Bill Text: CA AB2429 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 2429 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training: assessment of training requirements.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-08-11 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2429 Detail]

Download: California-2021-AB2429-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly April 06, 2022

Amended IN Assembly March 23, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2429

Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk
(Principal coauthor: Senator Ochoa Bogh)

February 17, 2022

An act to add Section 13508.1 to the Penal Code, relating to peace officer training.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2429, as amended, Quirk. Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training: assessment of training requirements.

Under existing law, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training is responsible for developing and implementing programs to increase the effectiveness of law enforcement. The commission is required to adopt rules establishing minimum standards relating to physical, mental, and moral fitness governing the recruitment of specified peace officers.

This bill would require the commission to perform specified duties, including, among other things, partnering with academic researchers to conduct an assessment of existing officer training requirements and determining how well the existing officer training requirements are working for officers in the field. The bill would require the commission to report its findings to the Legislature by January 1, 2025.

This bill would require the commission to establish a permanent academic review board to, among other things, regularly review and update the commission’s training standards and curriculum to ensure alignment with the latest scientific research.

The existing California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection, unless an exemption from disclosure applies.

This bill would require information that is collected in order to improve training and to encourage more rigorous analysis of officer training programs to be kept confidential ~~and~~ but would allow the information to be made available ~~only~~ to the commission or research institutions for analysis.

Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

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

SECTION 1.

Section 13508.1 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

13508.1.

(a) The commission shall do each of the following:

(1) Partner with academic researchers to conduct an assessment of existing peace officer training requirements and determine how well the existing officer training requirements are working for peace officers in the field.

(2) Adjust training mandates as needed based on its findings, including reducing or eliminating training because it is not effective or no longer meets the needs of the workforce today.

(3) Continually assess new mandated training requirements.

(4) Revise its process for evaluating law enforcement training to include additional course certification criteria that incorporates training outcomes.

(5) Establish a process to ~~collect and~~ do all of the following:

(A) Collect and secure data for research purposes in order to improve training to encourage more rigorous analysis of officer training programs. This data ~~should largely~~ shall be kept confidential ~~and~~ but may be made available ~~only~~ to the commission or research institutions for analysis.

(B) Make summary or disaggregated data available to the public.
(C) Provide periodic updates to the Legislature, after January 1, 2025, regarding both of the following:
(i) The commission’s assessment of existing peace officer training requirements, including its findings on how well the existing officer training requirements are working for peace officers in the field.
(ii) The commission’s continual assessment of new mandated training requirements.

(b) The commission shall establish a permanent academic review board to do all of the following:

(1) Regularly review and update the commission’s training standards and curriculum to ensure alignment with the latest scientific research.

(2) Survey current research on peace officer training and other relevant topics and advise the commission on how to incorporate findings into new and existing standards and training.

(3) Advise the commission on strategies to define and test training outcomes.

(4) Advise the commission on procedures to address data confidentiality issues that may arise from sharing data for research purposes.

(c) The commission shall submit a report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2025, that includes all of the following:

(1) The commission’s assessment of existing peace officer training requirements, including its findings on how well the existing officer training requirements are working for peace officers in the field.

(2) The commission’s continual assessment of new mandated training requirements.

(d) (1) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under subdivision (c) is inoperative on January 1, 2025, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.

(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(e) Notwithstanding any other law, any ~~data or other information~~ personal identifying information, as defined by Section 530.55, of a peace officer, peace officer trainee, or student of a regular basic course of peace officer training collected by the commission for the purpose of research, evaluation, tracking or course development ~~that personally identifies a peace officer, peace officer trainee, or student of a regular basic course of peace officer training,~~ is confidential and shall not be released to the public unless otherwise subject to disclosure under Section 832.7.

SEC. 2.

The Legislature finds and declares that Section 1 of this act, which adds Section 13508.1 of the Penal Code, imposes a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:

It is generally in the public interest to protect the privacy of a peace officer, peace officer trainee, or student who attends training courses by protecting their personal identifying information as it relates to testing and training evaluation for research purposes.