Amended  IN  Assembly  March 04, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 2710

Introduced by Assembly Member Lackey

February 14, 2024

An act to add Sections 13508.1 and 13653 to the Penal Code, relating to peace officers.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2710, as amended, Lackey. Peace officers. officers: active shooter incidents.
Existing law authorizes a peace officer to use reasonable force to effect the arrest, to prevent escape, or to overcome resistance. Existing law requires law enforcement agencies to maintain a use of force policy, as specified. Existing law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to develop and disseminate guidelines and standardized training recommendations for Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams, as specified, that would be available for use by law enforcement agencies that conduct SWAT operations.
This bill would require each law enforcement agency at an active shooter incident to identify the incident commander, as defined, and prohibit the indiscriminate parking of police vehicles.
The bill would require the commission to develop guidelines for law enforcement agencies to prevent unnecessary radio transmissions and inappropriate self-deployment of law enforcement officers during an active shooter incident.
By imposing new duties on local law enforcement agencies, 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.

Existing law defines those persons who are peace officers in the state, grants certain authority to those individuals and their employing entities, and places certain requirements on those individuals and their employing entities.

This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation relating to peace officers.

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

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


SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:
(a) The Robb Elementary School active shooter incident in Uvalde, Texas, had numerous police response challenges. These challenges included the lack of an identifiable incident commander, the indiscriminate parking of police vehicles, radio communication problems, and inappropriate self-deployment of police officers. These challenges are also present in many other active shooter incidents.
(b) It has become evident that fixing these police response challenges can ultimately save the lives of innocent victims. Protocols and guidance must be established to stop an Uvalde-type response from reoccurring.

SEC. 2.

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

13508.1.
 (a) The commission shall develop guidelines for law enforcement agencies to prevent unnecessary radio transmissions and inappropriate self-deployment of law enforcement officers during an active shooter incident.
(b) For purposes of this section, “law enforcement agency” means any agency or department of the state, or a political subdivision thereof, that employs any peace officer as described in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2.

SEC. 3.

 Section 13653 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

13653.
 (a) Each law enforcement agency shall do each of the following at an active shooter incident:
(1) Identify the incident commander.
(2) Prohibit the indiscriminate parking of police vehicles.
(b) As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Incident commander” means the individual responsible for on-scene activities, including developing incident objectives and ordering and releasing resources. The incident commander has overall authority and responsibility for conducting incident operations.
(2) “Indiscriminate parking of police vehicles” means parking a police vehicle in a manner that blocks a roadway and prevents ambulances and other emergency vehicles from accessing the crisis site.
(3) “Law enforcement agency” means any agency or department of the state, or a political subdivision thereof, that employs any peace officer as described in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2.

SEC. 4.

 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.

It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation relating to peace officers.