(a) The commission shall implement on or before July 1, 1999, a course or courses of instruction for the training of law enforcement officers in the handling of acts of civil disobedience and adopt guidelines that may be followed by police agencies in responding to acts of civil disobedience.

(b) The course of training for law enforcement officers shall include adequate consideration of all of the following subjects:

(1) Reasonable use of force.

(2) Dispute resolution.

(3) Nature and extent of civil disobedience, whether it be passive or active resistance.

(4) Media relations.

(5) Public and officer safety.

(6) Documentation, report writing, and evidence collection.

(7) Crowd control.

(c) (1) All law enforcement officers who have received their basic training before July 1, 1999, may participate in supplementary training on responding to acts of civil disobedience, as prescribed and certified by the commission.

(2) Law enforcement agencies are encouraged to include, as part of their advanced officer training program, periodic updates and training on responding to acts of civil disobedience. The commission shall assist these agencies where possible.

(d) (1) The course of instruction, the learning and performance objectives, the standards for the training and the guidelines shall be developed by the commission in consultation with appropriate groups and individuals having expertise in responding to acts of civil disobedience. The groups and individuals shall include, but not be limited to, law enforcement agencies, police academy instructors, subject matter experts and members of the public. Different regional interests such as rural, suburban, and urban interests may be represented by the participating parties.

(2) The commission, in consultation with the groups and individuals described in paragraph (1), shall review existing training programs to determine in what ways civil disobedience training may be included as part of ongoing programs.

(e) As used in this section, “law enforcement officer” means any peace officer as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3.

(f) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to provide law enforcement officers with additional training so as to control acts of civil disobedience with reasonable use of force and to ensure public and officer safety with minimum disruption to commerce and community affairs.

(g) It is also the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section that the guidelines to be developed by the commission should take into consideration the roles and responsibilities of all law enforcement officers responding to acts of civil disobedience.

(Added by Stats. 1998, Ch. 207, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1999.)