Brown Signs Bills on California Center Abuse

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Jerry Brown signed two bills last week to require California’s developmental centers to alert outside police and a disability protection organization when patients die under suspicious circumstances, are abused or are seriously injured.

The state operates five board-and-care institutions for more than 1,600 people with cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities in Sonoma, Orange, Tulare, Riverside and Los Angeles counties. An in-house police force, called the Office of Protective Services, patrols and investigates crimes against the centers’ patients.