Victim compensation: use of excessive force by law enforcement.

Existing law provides for the compensation of victims and derivative victims of specified types of crimes by the California Victim Compensation Board from the Restitution Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, for specified losses suffered as a result of those crimes. Existing law defines various terms for purposes of these provisions, including "crime", which includes any public offense wherever it may take place that would constitute a misdemeanor or felony. This bill would revise the definition of "crime" to include the use of excessive force by a law enforcement officer regardless of whether the law enforcement officer is arrested or charged with commission of a crime or public offense. By expanding the types of crimes for which compensation can be paid from a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation. Existing law specifies that a person is not eligible for compensation under specified conditions, including, among other things, if the board determines that denial of the claim for compensation is appropriate because of the nature of the victim's involvement in the events leading to the crime, or the involvement of the person whose injury or death gives rise to the application. If the victim is determined to have been involved in the events leading to the qualifying crime, existing law specifies the factors that the board may consider to mitigate that involvement including, among other things, that the victim's injuries were significantly more serious than reasonably could have been expected based on the victim's level of involvement, or that a third party interfered in a manner that was not reasonably foreseeable by the victim. This bill would, notwithstanding those provisions, prohibit the board from denying an application based upon the victim's involvement in the crime if the claim is for injury or death that happened as a result of the use of excessive force by a law enforcement officer. Existing law requires the board to deny an application if it finds that finds that the victim failed to cooperate reasonably with a law enforcement agency in the apprehension and conviction of a criminal committing the crime. This bill would, notwithstanding those provisions, prohibit the board from denying an application based solely upon the victim's failure to cooperate if the claim is for injury or death that happened as a result of the use of excessive force by a law enforcement officer. The bill would prohibit the board from denying an application for a claim based on injuries or death as a result of the use of excessive force by a law enforcement officer based solely on a police report, or the lack thereof, or based upon whether the law enforcement officer was arrested or charged with a crime. The bill would, absent a police report, authorize these claims to be supported by other evidence. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.