Bill Text: CA AB504 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Peace officers: training.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-2)

Status: (Vetoed) 2010-01-14 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB504 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB504-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 504	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Furutani

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2009

   An act to add Section 13515.45 to the Penal Code, relating to
peace officers.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 504, as introduced, Furutani. Peace officers: training.
   Existing law establishes the Commission on Peace Officer Standards
and Training within the Department of Justice. Under existing law,
the commission is required to develop and implement trainings for
peace officers relative to certain areas of criminal law or
procedure.
   This bill would require the commission to create and make
available to all law enforcement agencies as part of basic training a
training component on how to recognize and interact with persons
carrying a kirpan, as specified. This bill would define a kirpan as a
blade that resembles a sword and is required to be carried as an
integral part of the practice of the Sikh faith.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares the following:
   (a) The United States was founded on the core principles of
religious freedom, diversity, and equality for all.
   (b) Sikh Americans form a vibrant, peaceful, and law-abiding part
of the United States community. California was one of the first
places that Sikhs settled in this country over 100 years ago. Today,
California is home to a large number of the nation's 500,000 Sikhs.
   (c) Sikhs are mandated by their religion to keep five articles of
faith on or as part of their person at all times. These articles of
faith are physical manifestations and reminders of core Sikh
spiritual values which include honesty, remembering God, and
providing service to humanity.
   (d) The five Sikh articles of faith include the kirpan. A kirpan
is a religious article resembling a sword, which is integral to the
practice of the Sikh faith. The kirpan is carried in a shoulder strap
known as a gatra, as mandated by the Sikh Code of Conduct. The
kirpan acts as a constant reminder to its bearer of a Sikh's solemn
duty to protect the weak and promote justice for all. The kirpan is
also an allusion to spiritual knowledge that cuts through ignorance
and sin.
   (e) In the years since the attacks of September 11, 2001, Sikhs
have experienced an unprecedented increase in prosecutions for
carrying the kirpan.
   (f) It is the responsibility of the Legislature to protect
religious freedoms, while ensuring public safety. Keeping those
obligations in mind, it is the Legislature's goal to promote
education and awareness of the carrying of the kirpan by Sikhs in
California when its possession is in accordance with an integral part
of the recognized religious practice of the person carrying it and
there is a benign intent in carrying it.
  SEC. 2.  Section 13515.45 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
   13515.45.  (a) The commission shall, upon the next regularly
scheduled review of a training module relating to weapons violations
and cultural diversity, create and make available training content on
how to recognize and interact with persons carrying a kirpan. The
training content shall be designed for, and made available, as part
of its mandatory basic training, to peace officers employed by law
enforcement agencies that participate in, and comply with, training
standards set forth by the commission.
   (b) For purposes of this section, "kirpan" means a blade that
resembles a sword and is required to be carried as an integral part
of the practice of the Sikh faith.
   (c) The training course shall be developed by the commission in
consultation with appropriate subject matter experts. The commission
shall make the course available, as part of its mandatory basic
training, to California law enforcement agencies that participate in,
and comply with, training standards set forth by the commission.
   (d) In addition to the duties contained in subdivisions (a) and
(c), the commission shall electronically distribute, as necessary, a
training bulletin to law enforcement agencies participating in the
commission's program on the topic of the kirpan.