AB 451: Law enforcement policies: restraining orders.

Existing law requires law enforcement agencies to maintain policies on specified subjects, including, among others, the use of force, gun violence restraining orders, and responding to domestic violence calls.

This bill would require each municipal police department and county sheriffs department, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, and the University of California and California State University Police Departments to, on or before January 1, 2027, develop, adopt, and implement written policies and standards to promote safe, consistent, and effective service, implementation, and enforcement of court protection and restraining orders that include firearm access restrictions. The bill would require these policies and standards to, among other things, provide a standard agency process for law enforcement to serve an order against a restrained person in a timely manner and ensure the agency consistently complies with specified requirements under California law governing service of protection and restraining orders. By expanding the duties of local law enforcement, 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.