Amended  IN  Assembly  February 18, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 308

Introduced by Assembly Member Chen
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Choi, Lackey, and Nguyen)

January 25, 2021

An act to add Title 12.7 (commencing with Section 14260) to Part 4 of the Penal Code, relating to law enforcement.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 308, as amended, Chen. Law enforcement: vehicle burglary and theft task forces.
Existing law defines the crime of burglary to include entering a vehicle when the doors are locked with the intent to commit grand or petit larceny or a felony. Existing law makes the burglary of a vehicle punishable as a misdemeanor or a felony.
Existing law prohibits the theft of a vehicle, as specified. Existing law makes the theft of a vehicle punishable as a misdemeanor or felony.
This bill would require the Board of State and Community Corrections to administer grants to law enforcement agencies that participate in regional vehicle burglary and theft reduction joint task forces. The bill would make law enforcement agencies in specified counties eligible to participate in the regional task forces. The bill would require participating law enforcement agencies in each region to form a joint task force coordination council consisting of the sheriff or chief of police, or their representatives, of each participating law enforcement agency, and would authorize the Commissioner of the Department of the California Highway Patrol to designate a representative of the California Highway Patrol to serve as an ex officio member for each task force. The bill would require the board to distribute funding to the task forces, and require those funds to be expended with the goal of reducing vehicle burglary, burglary and theft, identifying suspects engaged in vehicle burglary, burglary and theft, identifying interregional movement of vehicle burglary and theft offenders, coordinating joint vehicle burglary and theft enforcement efforts, and promoting law enforcement training and best practices to reduce the incidence of vehicle burglary. burglary and theft.
The bill would additionally require the lead agency of each task force to report to the board specified information relating to the crime crimes of vehicle burglary and theft in the jurisdictions participating in the task force. The bill would require the board to compile those statistics and, on or after January 1 of the year subsequent to the receipt of those reports, and annually thereafter, to report this information to the Legislature and the Governor and post the information on the board’s internet website. The bill would require these provisions to be implemented only to the extent that funding is appropriated for these purposes, as specified.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Riverside, and Ventura, and the City and County of San Francisco.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Title 12.7 (commencing with Section 14260) is added to Part 4 of the Penal Code, to read:

TITLE 12.7. Vehicle Burglary and Theft Task Forces

14260.
 (a) The Board of State and Community Corrections shall administer grants to law enforcement agencies that participate in regional vehicle burglary and theft reduction joint task forces. Grant funds shall be directed to three regional task forces.
(b) (1) Region one shall consist of the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and the city and county of San Francisco.
(2) Region two shall consist of the Counties of Los Angeles and Ventura.
(3) Region three shall consist of the Counties of Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego.
(c) (1) The board shall, upon receipt of applications for funding from law enforcement agencies, designate a lead law enforcement agency in each region specified in subdivision (b). Each lead agency shall convene a task force consisting of the lead agency and any other participating law enforcement agencies in that region. Each regional task force shall form a joint task force coordination council consisting of the sheriff or chief of police, or a representative of the sheriff or chief of police of the lead agency, and the chiefs of police, sheriffs, or their representatives of each participating law enforcement agency in that region. A representative of the Department of the California Highway Patrol designated by the Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol may serve as an ex officio member on each of the regional task forces.
(2) Upon the formation of the joint task force coordination council for each region, the board shall distribute funding to the task force. The joint task force coordination council may, by vote of the membership, designate a different lead agency for that region’s task force. If the members of the coordination council cannot agree on the designation of the lead agency, the board may designate the lead agency for that region. Each joint task force coordination council shall meet at least quarterly to share intelligence and discuss strategies and tactics to reduce the incidence of vehicle burglary and theft in the region, to identify interregional movement of vehicle burglary and theft suspects, and to discuss ways to improve coordination of enforcement activities within that region, with the other regional task forces, and statewide.
(3) Funds allocated to the task force shall be expended with the goal of reducing vehicle burglary, burglary and theft, identifying suspects engaging in vehicle burglary, burglary or vehicle theft, identifying interregional movement of vehicle burglary and theft offenders, coordinating joint vehicle burglary and theft enforcement efforts, and promoting law enforcement training and best practices to reduce the incidence of vehicle burglary. burglary and theft. Grant funds may be used to pay for officer overtime, travel, training, and related costs. Funds may also be used for the acquisition and repair of bait vehicles and related equipment.
(4) Each regional task force shall, upon request, share intelligence regarding vehicle burglary and theft incidents and the identity, location, or other identifying information regarding offenders suspected of committing vehicle burglary or vehicle theft with nonparticipating law enforcement agencies and with other regional task forces.
(5) Upon receipt of funding from the board, the joint task force coordination council for each region shall determine how grant funds will be allocated among participating law enforcement agencies within the regional task force with the goals of maximizing the reduction of vehicle burglary and theft in the region and improving the coordination of intelligence regarding this crime with other regional task forces.
(d) (1) The lead agency of each regional task force shall report to the board at least two years of crime statistics relating to the crime crimes of vehicle burglary and vehicle theft in the jurisdictions participating in the task force. For contract cities, a participating sheriff may designate whether a contract city is, or is not, included within the area covered by the grant and include or omit those statistics, as appropriate. The lead agency shall report to the board the vehicle burglary and theft statistics for all participating law enforcement agencies in the regional task force for the two years commencing with the receipt of funds from the board. The report shall also include statistics on the number of arrests made for vehicle burglary and vehicle theft within the two years after receipt of grant funds in each of the law enforcement agencies participating in the regional task force and annually thereafter.
(2) The board shall compile the statistics received from each of the three regional task forces pursuant to paragraph (1) and shall, on or after January 1 of the year subsequent to the receipt of those reports, and annually thereafter, report this information to the Legislature and the Governor and shall post the report on the board’s internet website.
(3) A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(e) As used in this section, the term “participating law the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Participating law enforcement agency” means a police or sheriff’s department that chooses to apply for funding pursuant to this section.
(2) “Vehicle theft” means grand theft of a vehicle in violation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 487 of this code, or the taking of a vehicle in violation of Section 10851 of the Vehicle Code.
(f) Funding received pursuant to this chapter shall be used to supplement, rather than supplant, funding for existing programs.
(g) Each law enforcement agency participating in a regional task force and each regional task force shall operate in such a manner that intelligence, sting operations, and other enforcement activities are coordinated and shared with participating law enforcement agencies and with the other two regional task forces. Upon request, this information shall also be shared with nonparticipating law enforcement agencies, including the Department of the California Highway Patrol.
(h) As used in this section, “vehicle burglary” includes theft of vehicle parts or components from a vehicle.

14261.
 The board may impose additional reporting and application requirements appropriate to the administration of grants pursuant to this chapter.

14262.
 Regional task forces and participating law enforcement agencies may use additional resources, including any available grant funding to supplement its operations and activities.

14263.
 (a) This title shall be implemented only to the extent that funding is provided by an appropriation pursuant to the Budget Act. The reporting requirements of subdivision (d) of Section 14260 shall terminate three years after the elimination of any state funding to the regional task forces for the purposes of this chapter.
(b) No more than 5 percent of funds appropriated for this chapter shall be retained by the board for administrative costs, including technical assistance, training, and the cost of producing the report required pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 14260.

SEC. 2.

 The Legislature finds and declares that a special statute is necessary and that a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the unique concern of a rising incidence of vehicle burglaries and thefts in urban regions including the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Riverside, and Ventura, and the City and County of San Francisco.