Bill Text: CA AB243 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 243 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Implicit bias training: peace officers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-08-30 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB243 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB243-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly April 22, 2019

Amended IN Assembly March 26, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 243

Introduced by Assembly Member Kamlager-Dove
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta, Kalra, Levine, and Wicks)
(Coauthor: Senator Mitchell)

January 18, 2019

An act to amend Section 13519.4 of the Penal Code, relating to peace officers.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 243, as amended, Kamlager-Dove. Implicit bias training: peace officers.

Existing law requires every peace officer to participate in expanded training prescribed by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training that includes and examines evidence-based patterns, practices, and protocols that make up racial and identity profiling, including implicit bias. Once basic training is completed, existing law requires specified peace officers to complete a refresher course on racial and identity profiling at least every 5 years.

This bill would require those peace officers currently required to take the refresher course every ~~five~~ 5 years, and additional peace officers, as specified, to instead take ~~8 hours of~~ refresher training on racial and identity ~~profiling~~ profiling, including the understanding of implicit bias and the promotion of bias-reducing strategies, at least every 2 years. The bill would require this training to include implicit association testing before and after the training. By imposing additional training duties on local law enforcement entities, this 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.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) All persons possess implicit or unconscious biases that affect their beliefs, attitudes, and actions toward other people.

(b) Those biases develop over the course of a lifetime, beginning at a very early age, through exposure to messages about groups of people that are either socially advantaged or disadvantaged.

(c) In the United States, studies show most people hold an implicit bias that disfavors African Americans and favors Caucasian Americans, resulting from a long history of subjugation and exploitation of people of African descent.

(d) People also hold negative biases toward members of other socially stigmatized groups, such as Native Americans, immigrants, women, ~~the disabled,~~ people with disabilities, Muslims, and members of the LGBTQ community.

(e) Law enforcement personnel are prohibited from engaging in racial and identity profiling, or any form of discrimination, but are rarely given the tools to understand and effectively counteract their biases.

(f) Research shows individuals can reduce the negative impact of their implicit biases by becoming aware of what biases they hold and taking affirmative steps to alter their behavioral responses to override those biases.

(g) “Inclusive community policing” constitutes a policing paradigm that does both of the following:

(1) Respects racial, gender, and sexual orientation diversity, and values inclusion within its ranks and in the civilian population it serves.

(2) Continually strives to eliminate bias in decisionmaking at the personal, interpersonal, and institutional levels through self-evaluation, training, monitoring, and data collection and analysis in order to better serve and engage diverse communities.

(h) Restorative justice diversion programs have been shown to be effective at reducing recidivism, fostering accountability, and decreasing the long-term impact of biased law enforcement decisions on minority populations.

SEC. 2.

Section 13519.4 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

13519.4.

(a) The commission shall develop and disseminate guidelines and training for all peace officers in California as described in subdivision (a) of Section 13510 and who adhere to the standards approved by the commission, on the racial and cultural differences among the residents of this state. The course or courses of instruction and the guidelines shall stress understanding and respect for racial, identity, and cultural differences, and development of effective, noncombative methods of carrying out law enforcement duties in a diverse racial, identity, and cultural environment.

(b) The course of basic training for peace officers shall include adequate instruction on racial, identity, and cultural diversity in order to foster mutual respect and cooperation between law enforcement and members of all racial, identity, and cultural groups. In developing the training, the commission shall consult with appropriate groups and individuals having an interest and expertise in the field of racial, identity, and cultural awareness and diversity.

(1) “Disability,” “gender,” “nationality,” “religion,” and “sexual orientation” have the same meaning as in Section 422.55.

(2) “Culturally diverse” and “cultural diversity” include, but are not limited to, disability, gender, nationality, religion, and sexual orientation issues.

(3) “Racial” has the same meaning as “race or ethnicity” in Section 422.55.

(4) “Stop” has the same meaning as in paragraph (2) of subdivision (g) of Section 12525.5 of the Government Code.

(d) The Legislature finds and declares as follows:

(1) The brave people working in California law enforcement risk their lives every day. The people of California greatly appreciate the hard work and dedication of peace officers in protecting public safety. The good name of these officers should not be tarnished by the actions of those few who commit discriminatory practices.

(2) Racial or identity profiling is a practice that presents a great danger to the fundamental principles of our Constitution and a democratic society. It is abhorrent and cannot be tolerated.

(3) Racial or identity profiling alienates people from law enforcement, hinders community policing efforts, and causes law enforcement to lose credibility and trust among the people whom law enforcement is sworn to protect and serve.

(4) Pedestrians, users of public transportation, and vehicular occupants who have been stopped, searched, interrogated, and subjected to a property seizure by a peace officer for no reason other than the color of their skin, national origin, religion, gender identity or expression, housing status, sexual orientation, or mental or physical disability are the victims of discriminatory practices.

(5) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting the changes to this section made by the act that added this paragraph that additional training is required to address the pernicious practice of racial or identity profiling and that enactment of this section is in no way dispositive of the issue of how the state should deal with racial or identity profiling.

(e) “Racial or identity profiling,” for purposes of this section, is the consideration of, or reliance on, to any degree, actual or perceived race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or mental or physical disability in deciding which persons to subject to a stop or in deciding upon the scope or substance of law enforcement activities following a stop, except that an officer may consider or rely on characteristics listed in a specific suspect description. The activities include, but are not limited to, traffic or pedestrian stops, or actions during a stop, such as asking questions, frisks, consensual and nonconsensual searches of a person or any property, seizing any property, removing vehicle occupants during a traffic stop, issuing a citation, and making an arrest.

(f) A peace officer shall not engage in racial or identity profiling.

(g) Every peace officer in this state shall participate in expanded training as prescribed and certified by the Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training.

(h) The curriculum shall be evidence-based and shall include and examine evidence-based patterns, practices, and protocols that make up racial or identity profiling, including implicit bias. This training shall prescribe evidence-based patterns, practices, and protocols that prevent racial or identity profiling. In developing the training, the commission shall consult with the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board established pursuant to subdivision (j). The course of instruction shall include, but not be limited to, significant consideration of each of the following subjects:

(1) Identification of key indices and perspectives that make up racial, identity, and cultural differences among residents in a local community.

(2) Negative impact of intentional and implicit biases, prejudices, and stereotyping on effective law enforcement, including examination of how historical perceptions of discriminatory enforcement practices have harmed police-community relations and contributed to injury, death, disparities in arrest detention and incarceration rights, and wrongful convictions.

(3) The history and role of the civil and human rights movement and struggles and their impact on law enforcement.

(4) Specific obligations of peace officers in preventing, reporting, and responding to discriminatory or biased practices by fellow peace officers.

(5) Perspectives of diverse, local constituency groups and experts on particular racial, identity, and cultural and police-community relations issues in a local area.

(6) The prohibition against racial or identity profiling in subdivision (f).

(i) Once the initial basic training is completed, each peace officer shall be required to complete ~~eight hours of~~ refresher training every two years thereafter, or on a more frequent basis if deemed necessary, in order to keep current with changing racial, identity, and cultural trends. This training shall include the understanding of implicit bias and the promotion of bias-reducing strategies to address how unintended biases in decisionmaking may shape behavior and produce differences in treatment along lines of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics. This training shall include implicit association testing before and after the training, the results of which are for self-understanding only and shall be disclosed only to the person taking the test. This subdivision applies to peace officers employed by all of the following:

(1) Each peace officer in California as described in subdivision (a) of Section 13510 who adheres to the standards approved by the commission.

(2) The Department of the California Highway Patrol.

(3) The University of California Police Department.

(4) The California State University Police Departments.

(5) A California Community College police department.

(6) A police department of a school district employed pursuant to Section 38000 of the Education Code.

(7) A school district that includes kindergarten and any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, or California Community College district, if the peace officer meets the requirements specified in subdivision (c) of Section 830.32.

(8) The Office of Correctional Safety of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

(9) The Investigation Division of the Employment Development Department.

(10) The Office of Protective Services of the State Department of Developmental Services.

(11) The Office of Protective Services of the State Department of State Hospitals.

(12) The Office of Law Enforcement Support of the California Health and Human Services Agency.

(13) The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District Police Department, as specified in subdivision (a) of Section 830.33.

(j) (1) Beginning July 1, 2016, the Attorney General shall establish the Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board (RIPA) for the purpose of eliminating racial and identity profiling, and improving diversity and racial and identity sensitivity in law enforcement.

(2) RIPA shall include the following members:

(A) The Attorney General, or the Attorney General’s designee.

(B) The President of the California Public Defenders Association, or the president’s designee.

(D) The President of the California State Sheriffs’ Association, or the president’s designee.

(E) The President of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, or the president’s designee.

(F) The Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, or the commissioner’s designee.

(G) A university professor who specializes in policing and in racial and identity equity.

(H) Two representatives of human or civil rights tax-exempt organizations who specialize in civil or human rights.

(I) Two representatives of community organizations who specialize in civil or human rights and criminal justice, and work with victims of racial and identity profiling. At least one representative shall be between 16 and 24 years of age.

(J) Two religious clergy members who specialize in addressing and reducing racial and identity bias toward individuals and groups.

(K) Up to two other members that the Governor may prescribe.

(L) Up to two other members that the President pro Tempore of the Senate may prescribe.

(M) Up to two other members that the Speaker of the Assembly may prescribe.

(3) Each year, on an annual basis, RIPA shall do the following:

(A) Analyze the data reported pursuant to Section 12525.5 of the Government Code and Section 13012 of this code.

(B) Analyze law enforcement training under this section.

(C) Work in partnership with state and local law enforcement agencies to review and analyze racial and identity profiling policies and practices across geographic areas in California.

(D) Conduct, and consult available, evidence-based research on intentional and implicit biases, and law enforcement stop, search, and seizure tactics.

(E) Issue a report that provides RIPA’s analysis under subparagraphs (A) to (D), inclusive, and detailed findings on the past and current status of racial and identity profiling, and makes policy recommendations for eliminating racial and identity profiling. RIPA shall post the report on its internet website. Each report shall include disaggregated statistical data for each reporting law enforcement agency. The report shall include, at minimum, each reporting law enforcement agency’s total results for each data collection criterion under subdivision (b) of Section 12525.5 of the Government Code for each calendar year. The reports shall be retained and made available to the public by posting those reports on the Department of Justice’s OpenJustice Web portal. The first annual report shall be issued no later than January 1, 2018. The reports are public records within the meaning of subdivision (d) of Section 6252 of the Government Code and are open to public inspection pursuant to Sections 6253, 6256, 6257, and 6258 of the Government Code.

(F) Hold at least three public meetings annually to discuss racial and identity profiling, and potential reforms to prevent racial and identity profiling. Each year, one meeting shall be held in northern California, one in central California, and one in southern California. RIPA shall provide the public with notice of at least 60 days before each meeting.

(4) Pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 12525.5 of the Government Code, RIPA shall advise the Attorney General in developing regulations for the collection and reporting of stop data, and ensuring uniform reporting practices across all reporting agencies.

(5) Members of RIPA shall not receive compensation, nor per diem expenses, for their services as members of RIPA.

(6) No action of RIPA shall be valid unless agreed to by a majority of its members.

(7) The initial terms of RIPA members shall be four years.

(8) Each year, RIPA shall elect two of its members as cochairpersons.

SEC. 3.

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.