SB 160

Current law generally requires a law enforcement officer to arrest a person if

the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person has committed domestic

abuse and that the person's actions constitute the commission of a crime. If the law

enforcement officer does not arrest a person under these conditions, the officer must

prepare a written report stating why the person was not arrested. The report must

be sent to the district attorney's office and the district attorney must review the

report to determine whether to charge the person. The district attorney must submit

a report to the Department of Justice (DOJ) that lists the number of such arrests and

the number of prosecutions and convictions resulting from the arrests. Under this

bill, if the law enforcement officer does not make an arrest because he or she did not

have reasonable grounds to believe that the person had committed domestic abuse

or that the person's acts constituted the commission of a crime, the officer must also

prepare a report that states why he or she lacked reasonable grounds to believe one

of those factors. In addition, under this bill, the district attorney must include on the

report to DOJ, the number of responses made by law enforcement to an incident

involving domestic abuse that did not result in an arrest and the number of

prosecutions and convictions of persons on those reports for a crime involving

domestic abuse.

Under current law, a person must complete a preparatory program of law

enforcement training that is approved by the law enforcement standards board

before being appointed as a law enforcement officer. Any training program must

include an adequate amount of training to enable the person to deal effectively with

domestic abuse incidents. This bill requires the law enforcement standards board

to establish standards for the training of law enforcement officers in handling

domestic abuse incidents. The training must include the following: 1) the law

enforcement officer's duty to protect the victim, to enforce all criminal laws in a

domestic abuse incident, and to arrest the predominant aggressor if a crime has been

committed; 2) the law enforcement officer's duty to inform the victim of shelters and

services, give him or her notice of legal rights and remedies, explain how to file a

petition for a domestic abuse or harassment injunction, and explain that he or she

may contact a district attorney; and 3) the law enforcement officer's option to arrange

transportation for the victim to go to the hospital or to a place of safety.

Under current law, each district attorney's office must have written policies

that encourage the prosecution of domestic abuse offenses. The policies must include

a policy indicating that a decision not to prosecute a domestic abuse incident may not

be based solely upon the absence of visible indications of injury, upon the victim's

consent to any prosecution of the other person, or upon the relationship of the

persons involved in the incident.