Skip to main content

Pen. Code, § 13515.28 · Article 2. Field Services, Standards, and Certification

Pen. Code, § 13515.28

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) (1) The commission shall require the field training officers who provide instruction in the field training program to have at least eight hours of crisis intervention behavioral health training to better train new peace officers on how to effectively interact with persons with mental illness or intellectual disability. This course shall include classroom instruction and instructor-led active learning, such as scenario-based training, and shall be taught in segments that are at least four hours long.

(2) If a field training officer has completed eight hours of crisis intervention behavioral health training within the past 24 months, or if a field training officer has completed 40 hours of crisis intervention behavioral health training, the requirement described in paragraph (1) shall not apply.

(b) The crisis intervention behavioral health training shall address issues relating to stigma, shall be culturally relevant and appropriate, and shall include all of the following topics:

(1) The cause and nature of mental illnesses and intellectual disabilities.

(2) (A) How to identify indicators of mental illness, intellectual disability, and substance use disorders.

(B) How to distinguish between mental illness, intellectual disability, and substance use disorders.

(C) How to respond appropriately in a variety of situations involving persons with mental illness, intellectual disability, and substance use disorders.

(3) Conflict resolution and de-escalation techniques for potentially dangerous situations.

(4) Appropriate language usage when interacting with potentially emotionally distressed persons.

(5) Community and state resources available to serve persons with mental illness or intellectual disability, and how these resources can be best utilized by law enforcement.

(6) The perspective of individuals or families who have experiences with persons with mental illness, intellectual disability, and substance use disorders.

(c) Field training officers assigned or appointed before January 1, 2017, shall complete the crisis intervention behavioral health training by June 30, 2017. Field training officers assigned or appointed on or after January 1, 2017, shall complete the crisis intervention behavioral health training within 180 days of assignment or appointment.

(d) This section does not prevent an agency from requiring its field training officers to complete additional hours of crisis intervention behavioral health training or requiring its field training officers to complete that training earlier than as required by this section.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 241, Sec. 56. (SB 857) Effective January 1, 2026.

Source of truth

Edition
As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=13515.28.
Text hash
sha256 cdcdba70878c7336c54d79478a639567034c0c9b0d295a52601b824d06005f44
Composed by
compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

Cited by 1 provision

Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 13515.28. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.