2023 LEGISLATIVE YEAR
AB 327
Crime Data Reporting
This bill will require local law enforcement to regularly report crime data to the FBI, starting January 1, 2024. Last year, only 2% of California law enforcement reported crime data to the FBI, making California the second worst in the nation for reporting. Up-to-date crime data is critical for developing effective policies to increase community health and safety.
AB 600
Second Look Sentencing
This bill makes technical and procedural changes to the process for recall and resentencing, to ensure the process is fair, efficient and effective. Second look sentencing allows reconsideration of old sentences in light of new information and changed circumstances. This bill will empower more judges to reconsider sentences and provide for greater equity in resentencing.
AB 732
Effective Firearm Relinquishment
This bill will strengthen the process for ensuring that a person relinquishes registered firearms at the time they are convicted of an offense that prohibits firearm ownership. Each year, 5,000 people are added to the Armed Prohibited Persons System – the California list of individuals who have a registered firearm even though they are prohibited from owning a gun – as a result of a new conviction. This bill will ensure that all necessary steps are taken at the time of conviction to confirm relinquishment of firearms and ammunition.
AB 733
Prohibit Firearms Sales by Government Agencies
This bill will ensure that no state or local government agency sells firearms, firearm parts, ammunition, or body armor. News accounts recently revealed that some law enforcement agencies have been selling surplus firearms, contrary to best practices.
SB 50
Address Racial Profiling - Pretext Police Stops
This bill will address racial profiling by prohibiting law enforcement from stopping people for low-level traffic offenses and will empower local communities to use non-police personnel for traffic enforcement. In so-called “pretextual stops,” police use petty violations such as expired registration as a pretext for initiating a stop to pursue what amounts to racially biased fishing expeditions. These encounters are humiliating, can be deadly for community members and, studies show, are an ineffective use of law enforcement resources.
SB 838
Fair Access to Victim Assistance
This bill will provide assistance through the Victims Compensation Board to families of those killed by police and to individuals seriously injured by police. This assistance, available to other crime victims, includes help with funeral and burial expenses and mental health counseling for surviving children and family members.
2022 LEGISLATIVE YEAR
SB 301
THEFT REDUCTION IN ONLINE MARKET PLACES
In order to combat the sale of stolen goods online, proposed legislation would require the collection and verification of identifying information and bank information for those who are large volume sellers of third-party goods online.
AB 2418
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
DATA COLLECTION
Proposed legislation would require District Attorney offices to collect and report to the Attorney General data regarding all stages of criminal cases. The Attorney General will make the data publicly available.
AB 2746
LICENSE SUSPENSION REFORM
Proposed legislation would end the practice of suspending someone’s license for failure to appear in court and will reduce the penalty for driving without a license to an infraction for the first two offenses.
SB 1228
VICTIMS' RIGHTS AND DNA PRIVACY
Protections of survivors’ privacy and dignity is necessary to ensure trust in law enforcement. Proposed legislation would ensure protection for the privacy rights of victims, witnesses, and their family members and intimate partners, who provide DNA samples to law enforcement for the purpose of exclusion.