AB 2621: Law enforcement training.

Existing law defines a hate crime as a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of actual or perceived characteristics of the victim, including, among other things, race, religion, disability, and sexual orientation. Existing law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, in consultation with specified subject-matter experts, to develop a course of instruction that trains law enforcement on, among other things, indicators of hate crimes and techniques, responses to hate crime waves against certain groups, including Arab and Islamic communities, and methods to handle incidents of hate crimes in a noncombative manner.

This bill would require instruction to include identifying when a gun violence restraining order is appropriate to prevent a hate crime and the procedure for seeking a gun violence restraining order. The bill would additionally require instruction on responses to hate crime waves against specified groups, including the LGBTQ and Jewish communities.

Existing law allows a court to issue a gun violence restraining order prohibiting and enjoining a named person from having custody or control of any firearms or ammunition if the person poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to themselves or another by having custody or control of a firearm or ammunition. Existing law establishes a civil restraining order process to accomplish that purpose, including authorizing the issuance of an ex parte order, as specified.

Existing law requires specified law enforcement agencies to develop, adopt, and implement policies and standards relating to gun violence restraining orders. Existing law requires these policies to include, among other things, standards and procedures for requesting and serving an ex parte gun violence restraining order or procedures on the responsibility of officers to attend gun violence restraining order hearings.

This bill would revise the above-described policies and standards to include, among other things, an officers obligation to diligently participate in the evidence presentation process at hearings and the procedure for storing firearms surrendered in compliance with a gun violence restraining order. The bill would require law enforcement agencies, as specified, to make information about the standards and policies available to all officers. By imposing additional duties on local agencies, this bill would create 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.