Tomorrow morning the city of Arcata will host a gun violence restraining order training for law enforcement, attorneys and court personnel in Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity Counties at the D Street Neighborhood Center.

The statewide, three-hour training provided by San Diego’s City Attorney’s Office will outline additional resources for law enforcement, attorneys and court personnel to provide an extra safeguard for community members against people who pose a danger to themselves and others, and are in possession of a firearm or ammunition.

Arcata Police Chief Brian Ahearn told the Journal the training will bring together the three entities together to understand the law, come up with a protection that is most appropriate for their jurisdiction and bring a safeguard to the community.


The press release states the San Diego training team — which has been a statewide champion for gun violence restraining orders — “identifies procedures and protocols to obtain gun violence restraining orders and explains how to apply the law and navigate through complex situations to determine whether or not a gun violence restraining order would be applicable.”

“Gun violence restraining orders are civil orders, issued in writing and signed by the court, that prohibit a named person from having in their custody or control, owning, purchasing, possessing or receiving any firearm or ammunition,” the press release from the city of Arcata stated.

In the state of California, under California Penal Code Section 18100, courts can grant a gun violence restraining order. “Any jurisdiction can utilize this tool,” Ahearn said. Tomorrow’s training is a refresher on current and new gun violence restraining order laws, an “update training like CPR and first aid,” Ahearn explained.

District Attorney Maggie Fleming told the Journal in an email that she appreciates Ahearn’s effort to make the training locally available and added, “I see significant value in the training because it will inform law enforcement officers on a potentially life-saving method to improve public safety, specifically by reducing access to firearms for people that a judge concludes are at immediate risk of harming themselves or others."

Read the full press release below: 

CITY OF ARCATA HOSTS GUN VIOLENCE RESTRAINING ORDER TRAINING

On Thursday, April 25, 2019 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM at the D Street Neighborhood Center, 1301 D Street, the City of Arcata is hosting training for law enforcement, attorneys and court personnel on gun violence restraining orders. Gun violence restraining orders are civil orders, issued in writing and signed by the court, that prohibit a named person from having in their custody or control, owning, purchasing, possessing or receiving any firearm or ammunition. This training is designed to enhance public safety by providing law enforcement, attorneys and court personnel with an additional resource that, when issued by the court, provides the community an additional safeguard against those who are in possession of firearms and/or ammunition and are deemed to also pose a risk to themselves or others.

Using case studies the training team identifies procedures and protocols to obtain gun violence restraining orders and explains how to apply the law and navigate through complex situations to determine whether or not a gun violence restraining order would be applicable. A significant amount of the curriculum is devoted to the service of the restraining order itself, obtaining and serving search warrants and the process to seize firearms and ammunition.

As the first statewide champion for gun violence restraining orders, the San Diego City Attorney's Office was selected by the state to conduct training for law enforcement agencies, attorneys and court personnel throughout California. The program is guided by California Penal Code Section 18100 et sec, which allows family members or law enforcement personnel to seek a gun violence restraining order against someone they believe poses an immediate and present danger of harming themselves or others.

To date the training team has delivered this same curriculum to jurisdictions throughout California including Riverside, Ontario, Anaheim, San Francisco, Beverly Hills and Sacramento. This same training is being delivered to agencies in the North Coast region and will include representatives from the cities of Arcata, Eureka, Crescent City, Ferndale, Blue Lake and Rio Dell; the counties of Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity; as well as State Parks and Cal Fire.