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California Senate Judiciary Hearing
April 27, 2004
Senator Sam Aanestad noted during this hearing that California's 4th
Appellate Court said California's outdated and dangerous pursuit laws
have left "public safety twisting in the wind" and have given
California officers a "get out of liability free card." Read
the Appellate Court judges' ruling.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger repeated one word
during his campaign. That word
is "accountability."
"I
have read numerous reports on the topic of police pursuit since my
innocent daughter Kristie was killed in a Chico pursuit where officers
disregarded guidelines in their own pursuit policy, and I ask, 'Where is the accountability?' "
Read Candy Priano's complete testimony before the California Senate Judiciary
Committee.
Blocked
in the Judiciary Committee. Just when things
were looking good for Kristie's Law, the bill to restrict police
pursuits failed to pass out of the Senate Judiciary
Committee Tuesday. April 27, 2004
- Read about "Second Chance for Kristie's Bill" in
the Chico Enterprise-Record. ... the measure will get a second chance
through a political maneuver known as "gut and amend." That's where the original language is removed from a bill that is
going nowhere and replaced with language from another bill. In this case, the language from Aanestad's measure on pursuits,
Senate Bill 1866, has replaced the original language of a bill by
Sen. Joseph Dunn, D-Garden Grove. Dunn's measure, Senate Bill 1403,
was referred to the Judiciary Committee on March 4, but no further
action was taken on it. May 4, 2004
Representatives of large police groups, such as the
Police Officers Research Association of California, have argued "imminent peril" is a vague concept and that officers need
wide discretion in deciding when to pursue suspects. Important
Note: Per the request of law enforcement and members of the
Judiciary Committee, the language "imminent peril" (obtained
from the Orange County Sheriff's Department's pursuit policy regarding
use of a firearm during a pursuit) was completely removed from the bill
and replaced with a list of specific violent felonies. In spite of the Senator's efforts to work with law enforcement groups
and make the changes requested by the committee, the bill was struck
down again. It's an election year and some senators believe law
enforcements' endorsement is more important than public safety. Click
here to see how they voted. May
5, 2004
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