(a) To the extent that funding is appropriated by the Legislature or available through private funds in each fiscal year, the department shall establish and maintain the California Electronic Violent Death Reporting System.
(b) The department shall collect data on violent deaths as reported from data sources, including, but not limited to, death certificates, law enforcement reports, and coroner or medical examiner reports. The department shall post on its Internet Web site a summary and analysis of the collected data.
(c) (1) The department may enter into a contract, grant, or other agreement with a local agency to collect the data specified in subdivision (b) within the agency’s jurisdiction.
(2) (A) The department may enter into a contract, grant, or other agreement with a local agency to collect the data specified in subdivision (b) from other local agencies if the following conditions are met:
(i) The local agency entering into the agreement agrees to collect the data from the other local agencies.
(ii) The local agency entering into the agreement is not responsible for reporting to the department data that have not been made available by the other local agencies.
(B) The other local agencies described in subparagraph (A) may also enter into their own agreements with the department pursuant to paragraph (1).
(3) The data collected pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2) shall be limited to data that the local agency entering into the agreement or the other local agencies are authorized to collect within their respective jurisdictions.
(4) A local agency entering into an agreement pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2) shall collect data based on existing or new data elements required by the California Electronic Violent Death Reporting System only to the extent that resources are made available.
(d) To the extent that funding is available for this purpose, a law enforcement agency may report to the department data on the circumstances surrounding all violent deaths from investigative reports and, if available, laboratory toxicology reports to be used by the department for the limited purpose of conducting public health surveillance and epidemiology. Aggregate data shall be public, but individual identifying information shall remain confidential. The collected data shall be based on the data elements of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Violent Death Reporting System.
(e) The department may apply for grants provided under the National Violent Death Reporting System for purposes of implementing this section.
(f) The department may accept private or foundation moneys to implement this section.
(g) This section does not limit data sources that the department may collect, which may include any public agency document that may contain data on violent deaths.
(Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 712, Sec. 2. (SB 877) Effective January 1, 2017.)