SB 449 – SB 2 Clean Up

Various clean up provisions to SB 2 including:

• Clarifies that an agency may provisionally employ a person for up to 24 months, pending certification by Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), provided that person has received a proof of eligibility and has not been previously certified or denied certification or had their certification revoked.
• Redefines “certification” to mean any and all valid and unexpired certificates issued pursuant to existing law, including basic, intermediate, advanced, supervisory, management and executive certificates or any proof of eligibility issued by POST.
• Clarifies POST is not prohibited from considering a peace officer’s prior conduct and service record in determining whether suspension is appropriate for serious misconduct.
• Authorizes the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Division (POSAD) to redact any records introduced during the hearings of the Peace Officer Standards Accountability Advisory Board (Board) and the review by the POST.
• Authorizes POST to cancel the certificate or proof of eligibility of a peace officer if it determines that there was fraud or misrepresentation made by an applicant at any time during the application process.
• Provides that neither the Board nor POST are precluded from reviewing the un-redacted versions of these records in closed session and using them as the basis for any action taken.
• Provides that if POST determines that disclosure of information may jeopardize an ongoing investigation, put a victim or witness at risk of any form of harm or injury, or may otherwise create a risk of any form of harm or injury that outweighs the interest in disclosure, POST may withhold that information from the peace officer that is the subject of the investigation until the risk of harm is ended or mitigated so that the interest in disclosure is no longer outweighed by the interest in nondisclosure.
• Requires information that POST releases to a law enforcement agency that has been withheld from the subject peace officer to be kept confidential by the receiving agency.
• States that the Legislature finds and declares that the limitation on the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies imposed, as specified, furthers the need to protect sensitive, private, and confidential information, an ongoing investigation, and individuals from harm.

(Amends Sections 13510.1, 13510.8, 13510.85, and 13510.9 of the Penal Code.)