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2005 California Government Code Sections 8593-8594 Article 6.5. Accessibility to Emergency Services Information
GOVERNMENT CODESECTION 8593-8594
8593. The Office of Emergency Services shall work with advocacy groups representing the deaf and hearing impaired, including, but not limited to, the California Association of the Deaf and the Coalition of Deaf Access Providers, California television broadcasters, city and county emergency services coordinators, and, as appropriate, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission, to improve communication with deaf and hearing-impaired persons during emergencies, including the use of open captioning by California television broadcasters when transmitting emergency information. 8593.1. The Office of Emergency Services shall investigate the feasibility of, and the funding requirements for, establishing a "Digital Emergency Broadcast System" network, to be used by local and state government agencies for the provision of warnings and instructions in digital or printed form to California broadcast outlets for relay to the public both orally and visually, through television, and orally, through radio, during emergencies. 8593.2. The Office of Emergency Services shall investigate the feasibility of establishing a toll-free 800 telephone hotline, including TDD (telecommunications device for the deaf) accessibility, which would be accessible to the public, including deaf, hearing impaired, and non- English speaking persons, for use during nonemergency and emergency periods to respond to inquiries about emergency preparedness and disaster status. 8593.4. (a) The Office of Emergency Services shall conduct a study of the emergency notification systems at California television and radio broadcast stations to determine the ability of these stations to notify the public of emergency situations 24 hours a day. (b) The office shall report its findings and any recommendations for improving the system to the Legislature no later than July 1, 2003. 8594. (a) If an abduction has been reported to a law enforcement agency and the agency determines that a child 17 years of age or younger, or an individual with a proven mental or physical disability, has been abducted and is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death, and there is information available that, if disseminated to the general public, could assist in the safe recovery of the victim, the agency, through a person authorized to activate the Emergency Alert System, shall, absent extenuating investigative needs, request activation of the Emergency Alert System within the appropriate local area. Law enforcement agencies shall only request activation of the Emergency Alert System for an abduction if these requirements are met. The Emergency Alert System is not intended to be used for abductions resulting from custody disputes that are not reasonably believed to endanger the life or physical health of a child. The California Highway Patrol, if requested by a law enforcement agency, shall activate the system. (b) The California Highway Patrol, in consultation with the Department of Justice, as well as a representative from the California State Sheriffs' Association, the California Police Chiefs' Association, and the California Peace Officers' Association, shall develop policies and procedures providing instruction specifying how law enforcement agencies, broadcasters participating in the Emergency Alert System, and any other intermediate emergency agencies that may institute activation of the Emergency Alert System, and, where appropriate, other supplemental warning systems, shall proceed after a qualifying abduction has been reported to a law enforcement agency. Those policies and procedures shall include, but not be limited to: (1) Procedures for transfer of information regarding the abducted victim and abduction from the law enforcement agency to the broadcasters; (2) Specification of the event code or codes that should be used if the Emergency Alert System is activated to report a qualifying child abduction; (3) Recommended language for an abduction alert; (4) Specification of information that must be included by the reporting law enforcement agency, including which agency a person with information relating to the abduction should contact and how the person should contact the agency; and (5) Recommendations on the extent of the geographical area to which a child abduction emergency alert should be broadcast. (c) The California Highway Patrol, in consultation with the Department of Justice, shall review the Amber Plan as adopted by other states and Orange County's Child Abduction Regional Emergency Alert Program for guidance in developing appropriate policies and procedures for use of the Emergency Alert System and, where appropriate, other supplemental warning systems to report qualifying abductions. (d) The California Highway Patrol, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, shall develop a comprehensive child abduction education system to educate children in the state on the appropriate behavior to deter abduction. The California Highway Patrol shall convene a group consisting of a representative from the California State Sheriffs' Association, the California Police Chiefs' Association, and the California Peace Officers' Association, representatives of advocacy groups, and the Department of Education to assist in the development of a plan.
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