BB&K Police Bulletin: Gang Injunction: Broad Gang Injunction Violates First...
Overview: The Ninth Circuit recently struck down a state court default judgment and injunction obtained by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) against a local gang and its members based...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Unlicensed Firearm Transaction: Both Parties in...
Overview: The California Office of the Attorney General recently issued an opinion finding that the offense of completing an unlicensed firearm transaction is committed by both the person transferring...
View ArticleUp in Smoke
In This Presentation: *What are e-cigarettes? • Battery powered tube like device, typically built to look like a cigarette • Release water vapor laced with "e juice" from container • "e juice"...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Ammunition Regulations: Criminal Statutes Restricting...
Overview: A California appellate court recently held that criminal statutes regulating handgun ammunition (defined as ammunition “principally for use” in “pistols, revolvers, and other firearms”) were...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Firearms Ban: Lifetime Firearms Ban on Domestic...
Overview: The Ninth Circuit recently upheld a federal law that bans misdemeanor domestic violence offenders from possessing firearms for life. A gun owner convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence in...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Warrantless Searches and Consent Granted by...
Overview: The Ninth Circuit recently reversed a trial court’s denial of a motion to suppress the fruits of a home search. The court found the government had the burden of establishing a houseguest had...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Ordinance Prohibiting Marijuana Cultivation Upheld
Compassionate Use Act and Medical Marijuana Program Do Not Preempt a Municipality’s Police Power to Prohibit the Cultivation of Marijuana Overview: A California court of appeal recently affirmed a...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Miranda Warnings and Temporary Detention
Handcuffing a Suspect During Investigative Detention Does Not Automatically Create a Custodial Interrogation for Purposes of Miranda - Overview: A California court of appeal recently held that...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Use of Deadly Force: Officers’ Pre-Shooting Conduct...
Overview: Deputies shot and killed Shane Hayes inside his home. His daughter filed suit against the deputies and the county for excessive force, Fourth Amendment violations, negligent wrongful death...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Booking Question Regarding Gang Membership Subject to...
Overview: After three gang members were convicted of several murder charges, conspiracy and gang enhancements for the death of four victims, they appealed alleging the trial court erred in admitting...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Police Need Search Warrant to Examine Hotel/Motel...
Municipal Code Section Allowing Warrantless Inspection of Hotel Guest Records Constitutes Search - Overview: The Ninth Circuit recently held that a police officer’s non-consensual warrantless...
View ArticleBB&K Municipal & Public Safety Legal Alert: Court Holds Bans on Sex Offenders...
Court of Appeal Holds State Law Preempts Local Ordinances - Overview: A California Court of Appeal recently struck down a provision of the Irvine Municipal Code and an Orange County ordinance, both of...
View Article2014 Brings New School Safety Laws
After seeing a flurry of school safety proposals in 2013, the year ended quietly, with only a handful of school safety bills enacted that will bring relatively modest change. Here is a summary of new...
View ArticleFCC Seeking Comments on Proposed Changes to Public Safety Communications...
4.9 GHz Licensing Rule Changes Proposed - The FCC recently called for comments on proposed changes to the 4.9 GHz public safety communications licensing rules, including making non-public safety...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Court Refuses to Narrow Definition of Penal Code...
Conviction Under Penal Code Section 69 Does Not Require Proof Force Was Directed Toward or Used On Any Officer - Overview: Penal Code Section 69, in part, makes it a crime to knowingly resist, with...
View ArticleIndependent Audit of Fresno Video Policing Unit Released
A recent Fresno Bee article discusses an independent audit by a retired federal judge on the City of Fresno’s video policing program. This kind of thorough audit benefits law enforcement and privacy...
View ArticleCourt Rules No Violation of Public Safety Officers Bill of Rights During...
Officers Not Entitled to an Attorney During an Administrative Investigation Under POBRA - Overview: Police officers sued the City of Los Angeles for violations of their civil rights and under the...
View ArticleIs An Officer’s Name Private?
On March 4th of this year, the California Supreme Court will hear Long Beach Police Officers Association v. City of Long Beach et al. (Los Angeles Times Communications LLC, Real Party in Interest). The...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Requiring Showing of Good-Cause for Concealed Carry...
Second Amendment Requires States to Permit Some Form of Carry for Self-Defense Outside of the Home - Overview: The Ninth Circuit has ruled unconstitutional a San Diego County policy requiring...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Warrantless Home Search
Supreme Court Upholds Warrantless Home Search Where One Occupant Consents Following Suspect’s Arrest - Overview: The Supreme Court has ruled that police officers can conduct warrantless home searches...
View ArticleMarijuana Legalization Ballot Measure Delay a Strategic Move by Backers
With an established track record of measured success in other states, the backers of the marijuana decriminalization initiative most likely to pass in California called a halt to the effort, as this...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Gang Members Who Carry Loaded Firearms Can Be Charged...
“Felonious Criminal Conduct” Under California’s Gang Enhancement Statutes Elevates Misdemeanor Offense to a Felony - Overview: The California Supreme Court has ruled that possession of a firearm by a...
View ArticleMedical Journal Studies on the Health Effects of E-Cigarettes May Help Local...
Evidence continues to drift out of the scientific community as to the health effects of e-cigarettes. The latest, a study by the Journal of Adolescent Health as reported by Stephanie M. Lee on...
View ArticleLocal Bans on High-Capacity Magazines Draw Lawsuits from NRA
With federal gun legislation post-Sandy Hook off the table for the foreseeable future, The Sacramento Bee reports that two local governments in California have turned to enacting their own local gun...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: DNA Samples
California Law Requiring Alleged Felons to Submit DNA Samples Found Constitutional - Overview: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a California law requiring that all persons arrested...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Red Light Camera Warnings: Compliance with 30-Day...
Overview: The California Supreme Court has ruled that the statutory provision requiring a city to make a public announcement and issue warnings instead of citations for 30 days after the installation...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Distracted Driving Update: Looking at Map on Mobile...
Overview: A California Court of Appeal recently held that using a cell phone solely for its map function did not violate Vehicle Code section 23123. The court found that both the plain language of the...
View ArticleCould SB 1262 be Implemented Before the 2016 Marijuana Decriminalization Push?
SB 1262 is the bill to watch for marijuana reform as it is the only strong contender for passage. The leading decriminalization effort was pushed to 2016 for money and voter turnout reasons, and no...
View ArticleSenator Feinstein Echoes Law Enforcement Concerns with Legalizing Marijuana
Senator Feinstein’s concerns about the secondary impacts of marijuana on public safety, as reported in The Fresno Bee article by the Associated Press’ Kevin Freking, echo the concerns of law...
View ArticleWhat Your City Should Know About E-Cigarettes... And How Other Cities are...
Electronic cigarettes have been promoted as a safer alternative to cancer-causing tobacco products that can wean heavy smokers off their habit. But this month, Los Angeles officials joined a growing...
View ArticleNinth Circuit Upholds Constitutionality of Two San Francisco Firearm and...
Regulations Requiring Storage of Handguns in Locked Container and Prohibiting Sale of Hollow-Point Ammunition Do Not Substantially Burden Second Amendment - Overview: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal...
View ArticleNorthwestern/Harvard Research on Effects of “Casual” Marijuana Use Points to...
As states, including California, continue to grapple with the medical marijuana/decriminalization question, scientific evidence continues to trickle in concerning the negative health effects of...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Medicinal Marijuana and Probable Cause
Possession of Any Amount of Medicinal Marijuana Enough to Search Automobile - Overview: A California Court of Appeal has ruled that a law enforcement officer’s observation of any amount of marijuana in...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Civil Rights Action For Miranda Violation Not Barred If...
Incriminating Statements in Violation of Miranda Rights Were Used in First Trial, Which Resulted in Reversal - Overview: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal recently held that a criminal defendant...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Police Can Stop Reckless Driver Based On Anonymous Tip
Officers Had Reasonable Suspicion of Criminal Activity Based Upon the Totality of the Circumstances - Overview: The Supreme Court recently held that peace officers who conducted a traffic stop and...
View ArticleLocal Governments Should Participate in FDA e-Cigarette Proposed Regulation...
Acknowledging that the current state of the e-cigarette market is akin to the Wild West, the Food and Drug Administration has moved to issue regulations. As NPR’s Health blog reports, the proposed...
View ArticleCalifornia Supreme Court Declines Review of Cases Invalidating Local Bans on...
Supreme Court Leaves Intact Court of Appeal Cases Holding That State Law Preempts Some Local Sex Offender Ordinances - Local laws regulating where sex offenders may go are likely now invalid following...
View ArticleMore Cities Turning to Virtual Police Dispatching
Most city and public safety administrators understand that public safety (police and fire) comprise the largest share of a local municipal budget. Only recently has the topic of consolidation and...
View ArticleWarrant Exception Won't Bow to Medical Marijuana Card
BB&K’s G. Ross Trindle and Benjamin Hampton Review Automobile Exception to Warrant Requirement and Medical Marijuana - A recommendation card may provide access to medical marijuana, but it cannot...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: No Fourth or Fourteenth Amendment Violations For Using...
Deadly force may be used if the driver poses a grave public safety risk - Overview: The U.S. Supreme Court recently held that officers did not violate a suspect’s Fourth or Fourteenth amendment rights...
View ArticlePot Shop Fatal Robbery Illustrates Need for Crime Consideration in Marijuana...
This May 29, 2014 article in the Los Angeles Times illustrates the growing trend of violent crimes centered on operating marijuana dispensaries. With the potential for large amounts of cash on hand and...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Officers Named in Shootings
State Supreme Court Rules that Police Agencies Must Disclose Names of Officers Involved in Shootings Under the California Public Records Act - Overview: The California Supreme Court just ruled that the...
View ArticleCalifornia Supreme Court Upholds Red Light Camera Conviction
Declines to Adopt Special Authentication Rule and Finds Camera Evidence Not Hearsay - In a case briefed and argued by Best Best & Krieger LLP attorney Kira L. Klatchko, the California Supreme Court...
View ArticleNinth Circuit Overturns Los Angeles' Prohibition on the Use of Vehicles as...
Ninth Circuit Panel Rules Municipal Code Sections Unconstitutionally Vague - A three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a section of the Los Angeles Municipal Code prohibiting...
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Officers Must Obtain Warrant to Access Data on...
Overview: Today, the U.S. Supreme Court held that police officers may not search digital information on a mobile phone device seized from a person who has been arrested without a warrant. In Riley v....
View ArticleBB&K Police Bulletin: Police Order To Stay Put While Conducting Background...
The Command Can Implicate Municipal Liability - Overview: The Ninth Circuit recently held that, when a police officer orders a suspect to “stay put,” that command constitutes a seizure under the Fourth...
View ArticleDrone on Drones: Government Regulation of Drones in Law Enforcement
While a controversial proposed state bill that would restrict law enforcement agencies’ use of drones is drawing criticism, the federal government is also tackling ways to regulate the use of this new...
View Article“Stay Put” Seizure by Law Enforcement Clarified by the Court
When officers carry out a “consensual encounter” with a member of the public, unless they have reasonable suspicion that someone is breaking the law, they are not permitted to detain the person for any...
View ArticleNew Law Expands Local Control Over Massage Industry
Law Revises Legislation Set to Sunset This Year - A new law substantially revises the state’s regulation over the massage industry, including expanding cities’ and counties’ ability to regulate massage...
View ArticleThe Public Records Act Brings Potential Body Worn Cameras Issues Into The Light
The City of Del Mar recently discontinued use of body-worn cameras following a California Public Records Act request that lead to the release of video taken by Park Ranger Adam Chase. The video, taken...
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