Peace officers: confidential communications: exceptions: group peer support services.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on when the bill will become effective or how it might affect other types of cases beyond juvenile delinquency proceedings.

Peace Officers: Confidential Communications for Group Peer Support

This law allows peace officers to share confidential information in juvenile delinquency proceedings and expands the right to keep private their conversations with peer support team members during group sessions.

What This Bill Does

• Allows peace officers to disclose confidential communications in juvenile delinquency proceedings.
• Expands the definition of a confidential communication to include discussions between peace officers receiving group peer support services.

Who It Names or Affects

• Peace officers who participate in peer support programs.
• Local and regional law enforcement agencies that have peer support services.

Terms To Know

Confidential communication

A private conversation or message between peace officers and their peer support team members, which usually cannot be shared outside the program.

Group peer support services

Support sessions where multiple peace officers receive help from a peer support team member or mental health professional together.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify when exactly it will start to be used.
• It is unclear how this law will affect existing rules about sharing confidential information in other types of cases besides juvenile delinquency proceedings.

Official Summary Text

SB 459, Grayson.
Peace officers: confidential communications: exceptions: group peer support services.
Existing law, the Law Enforcement Peer Support and Crisis Referral Services Program, authorizes a local or regional law enforcement agency to establish a peer support and crisis referral program to provide an agencywide network of peer representatives available to aid fellow employees on emotional or professional issues. Under existing law, a law enforcement personnel has a right to refuse to disclose, and to prevent another from disclosing, a confidential communication, as defined, between the law enforcement personnel and a peer support team member while the peer support team member was providing peer support services, or a confidential communication made to a crisis hotline or crisis referral
service. Existing law authorizes a confidential communication to be disclosed under specified circumstances, including a criminal proceeding.
This bill would authorize disclosure of a confidential communication in a juvenile delinquency proceeding. The bill would additionally give a law enforcement personnel the right to refuse to disclose, and to prevent another from disclosing, a confidential communication between the law enforcement personnel and a peer support team member while the peer support team member was providing group peer support services, as defined, and a confidential communication between law enforcement personnel recipients of group peer support services while a peer support team member or mental health professional provides group peer support services to those recipients. The bill would expand the definition
of confidential communication to include the communication between law enforcement personnel recipients of group peer support services, as specified.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF