Currrent as of February 4, 2022
Assembly Bill No. 300
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Introduced by Assembly Member Chu |
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An act to add Section 13024 to the Penal Code, relating to hate crimes.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
AB 300, as amended, Chu. Hate crime and incident reporting.
Existing law requires, when requested by the Attorney General, that every person or agency dealing with crimes or criminals maintain the records necessary to report statistical data, and report statistical data to the Department of Justice and the Attorney General. Existing law requires the Attorney General, subject to the availability of adequate funding, to direct local law enforcement agencies to report information related to hate crimes, as defined, to the Department of Justice.
This bill would require a law enforcement agency, if it has updated its crime reporting system to align with the California Incident Based Reporting System, to (1) include in the agency’s informational, incident, and crime reports a check box indicating whether the underlying incident in the report is a suspected hate crime or hate incident, as defined, and (2) complete for each hate crime or hate incident, a supplemental hate crime or hate incident report form that indicates the type of bias motivation and any other identifying information to assist in the prosecution of the hate crime, or, in the case of a hate incident, to be used for informational, crime prevention, law enforcement planning, trend analysis, and potential evidentiary purposes. By creating new reporting requirements for local law enforcement agencies, the 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.
Vote: majority Appropriation: no Fiscal Committee: yes Local Program: yes
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) According to the Attorney General, reported hate crimes in California have increased by 17.4 percent in California from 2016 to 2017, consistent with escalation nationwide as documented by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the reported hate crime statistics for 2017.
(b) Hate crimes are nonetheless underreported, and the actual number of victims and cases is generally unknown.
(c) The California State Auditor reported, through a 2018 audit of four major law enforcement agencies, that there were misidentifications and underreporting of hate crimes.
(d) Among other recommendations, the audit recommended the implementation and use of a supplemental report form to ensure the accurate identification and reporting of hate crimes.
SEC. 2.
Section 13024 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
13024.
(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Bias motivation” has the same meaning as provided in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 422.87.
(2) “Hate crime” has the same meaning as provided in Section 422.55.
(3) “Hate incident” means a noncriminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of one or more of the following actual or perceived characteristics of the victim:
(A) Disability.
(B) Gender.
(C) Nationality.
(D) Race or ethnicity.
(E) Religion.
(F) Sexual orientation.
(G) Association with a person or group with one or more of the actual or perceived characteristics listed in subparagraphs (A) to (F), inclusive.
(b) If a law enforcement agency’s crime reporting system is updated to align with the California Incident Based Reporting System, the law enforcement agency shall comply with both of the following:
(1) The law enforcement agency’s informational, incident, and crime reports shall include a check box indicating whether the underlying incident in the report is a suspected hate crime or hate incident, actual or perceived.
(2) The law enforcement agency shall complete, for each hate crime or hate incident, a supplemental hate crime or hate incident report form that indicates the type of bias motivation and any other identifying information to assist in the prosecution of the hate crime. Hate incident reporting as required by this section is for informational, crime prevention, law enforcement planning, trend analysis, and potential evidentiary purposes and does not authorize any penalty merely for a hate incident.
SEC. 3.
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.
AB300