(a) By July 1, 2015, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training shall establish and keep updated a continuing education training course relating to law enforcement interaction with mentally disabled and developmentally disabled persons living within a state mental hospital or state developmental center. 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 and developmentally disabled persons. The commission shall make the course available to all law enforcement agencies in California, and the course shall be required for law enforcement personnel serving in law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction over state mental hospitals and state developmental centers, as part of the agency’s officer training program.
(b) The course described in subdivision (a) may consist of video-based or classroom instruction. The course shall include, at a minimum, core instruction in all of the following:
(1) The prevalence, cause, and nature of mental illnesses and developmental disabilities.
(2) The unique characteristics, barriers, and challenges of individuals who may be a victim of abuse or exploitation living within a state mental hospital or state developmental center.
(3) How to accommodate, interview, and converse with individuals who may require assistive devices in order to express themselves.
(4) Capacity and consent of individuals with cognitive and intellectual barriers.
(5) Conflict resolution and deescalation techniques for potentially dangerous situations involving mentally disabled or developmentally disabled persons.
(6) Appropriate language usage when interacting with mentally disabled or developmentally disabled persons.
(7) Community and state resources and advocacy support and services available to serve mentally disabled or developmentally disabled persons, and how these resources can be best utilized by law enforcement to benefit the mentally disabled or developmentally disabled community.
(8) 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.
(9) Information on the state mental hospital system and the state developmental center system.
(10) Techniques in conducting forensic investigations within institutional settings where jurisdiction may be shared.
(11) Examples of abuse and exploitation perpetrated by caregivers, staff, contractors, or administrators of state mental hospitals and state developmental centers, and how to conduct investigations in instances where a perpetrator may also be a caregiver or provider of therapeutic or other services.
(Added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 673, Sec. 1. (AB 602) Effective January 1, 2014.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018