HomeMy WebLinkAbout10- City Attorney CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO - REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION
From: Stephanie D. Easl.and Subject: Ordinance Amending Section 15.16.060
Deputy City Attorney of the San Bernardino Municipal Code
Dept: City Attorney relating to the Granting of Police
Powers to ma?nber's of the Fire
Date: October 21, 1997 ,x..717 Department
Synopsis of Previous Council action: On November 4, 1996, Council adopted MC-984 which adopted
the 1994 Uniform Fire Code as amended.
Recommended motion: That said ordinance be laid over for final adoption.
Signature
Contact person: Stephanie D. Easland, Deputy City Attorney phone: (909) 384-5355
Supporting data attached: YeS Ward: N/A
FUNDING REt1UiREMENTS: Amount: N/A
Source: (ACCT. N0.)
(ACCT. DESCRIPTION)
Finance:
Council Notes:`Previously - #S 3/j T
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75.0262 ~ Agenda Iter.. _
CITY OF SAN 13ERNARDINO - REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION
STAFF REPORT
Currently, San Bernardino Municipal Code §15.16.060, which amends 103.2.1.2 of the
Uniform Fire Code, designates as peace officers the Fire Chief and members of the Fire Prevention
Bureau, i.e., Fire Investigator, Fire Marshal, and Fire Prevention Officers. Fire captains that serve
as part-time fire investigators are not designated as peace officers. However, if the City wants to
authorize these part-time investigators to carry firearms while performing their investigative duties,
a problem arises since Penal Code §830.37 states that fire department personnel may carry firearms
only if they are designated as peace officers and authorized to carry firearms by their employing
agency.
The amended ordinance corrects this problem by using the language used in Penal Code
§830.37 to designate as peace officers, in addition to full-time arson investigators, those members of
the fire department whose primary duty is the enforcement of laws relating to fire prevention or fire
suppression. This amendment is necessary to comply with a recent Attorney General Opinion that
concluded part-time arson investigators meet the standard for being a peace officer only if their
employing agency authorizes them to act as peace officers while performing their primary duties of
fire prevention and fire suppression. (80 Cal.Ops.Atty.Gen. 100 (1997)). This Attorney General
Opinion was requested by the City Attorney's office through Assemblyman Bill Leonard.
An additional problem exists with the current §15.16.060 in that it grants the power to issue
citations and make arrests to fire personnel who are not currently designated as peace officers. The
amended ordinance remedies this problem by designating fire prevention and fire suppression
personnel as peace officers using the language contained in Penal Code §830.37, i.e., those members
of the fire department whose primary duty is the enforcement of laws relating to fire prevention or
fire suppression. This will allow those persons designated in the code section to cite and arrest
persons upon completion of appropriate peace officer training.
75-0264