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Pen. Code, § 13516.5 · Article 2. Field Services, Standards, and Certification

Pen. Code, § 13516.5

Verbatim from the official edition

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

(a) The commission shall develop and implement a course or courses of instruction for the training of peace officers in California on commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and victims of human trafficking that shall include, but not be limited to, the following topics and activities:

(1) The dynamics of commercial sexual exploitation of children.

(2) The impact of trauma on child development and manifestations of trauma in victims of commercial sexual exploitation.

(3) Strategies to identify potential victims of commercial sexual exploitation, including indicators that a youth is being exploited.

(4) Mandatory reporting requirements related to commercial sexual exploitation.

(5) Appropriate interviewing, engagement, and intervention techniques that avoid retraumatizing the victim and promote collaboration with victim-serving agencies.

(6) Introduction to the purpose, scope, and use of specialized child victim interview resources.

(7) Local and state resources that are available to first responders.

(8) Perspectives of victims and their families.

(9) Issues of stigma.

(10) Any other critical topics identified by subject matter experts.

(b) The course of instruction shall be equivalent to a course that the commission produces for officers as part of continuing professional training and shall include facilitated discussions and learning activities, including scenario training exercises.

(c) The training described in subdivision (a) shall be developed with input from survivors of commercial sexual exploitation, the appropriate local and state agencies, and advocates that have expertise in CSEC and human trafficking. These shall include, but not be limited to, the California Child Welfare Council’s CSEC Action Team, organizations that provide services specifically to sexually exploited children, and public agencies leading or participating in interagency responses to commercially sexually exploited children.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 973, Sec. 1. (AB 2992) Effective January 1, 2019.

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=13516.5.
Text hash
sha256 e395eefc3bed133e3eb18f5a98c44411c440728ea524ee9df989f144cd45399e
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

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.