Child abduction: sex offender identification.

Existing law requires that the Attorney General establish and maintain within the Violent Crime Information Center an investigative support unit to assist in the identification and the apprehension of persons responsible for specific violent crimes and for the disappearance and exploitation of persons, particularly children and dependent adults. This bill would require the investigative support unit to make available, within 2 hours of a reported stranger abduction of a child, a list of persons required to register as sex offenders based on the method of operation, if available, of the sex offenders or the specified geographical location from which the child was taken. 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 training for peace officers relative to certain areas of criminal law or procedure. This bill would require the department to make accessible to law enforcement agencies, via a department bulletin and the California Law Enforcement Web, the commission's "Guidelines For Handling Missing Persons Investigations" or any subsequent similar guidelines created by the commission, relating to the investigation of missing persons. The bill would also require law enforcement agencies, by January 1, 2012, to adopt a checklist document directing peace officers on investigation guidelines and resources available to them in the early hours of a missing person investigation; to adopt a policy, regulations, or guidelines on missing persons investigations that are consistent with state and federal law; and to utilize the department's missing person reporting form for the initial contact with the parent or family member reporting a missing person. Because the bill would impose new duties on local agencies with respect to missing person investigations, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.