Existing law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to establish and keep updated a classroom-based continuing training course that includes instructor-led active learning, such as scenario-based training, relating to behavioral health and law enforcement interaction with persons with mental illness, intellectual disability, and substance use disorders. Existing law requires the commission to make available the course to each law enforcement officer with a rank of supervisor or below and who is assigned to patrol duties or to supervise officers who are assigned to patrol duties.

This bill would authorize the commission to partner with local departments of behavioral health, community-based organizations, or nonprofit organizations to establish and keep updated this classroom-based continuing training course. The bill would require a law enforcement officer with a rank of supervisor or below and who is assigned to patrol duties or to supervise officers who are assigned to patrol duties to complete the course. By imposing additional training costs 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.

Date of Hearing: April 23, 2025

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Buffy Wicks, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1013

Author:(Garcia) – As Introduced Ver:February 20, 2025

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: Yes

SUMMARY:

This bill requires specified peace officers to complete a Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) training course about law enforcement interactions with people with mental illnesses, intellectual disabilities, and substance use disorders.

Existing law requires POST to establish and update the course. This bill requires POST to provide the course to each law enforcement officer with a rank of supervisor or below and who is assigned to patrol duties or to supervise officers who are assigned to patrol duties.

FISCAL EFFECT:

1. One-time costs to POST (General Fund), likely in the tens of millions of dollars. POST reports the bill will require it to train approximately 80,000 officers by August 2026, and estimates costs of about $16 million for facilities and instructors to provide the course. POST anticipates additional costs of up to $38 million, depending on the number of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) that seek reimbursement for their costs and staffing backfill from POST.
2. Potentially reimbursable costs (local funds, General Fund) to LEAs. LEAs that do not seek reimbursement or backfill from POST may cover their travel, per diem, and staffing costs with local funds or seek General Fund reimbursement. General Fund costs will depend on whether the duties imposed by this bill constitute a reimbursable state mandate, as determined by the Commission on State Mandates.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. According to the author:

Up to one-half of all people who die at the hands of police officers have some form of mental or physical disability…Additional education and training is a first step of many in promoting justice and equitability for the disabled community, preventing unnecessary harm and bias, and increasing community trust in our law enforcement.

1. Background. POST is responsible for providing initial training and continuing education for California peace officers. While in the training academy, each peace officer must complete POST’s regular basic training course, which includes 15 hours of instruction on disability laws, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, and mental illness. POST reports that the course affected by this bill is currently taught to each officer in the academy. After leaving the academy, each peace officer is required to complete at least 24 hours of continuing education every two years. POST offers multiple courses on mental health and behavioral health topics, which a peace officer may take to help complete their continuing education requirement.

This bill requires POST to provide its existing training on interacting with people with mental illnesses, intellectual disabilities, and substance use disorders to specified peace officers. As currently drafted, the bill would require POST to provide the training for each qualifying officer by August 1, 2026. The bill does not require ongoing training thereafter.

Analysis Prepared by: Annika Carlson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing:

Counsel: Ilan Zur

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY

Nick Schultz, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1013

Author:(Garcia) – As Introduced Ver:February 20, 2025

SUMMARY:

1. Requires specified law enforcement officers to complete the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (“POST”) continuing training course on law enforcement interactions with persons with specified mental illnesses and disabilities.
2. Makes it mandatory, rather than discretionary, for a law enforcement officer with a rank of supervisor or below and who is assigned to patrol duties or to supervise officers who are assigned to patrol duties to complete the POST classroom-based continuing training course relating to behavioral health and law enforcement interaction with persons with mental illness, intellectual disability, and substance use disorders.
3. Authorizes POST to partner with local departments of behavioral health, community-based organizations, or nonprofit organizations to establish and keep updated the classroom-based continuing training course.
4. Clarifies that POST shall provide the above course to specified law enforcement officers.
5. Requires POST to implement the above provisions by August 1, 2026.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Requires POST to adopt rules establishing minimum standards relating to the recruitment, training and fitness of state and local law enforcement officers. (Pen. Code, §§ 13510, 13510.5.)
2. Requires peace officers to indicate whether a person had a perceived developmental disability and other specified information in monthly use-of-force reports, and creates an advisory council, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to evaluate law enforcement interactions with persons with developmental disabilities. (Gov. Code, § 12525.2; Pen. Code, § 13016.)
3. Mandates that the course of basic training for law enforcement officers include adequate instruction in specified procedures and techniques relating to the handling of persons with developmental disabilities or mental illness. (Pen. Code, § 13519.2, subd. (a).)
   
4. Requires POST to review its training module in the regular basic training course relating to persons with a mental illness, intellectual disability, or substance use disorder, and analyze existing curricula in order to identify where additional training is needed to better prepare law enforcement to effectively address incidents involving mentally disabled persons. (Pen. Code, § 13515.26, subd. (a).)
   
5. Requires POST to establish and keep updated a continuing education classroom training course related to law enforcement interactions with persons with mental disabilities, as specified (Pen. Code, § 13515.25.)
6. Requires POST to establish and keep updated a three-hour classroom-based continuing training course that includes instructor-led active learning, such as scenario-based training, relating to behavioral health and law enforcement interaction with persons with mental illness, intellectual disability, and substance use disorders, and for this course be made available to each law enforcement officer with a rank of supervisor or below, and who is assigned to patrol duties or to supervise officers who are assigned to patrol duties. Mandates this training to include:
   1. The cause and nature of mental illness, intellectual disability, and substance use disorders.
   2.  Indicators of mental illness, intellectual disability, and substance use disorders.
   3. Appropriate responses to a variety of situations involving persons with mental illness, intellectual disability, and substance use disorders.
   4. Conflict resolution and de-escalation techniques for potentially dangerous situations.
   5. Appropriate language usage when interacting with potentially emotionally distressed persons.
   6.  Resources available to serve persons with mental illness or intellectual disability.
   7. The perspective of individuals or families who have experiences with persons with mental illness, intellectual disability, and substance use disorders. (Pen. Code, § 13515.27.)
7. Requires POST, July 1, 2015, to establish and keep updated a continuing education training course relating to law enforcement interaction with mentally disabled and developmentally disabled persons living within a state mental hospital or state developmental center. (Pen. Code, § 13515.30.)
8. Requires field training officers (“FTOs”) to complete at least eight hours of crisis intervention behavioral health training in order to better train new peace officers on how to effectively interact with persons with mental illness or intellectual disability. (Pen. Code, § 13515.28, subd. (a)(1).)
9. Requires POST to establish and keep updated a FTO course relating to competencies of the field training program and police training program that addresses how to interact with persons with mental illness or intellectual disability. (Pen. Code, § 13515.29.)
10. Requires POST by May 1, 2016, to conduct a review and evaluation of the required competencies of the field training program and police training program to identify areas where additional training is necessary to better prepare law enforcement officers to effectively address incidents involving persons with a mental illness or intellectual disability. (Pen. Code, § 13515.295.)

FISCAL EFFECT:

Unknown

COMMENTS:

1. Author's Statement: According to the author, "Up to one-half of all people who die at the hands of police officers have some form of mental or physical disability. Further, unnecessary use of force against persons with disabilities has gone largely unreported in news and media coverage, showing a lack of awareness and oversight. This bill requires that all peace officers who engage with the public take necessary crisis training to properly de-escalate a situation involving someone with a mental illness or a disability. Additional education and training is a first step of many in promoting justice and equitability for the disabled community, preventing unnecessary harm and bias, and increasing community trust in our law enforcement.”
   
2. Existing Training for Officers Related to Intellectual Disabilities and Mental Illness: California law requires POST to provide, and peace officers to complete, extensive training related to interactions with individuals with intellectual disabilities and mental illness. Most of these requirements were added by SB 11 (Beall), Chapter 468, Statutes of 2015 and SB 29 (Beall), Chapter 469, Statutes of 2015.

First, officers are required to complete, at a minimum, POST's Regular Basic Course curriculum, which includes 15 hours of instruction on disability laws, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities and mental illness. (Pen. Code, § 13515.26, subd. (a).) The basic training learning domain covering people with disabilities includes recognizing appropriate peace officer responses and methods of communication during field contacts with people with neurological disorders and traumatic disorders, among others.^[1] Further, POST is required to conduct a review and evaluation of its existing training, identify critical gaps, and work with the appropriate stakeholders to update the training to help officers effectively address incidents involving persons with mental illness or intellectual disability. (Pen. Code, § 13515.26, subd. (a).)

Second, FTOs, who are instructors in the field training program, must complete at least eight hours of crisis intervention behavioral health training in order to better train new peace officers on how to effectively interact with persons with mental illness or intellectual disability. (Pen. Code, § 13515.28, subd. (a)(1).). POST must also establish and keep updated a FTO course relating to competencies of the field training program and police training program that addresses how to interact with persons with mental illness or intellectual disability. (Pen. Code, § 13515.29.)

Third, officers must complete at least 24 hours of Continuing Professional Training every two years, a part of which may be satisfied by a continued education courses pertaining to law enforcement interaction with persons with mental illness, developmental disability, intellectual disability, and substance use disorders. However, such courses are not mandated as part of the biennial requirement. The Legislature has required POST to create three such courses pertaining to mental illness and disabilities: 1) a continuing education classroom training course related to law enforcement interactions with persons with mental disabilities; 2) a three-hour classroom-based continuing training course that includes instructor-led active learning, such as scenario-based training, relating to behavioral health and law enforcement interaction with persons with mental illness, intellectual disability, and substance use disorders; and 3) a continuing education training course relating to law enforcement interaction with mentally disabled and developmentally disabled persons living within a state mental hospital or state developmental center. (Pen. Code, §§ 13515.25, 13515.27, 13515.30.)

Existing law additionally requires peace officer contacts with persons with developmental disabilities to be documented and reported. Peace officers must indicate whether a person had a perceived developmental disability and other specified information in monthly use-of-force reports. (Gov. Code, § 12525.2.) Finally existing law also creates advisory council to evaluate law enforcement interactions with persons with developmental disabilities. (Pen. Code, § 13016.)

1. Effect of this Bill: AB 1013 makes several changes to the three-hour classroom-based continuing training course that POST is required to offer, that includes instructor-led active learning, such as scenario-based training, relating to behavioral health and law enforcement interaction with persons with mental illness, intellectual disability, and substance use disorders. (Pen. Code, § 13515.27.) Under existing law, this course is discretionary, and is one of numerous courses that a peace officer may take in order to satisfy the 24 hour, two year, continued education requirement. Here, AB 1013 would make it mandatory, rather than discretionary, for law enforcement officers with a rank of supervisor or below and who is assigned to patrol duties or to supervise officers who are assigned to patrol duties, to complete this course. Additionally, it authorizes POST, in establishing and updating this course, to partner with local departments of behavioral health, community-based organizations, or nonprofit organizations.

The author may wish to ensure this bill is consistent with the deliberations and findings of the advisory council that was recently created for the specific purpose of improving law enforcement interactions with persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In 2022 the California Legislature enacted SB 882 (Eggman), Chapter 899, Statutes of 2022, which created the Advisory Council on Improving Interactions between People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities under the jurisdiction on the Department of Justice, for the purposes of evaluating existing training for peace officers specific to interactions with individuals with mental health disorders, and intellectually and developmentally disabled communities, identifying any gaps in such trainings, and make recommendations to the Legislature for the purpose of improving outcomes of interactions with such individuals. That bill required the Council to submit a report, with recommendations for improving outcomes of interactions between people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental health conditions and law enforcement, to the Legislature within 24 months of the first convening. It appears that this council first convened on April 15, 2024, as such their report to the Legislature will likely be submitted sometime this year.^[2] To ensure this bill does not conflict with this broader effort to improve law enforcement interactions with persons with mental health disorders, the author may wish to review the findings of this report once it is issued to ensure this bill is consistent with the Council’s recommendations.

1. Argument in Support: According to the Steinberg Institute, “Law enforcement personnel are often the first responders to situations involving individuals experiencing behavioral health crises. By ensuring that supervisors receive in-depth, specialized training, the bill will significantly improve our community's response to these complex situations. The training will enhance de-escalation techniques that prioritize compassionate, trauma-informed responses, while also deepening understanding of mental health and substance use disorders.

“The proposed training requirements are crucial for creating more effective and empathetic and substance use disorders, implement crisis intervention strategies, and provide meaningful oversight and guidance to line officers. This approach has the potential to reduce unnecessary arrests and hospitalizations, minimizing potential harm during crisis interventions.

“By investing in supervisor-level training, we can create a ripple effect of improved responses throughout law enforcement agencies. This aligns directly with our Vision 2030 objectives of reducing unnecessary system involvement for individuals with behavioral health conditions. This bill represents a critical step toward more compassionate, effective, and humane approaches to behavioral health interventions.”

1. Related Legislation:
   1. SB 385 (Seyarto and Wahab), would require a peace officer to attain a modern policing degree or bachelor’s degree within 36 months of commencing employment as a peace officer. SB 385 is pending a hearing in Senate Appropriations Committee.
   2. AB 992 (Irwin), would require a peace officer to obtain specified degrees within 36 months of receiving their basic certificate from POST. AB 992 is pending a hearing in this Committee.
2. Prior Legislation:
   1. AB 21 (Gipson), of the 2023-2024 Legislative Session, would have required POST to revise its training for field-training officers on interacting with persons with mental illness or intellectual disabilities to include instruction on interacting with persons with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. AB 21 was held in Assembly Appropriations Committee.
   2. AB 2583 (Mullin), of the 2021-2022 Legislative Session, would have required POST to revise their training for field-training officers on interacting with persons with mental illness or intellectual disabilities to also include instruction on interacting with persons with Alzheimer’s. AB 2583 was held in Assembly Appropriations Committee.
   3. AB 1170 (Frazier), of the 2019-2020 Legislative Session, would have required POST, in consultation with the State Department of Developmental Services, and the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, and representatives of community, incorporate in-person training provided by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities into POST’s training program on peace officer interactions with disabilities. AB 1170 was held in Assembly Appropriations Committee.
   4. SB 882 (Eggman), Chapter 899, Statutes of 2022, creates an advisory council within the DOJ responsible for evaluating and reporting on existing training for peace officers related to interactions between law enforcement and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
   5. SB 11 (Beall), Chapter 468, Statutes of 2015, requires POST to establish a training course that is at least 15 hours on law enforcement interaction with persons with mental illness, as part of its basic training course; and to have a three-hour continuing education course on the same subject matter.
      
   6. SB 29 (Beall), Chapter 469, Statutes of 2015, requires law enforcement field training officers to have training from POST regarding law enforcement interaction with persons with mental illness or intellectual disability.
      
   7. AB 1718 (Hertzberg), Chapter 95, Statutes of 2000, required that POST establish and keep updated a continuing education classroom training course relating to law enforcement intervention with developmentally disabled and mentally ill persons and that the course be developed in consultation with specified groups and entities.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

Steinberg Institute

Opposition

None submitted.

Analysis Prepared by:

Ilan Zur / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744

1. Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, Regular Basic Course Training Specifications: LD-37, (accessed March 24, 2025), p. 3, available at https://post.ca.gov/regular-basic-course-training-specifications.) ↑

2. California Department of Justice, SB 881 Meetings and Materials (accessed March 26, 2025), available at: https://oag.ca.gov/sb882/meetings ↑