A bill that would encourage law enforcement to take people to treatment programs passed the Senate April 11 with bipartisan support.
“The frontline person who touches people is often law enforcement, and some of those officers are afraid to take them community based alternatives because the Penal Code doesn’t clearly allow them to do so. Explicitly clarifying the Penal Code will alter how law enforcement sees taking people to these programs,” bill author and Assemblymember Isaac Bryan (D-Culver City) said.
AB 2215 passed with bipartisan support, in a 72-0 vote.
“Recently we had an event called the eclipse, and that’s when the sun and the moon aligned. Well, I feel that this is similar to that, because my colleague from Los Angeles and I actually agree on a public safety issue,” said bill co-author Assemblymember Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale).
Assemblymember Bill Essayli (R-Riverside) was one of eight assembly members who did not vote on the bill.
Current law already allows law enforcement to release people from custody, instead of taking them before a magistrate, under five enumerated situations: if the officer believes there aren’t grounds to make a case against the person, if the person was only arrested for intoxication, if the person was only arrested for drug use and has since been delivered to treatment, if they were driving under the influence and delivered to a hospital for medical treatment, or if they were brought to a hospital or a mental health facility.
