racial or identity profiling. These statistics shall be disaggregated by the specific type of racial or identity profiling alleged, such as profiling based on a consideration of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or mental or physical disability.
(B) For each category of complaint identified in subparagraph (A), the statistics reported shall provide the number of complaints within each of the following disposition categories:
(i) “Sustained,” which means that the investigation disclosed sufficient evidence to prove the truth of the allegation in the complaint by a preponderance of the evidence.
(ii) “Exonerated,” which means that the investigation clearly established that the actions of the peace officer that formed the basis of the complaint are not a violation of law or agency policy.
(iii) “Not sustained,” which means that the investigation failed to disclose sufficient evidence to clearly prove or disprove the allegation in the complaint.
(iv) “Unfounded,” which means that the investigation clearly established that the allegation is not true.
(d) The monthly report provided to the governing board of a school district pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall include, at a minimum, the following information for each stop reported pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (c):
(1) The time, date, and location of the stop.
(2) The reason for the presence of law enforcement at the scene of the stop, such as assignment or call for service.
(3) The reason for the stop.
(4) The result of the stop.
(5) If a warning or citation was issued, the warning provided or violation cited.
(6) If an arrest was made, the offense charged.
(7) Actions taken during the stop, including whether the peace officer handcuffed or restrained a person or used force during the stop.
(8) The perceived race or ethnicity, gender, and approximate age of the person stopped, provided that the identification of these characteristics shall be based on the observation and perception of the peace officer making the stop, and the information shall not be requested from the person stopped. For motor vehicle stops, this paragraph only applies to the driver, unless any actions specified under paragraph (9) apply in relation to a passenger, in which case the characteristics specified in this paragraph shall also be reported for the passenger.
(9) Actions taken by the peace officer during the stop, including, but not limited to, the following:
(A) Whether the peace officer asked for consent to search the person, and, if so, whether consent was provided.
(B) Whether the peace officer searched the person or any property, and, if so, the basis for the search and the type of contraband or evidence discovered, if any.
(C) Whether the peace officer seized any property and, if so, the type of property that was seized and the basis for seizing the property.
(e) (1) If more than one peace officer performs a stop, only one officer is required to collect and report to his or her agency the information specified in subdivision (c).
(2) The law enforcement agency responsible for providing the monthly report to the governing board of a school district shall not report the name, address, social security number, or other unique personal identifying information of persons stopped, searched, or subjected to a property seizure. Notwithstanding any other law, the data reported shall be made available to the public through the standard process of the governing board of the school district and on the school district’s Internet Web site, except for the badge number or other unique identifying information of the peace officer involved, which shall be released to the public only to the extent that the release is permissible under state law.
(3) All collection and reporting of stop data pursuant to this section shall be undertaken in accordance with the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015 (Chapter 466 of the Statutes of 2015) and its implementing regulations, including the data elements and data values established in those regulations. In addition, the following additional data values for the identified data elements below shall be provided, if applicable:
(A) When reporting the “location of stop” data element pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d), the peace officer shall provide the name of the school and specify whether the person stopped was a pupil. The peace officer shall also identify a description of the location of the stop, such as a hallway, classroom, schoolsite grounds, or cafeteria.
(B) When reporting the “reason for stop” data element pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (d), the peace officer shall select all of the following additional data values, as applicable:
(i) Investigation to determine whether the pupil violated school policy not otherwise covered by or enumerated in subclause (iii).
(ii) Investigation to determine unauthorized presence on campus.
(iii) Investigation to determine whether the pupil stopped was engaged in conduct warranting discipline under Section 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, or 48900.7.
(iv) Investigation to determine whether the pupil stopped was engaged in other unlawful conduct.
(C) When reporting the “basis for search” data element pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (9) of subdivision (d), the peace officer shall select the following additional data values, if applicable:
(i) Suspected violation of school policy.
(ii) Suspected conduct warranting discipline under Section 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, or 48900.7.
(D) When reporting the “basis for property seizure” data element pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (9) of subdivision (d), the peace officer shall select the following additional data values, if applicable:
(i) Suspected violation of school policy.
(ii) Suspected conduct warranting discipline under Section 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, or 48900.7.
(E) When reporting the “result of stop” data element pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (d), the peace officer shall select the following additional data values, if applicable:
(i) Referral to a school administrator.
(ii) Referral to a school counselor.
(iii) Referral to a nonschool agency or organization, such as a mental health service provider.
(iv) Verbal or written warning.
(v) Citation.
(vi) Detainment.
(vii) Arrest.
(4) All data and reports made pursuant to this section are public records within the meaning of subdivision (e) of Section 6252 of the Government Code, and are open to public inspection pursuant to Sections 6253 and 6258 of the Government Code.
(5) The data described in subdivisions (c) and (d) are the minimum that a reporting law enforcement agency shall be required to collect and report to the governing board of a school district. Nothing in this section prohibits a law enforcement agency from voluntarily collecting additional data.
(f) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Data element” means a category of information the reporting peace officer reports regarding a stop.
(2) “Data value” means a component or characteristic of a data element to be used in reporting each data element.
(3) “Law enforcement agency” means a school police department established pursuant to Section 38000 or a city or county law enforcement agency or individual that provides security or law enforcement services to a school district or a schoolsite.
(4) “Peace officer” means an individual who is a peace officer as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code or school resource officer as defined by Section 3796dd-8(4) of Title 42 of the United States Code, and who is employed by, contracts with, or is assigned to a schoolsite governed by a school district maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
(5) “Pupil” means a person who is enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, at a public school.
(6) “Stop” means the detention by a peace officer of a person, or any peace officer interaction with a person in which the peace officer conducts a search, including a consensual search, of the person’s body or property in the person’s possession or control. For purposes of this section, “stop” also includes the following interactions between peace officers and pupils:
(A) An interaction that results in taking temporary custody of the pupil under Section 625 or 5150 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, citation, arrest, permanent seizure of property as evidence of a criminal offense, or referral to a school administrator because of suspected criminal activity.
(B) An interaction in which the pupil is being questioned for the purpose of investigating whether the pupil committed a violation of law.
(C) An interaction in which the pupil is being questioned for purposes of investigating to determine whether the pupil violated Section 48900, 48900.2, 48900.3, 48900.4, or 48900.7.
(7) “School-related incident” means a criminal incident occurring or originating at a school district schoolsite during hours the schoolsite is regularly open to the public or pupils for school-related business.
(8) “Schoolsite” means a facility used for kindergarten, elementary school, or secondary school purposes and includes buildings or structures, playgrounds, athletic fields, or any other area of school property visited or used by pupils. When a peace officer provides safety and security services for a school-sponsored event, “schoolsite” also includes a location where the school-sponsored event is being held for the duration of the event.

SEC. 2.

 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1.Article 6 (commencing with Section 32296) is added to Chapter 2.5 of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:
6.Peace Officer Interactions with Pupils
32296.

(a)It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this article to define roles and establish procedures for peace officer interactions with pupils on school premises.

(b)For purposes of this article, “peace officer” has the same meaning as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, except that it does not include a person employed as a member of a police department of a school district or a peace officer employed by a K–12 public school district, as described in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 830.32 of the Penal Code.

32297.

The governing board of a school district shall adopt policies mandating proper protection of pupils’ rights in all interactions with peace officers, including, but not limited to, both of the following, which shall be prioritized:

(a)School staff shall not call a peace officer to arrest, discipline, or otherwise interact with a pupil for a violation of school rules, including, but not limited to, any of the following:

(1)Failure to participate in class or unpreparedness for class.

(2)Failure to carry a hall pass or appropriate identification.

(3)Trespassing.

(4)Loitering.

(5)Profanity.

(6)Inappropriate public displays of affection.

(7)Failure to wear or correctly wear a school uniform or follow policies regarding clothing.

(8)Possession of a prohibited item that does not violate the Penal Code, including, but not limited to, a cell phone or marker.

(9)Inappropriate use of an electronic device.

(10)Insubordination or defiance.

(11)Disorderly conduct.

(12)Verbal altercations, abuse, or harassment.

(13)Altercations, abuse, or harassment over the Internet.

(14)Physical altercations that do not involve a weapon.

(15)Vandalism or graffiti.

(16)Being late, cutting class, absenteeism, or truancy.

(17)Perceived drunkenness or intoxication.

(18)Possession of alcohol.

(19)Possession of a tool that could be taken to be, but is not intended as, a weapon, including, but not limited to, a nail clipper or file, small penknife, butter knife, toy gun, or pepper spray. This paragraph does not include an item that is brandished as a weapon.

(20)Alleged or witnessed promoting or claiming of a neighborhood or crew, including, but not limited to, verbally or through graffiti, clothing, or hand signs.

(b)School staff shall exhaust all alternatives before involving a peace officer for low-level misconduct, including, but not limited to, any of the following:

(1)Battery.

(2)Battery on school property.

(3)Battery against school staff.

(4)Disturbing the peace or a similar offense that causes a disturbance.

(5)Possession of marijuana for personal use.

32298.

(a)A peace officer shall, when deployed to a school campus to question or arrest a pupil, immediately notify the principal, identify himself or herself, show proper credentials, and provide the legal authority for his or her actions.

(b)A peace officer shall not question a pupil on a school campus during school hours absent a real and immediate physical threat to pupils, teachers, or public safety. When these limited circumstances necessitate that a peace officer question a pupil on campus, the peace officer shall do all of the following:

(1)Show a legal warrant.

(2)Consult with the principal, explain the reason for the questioning and the reason the questioning must be done at school, and obtain consent before proceeding.

(3)Conduct the questioning in a private location outside of instructional time.

(4)Immediately notify the pupil’s parent or guardian, and ask and obtain the parent or guardian’s consent before questioning the pupil.

(5)Advise the pupil of his or her constitutional rights, including the right to remain silent, and explain that anything the pupil says can be used against him or her.

(6)Allow the pupil to have his or her parent or guardian, or, if the parent or guardian is unavailable or if the pupil prefers, a school employee of the pupil’s choosing, present during questioning.

(c)A peace officer shall not arrest a pupil on a school campus during school hours absent a real and immediate physical threat to pupils, teachers, or public safety. When these limited circumstances necessitate that a peace officer arrest a pupil on campus, the peace officer shall do all of the following:

(1)Have a legal warrant.

(2)Consult with the principal and explain the reason for the arrest.

(3)Conduct the arrest in a private location.

(4)Advise the pupil of his or her constitutional rights, including the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney, and explain to the pupil that anything he or she says can be used against him or her.

(5)Immediately notify the pupil’s parent or guardian. School staff shall also immediately notify the pupil’s parent or guardian upon the arrest, as required by Section 48906.

32299.

(a)A school district shall collect comprehensive data regarding peace officer interactions with pupils. A school district shall publicly report that data at least two times, and not more than four times, a year, disaggregated by race, sex, English learner status, and disability status.

(b)A school district shall have a comprehensive, easily understood, and well publicized procedure through which pupils and community members can complain about school staff or peace officer misconduct relating to peace officer interactions with pupils.

SEC. 2.

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.