Stops: notification by peace officers.

Existing law requires each state and local agency that employs peace officers to annually report to the Attorney General data on all stops conducted by the agency's peace officers, and requires that data to include specified information, including the time, date, and location of the stop, and the reason for the stop. This bill would, beginning on January 1, 2024, require each state and local agency to include in its annual report the reason given to the person stopped at the time of the stop. By imposing new duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law authorizes specified peace officers, including agents of the Department of the California Highway Patrol, county sheriffs, and city police officers, to require a driver to stop and submit to an inspection in specified circumstances. Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to publish a synopsis or summary of the laws regulating the operation of vehicles and the use of the highways, known as the California Driver's Handbook, and requires the department to include specified information in the handbook, including a person's civil rights during a traffic stop. This bill would, beginning on January 1, 2024, require a peace officer making a traffic or pedestrian stop, before engaging in questioning related to a criminal investigation or traffic violation, to state the reason for the stop, unless the officer reasonably believes that withholding the reason for the stop is necessary to protect life or property from imminent threat. The bill would, beginning on January 1, 2024, require the officer to document the reason for the stop on any citation or police report resulting from the stop. By requiring a higher level of service from local law enforcement, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would, beginning on January 1, 2024, require the department to include information regarding the duty of a peace officer to state the reason for the stop in the handbook at the earliest opportunity when the handbook is otherwise revised or reprinted. 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 the statutory provisions noted above.