SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 11 (Beall) - Peace officer training: mental health
Version: April 15, 2015
Urgency: No
Hearing Date: May 11, 2015
Policy Vote: PUB. S. 7 - 0
Mandate: Yes
Consultant: Jolie Onodera
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 11 would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and
Training (POST) to develop behavioral health training courses, as specified, to be
completed by law enforcement officers, as follows:
 At least 20 additional hours of behavioral health classroom training in addition to
the current hour requirement for peace officers in the academy.
 At least four consecutive hours of behavioral health continuing training every four
years, as specified, as part of the requirement for perishable skills training for all
officers with rank of supervisor or below, as specified.
Fiscal Impact:
 POST impact: One-time costs for course development of $120,000 to $350,000
(Special Fund*). Ongoing annual costs of, at a minimum, $525,000 (Special Fund*),
increasing in future years to reflect enrollment growth.
 Mandated law enforcement training: Potentially major state-reimbursable local costs
in the low millions of dollars annually to backfill for missed work hours for officers to
attend the continuing education training. There are currently 482 cities and 58
counties in California employing about 77,000 sworn peace officers. To the extent
local agency expenditures qualify as a reimbursable state mandate, agencies could
claim reimbursement of those costs (General Fund). Costs to backfill for missed
work hours for all officers with rank supervisor or below are estimated to cost in the
range of $10 million over a four-year period. To the extent the continuing training
established is greater than four hours, the estimated costs would be
commensurately greater.
*Peace Officers’ Training Fund
Background: Existing law requires specified categories of law enforcement officers to
meet training standards pursuant to courses of training certified by the Commission on
Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST). Existing law requires POST to include in
its basic training course adequate instruction in the handling of persons with
developmental disabilities or mental illness, or both. Existing law also requires POST to
establish and keep updated a continuing education classroom training course relating to
law enforcement interaction with developmentally disabled and mentally ill persons.
The current POST training curriculum for prospective officers mandates 664 hours (16
weeks) of training. Under current law, officers receive six hours of POST-approved
training on how to interact with persons with mental illness and developmental
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disabilities as part of the Regular Basic Training Course, as required by Penal Code §
13519.2. While there is no mandatory continuing education requirement, POST offers a
variety of courses relating to mental health. According to information provided by POST,
there are currently 38 mental health certified courses available to California law
enforcement. These courses range in duration from four to 40 hours.
Proposed Law: This bill would mandate the following behavioral health training for
peace officers:

Requires POST to establish and keep updated a promising or evidence-based
behavioral health classroom training course to train law enforcement officers to
recognize, deescalate, and refer persons with mental illness or intellectual
disability who are in crisis.

Requires that the behavioral health classroom training course to take place in the
academy, be at least 20 hours long, and be in addition to the basic training
course’s current hour requirement.

Requires POST to establish and keep updated a behavioral health continuing
training course relating to law enforcement interaction with persons with mental
illness that is equivalent in its importance to perishable skills training.

Requires the course to be at least four consecutive hours in duration and
address issues related to stigma, be culturally relevant and appropriate, and
included specified topics.

Requires each law enforcement officer with a rank of supervisor or below and
who is assigned to patrol duties or to supervise officers who are assigned to
patrol duties to complete the course every four years.
Related Legislation: SB 29 (Beall) 2015 would mandate field training requirements.
This bill is scheduled to be heard today by this Committee.
Prior Legislation: AB 1718 (Hertzberg) Chapter 95/2000 required POST to establish
and update a continuing education classroom training course regarding persons with
developmental disabilities or mental illness.
SB 2049 (Vasconcellos) 1998 would have required the POST to provide a training
course on persons with developmental disabilities or mental illness to law enforcement
officers every four years and to require that custodial staff employed in private
correctional companies receive the training certified under the CCPOST. This bill was
vetoed by the Governor with the following message:
This bill would require the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), to
provide additional training every four years in the handling of persons with developmental
disabilities or mental illness. This bill would also require custodial officers employed in privately
operated correctional facilities housing state inmates, to satisfactorily complete a basic course
of training certified by the Commission on Correctional Peace Officers' Standards and Training
(CPOST).
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This bill is unnecessary. Current law (Penal Code Section 13519.2), already requires POST to
include within their basic training course for law enforcement officers adequate instruction in the
handling of persons with developmental disabilities or mental illness, or both. That same Penal
Code Section requires additional training to update this instruction as necessary.
POST has developed telecourses on this topic in 1990 and 1995. This bill would impose an
unfunded mandate on local law enforcement agencies and hamper their flexibility to provide
local training needs that may have a higher priority.
The Department of Corrections currently requires custodial officers employed in privately
operated correctional facilities housing state inmates, to complete the Correctional Monitor
Training course provided by the Board of Corrections. I am in favor of ensuring that those
individuals are properly trained. However, as these custodial officers are not designated as
peace officers, significant differences exist between their duties and powers and those of
correctional officers employed in state prisons. As such, I am not convinced that CPOST is the
appropriate entity to be establishing those standards.
Staff Comments: POST has indicated this bill does not provide supplemental funding
for development of the training. Dependent on the type of training developed by POST
to satisfy the proposed training requirement, the cost to POST could range from
$120,000 to $350,000.
The cost to increase the minimum hours of the basic training by 20 hours would be
approximately $150 per student. With an average of 3,500 students per year that attend
the regular basic course, the average annual reimbursement expense to POST could be
as high as $525,000. This figure will rise as enrollments continue to increase. POST has
indicated concerns due to the continuing decline in revenue to the State Penalty Fund,
which is the source from which the Peace Officers’ Training Fund receives the funding
for POST operations and provides aid to local law enforcement agencies that participate
in the POST Program.
The 2015-16 Governor’s Budget includes a reduction of $5.3 million and 36.9 positions
beginning in 2015-16 to help with the long-term solvency of the Peace Officers' Training
Fund (POTF). Staff notes the POTF continues to operate at a deficit, with a projected
year-end balance of $7.1 million in 2014-15, declining further to $3.6 million in 2015-16.
In addition to the costs to POST, law enforcement agencies would incur additional costs
to backfill for hours that the officers spend in the continuing education training. Several
test claims related to law enforcement training (elder abuse, racial profiling, and sexual
harassment) have been determined by the Commission on State Mandates to be
reimbursable state mandates, requiring reimbursement from the state for associated
costs. It is estimated the provisions of this bill would result in ongoing costs likely in the
low millions of dollars annually for these activities. As the bill authorizes mandated
training of at least four hours, to the extent the training hours established exceed four
hours, the level of potentially state-reimbursable costs would also increase.
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