Section 13515.25 Of Article 2. Field Services And Standards For Recruitment And Training From California Penal Code >> Title 4. >> Part 4. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 2.
13515.25
. (a) By July 1, 2006, the Commission on Peace Officer
Standards and Training shall establish and keep updated a continuing
education classroom training course relating to law enforcement
interaction with mentally disabled persons. The training course shall
be developed by the commission in consultation with appropriate
community, local, and state organizations and agencies that have
expertise in the area of mental illness and developmental disability,
and with appropriate consumer and family advocate groups. In
developing the course, the commission shall also examine existing
courses certified by the commission that relate to mentally disabled
persons. The commission shall make the course available to law
enforcement agencies in California.
(b) The course described in subdivision (a) shall consist of
classroom instruction and shall utilize interactive training methods
to ensure that the training is as realistic as possible. The course
shall include, at a minimum, core instruction in all of the
following:
(1) The cause and nature of mental illnesses and developmental
disabilities.
(2) How to identify indicators of mental disability and how to
respond appropriately in a variety of common situations.
(3) Conflict resolution and de-escalation techniques for
potentially dangerous situations involving mentally disabled persons.
(4) Appropriate language usage when interacting with mentally
disabled persons.
(5) Alternatives to lethal force when interacting with potentially
dangerous mentally disabled persons.
(6) Community and state resources available to serve mentally
disabled persons and how these resources can be best utilized by law
enforcement to benefit the mentally disabled community.
(7) The fact that a crime committed in whole or in part because of
an actual or perceived disability of the victim is a hate crime
punishable under Title 11.6 (commencing with Section 422.55) of Part
1.
(c) The commission shall submit a report to the Legislature by
October 1, 2004, that shall include all of the following:
(1) A description of the process by which the course was
established, including a list of the agencies and groups that were
consulted.
(2) Information on the number of law enforcement agencies that
utilized, and the number of officers that attended, the course or
other courses certified by the commission relating to mentally
disabled persons from July 1, 2001, to July 1, 2003, inclusive.
(3) Information on the number of law enforcement agencies that
utilized, and the number of officers that attended, courses certified
by the commission relating to mentally disabled persons from July 1,
2000, to July 1, 2001, inclusive.
(4) An analysis of the Police Crisis Intervention Training (CIT)
Program used by the San Francisco and San Jose Police Departments, to
assess the training used in these programs and compare it with
existing courses offered by the commission in order to evaluate the
adequacy of mental disability training available to local law
enforcement officers.
(d) The Legislature encourages law enforcement agencies to include
the course created in this section, and any other course certified
by the commission relating to mentally disabled persons, as part of
their advanced officer training program.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature to reevaluate, on the
basis of its review of the report required in subdivision (c), the
extent to which law enforcement officers are receiving adequate
training in how to interact with mentally disabled persons.