SECTIONS 14140-14143 - California Statutes

PENAL CODE

SECTION 14140-14143

14140. (a) Each county is authorized and encouraged to create a
county task force on violent crimes against women. The board of
supervisors of a county which elects to create a task force under
this section shall notify the California Emergency Management Agency
that the county is establishing, by appointment, a countywide task
force. Each county task force shall develop a countywide policy on
violent crimes against women.
(b) The California Emergency Management Agency may provide
technical assistance to, and collect and disseminate information on,
the county task forces established under this section.

14141. The purpose of each county task force may be as follows:
(a) To promote a countywide policy on violent crimes against
women.
(b) To make recommendations on how to reduce violent crime.
(c) To prepare and place counties in a strong position to compete
for federal and state funds that may become available for the
purposes of this title.
(d) To facilitate coordination of services and responses between
governmental agencies and between governmental agencies and nonprofit
agencies serving women who are victims of violent crimes.
(e) To initiate local domestic violence prevention planning and
priorities for the use of federal and state domestic violence
prevention grants.

14142. Each county task force may evaluate and make recommendations
regarding the following:
(a) The adequacy of current law enforcement efforts at the local
level to reduce the rate of violent crimes against women.
(b) The responsiveness of local prosecutors and the courts to
violent crimes against women.
(c) Local government efforts to reduce violent crimes against
women.
(d) Public awareness and public dissemination of information
essential to the prevention of violent crimes against women.
(e) The information collection and government statistics on the
incidence and prevalence of violent crimes against women.
(f) The adequacy of federal, state, and local laws on sexual
assault and domestic violence and the need for more uniform statutory
responses to sex offenses and domestic violence.
(g) The need for services, including counseling, shelter, legal
services, victim advocacy, and other supportive services, for women
who are victims of violent crime.

14143. Every effort shall be made to ensure that the ethnic and
racial composition of each task force is reflective of the ethnic and
racial distribution of the persons and families in the community.
Each county task force shall include, to the extent possible, but not
be limited to, the following:
(a) A criminal court judge.
(b) A domestic relations or civil court judge.
(c) A prosecuting attorney.
(d) A city council person or other elected local governmental
official.
(e) Representatives from the Council of Cities, the Police Chief
Association, the County Office of Education, the Public Defender
Program, the County Bar Association, the Domestic Violence Coalition,
health services, social services, probation, a women's organization,
each of the battered women's shelters serving the county, each of
the rape crisis centers serving the county, a legal services program,
a homeless program serving women, other nonprofit community-based
organizations whose primary focus is to assist the women who are
victims of violent crimes, the Native Tribal Councils, and the county
Commission on the Status of Women.