LIMITS ON CHILD POLICE INFORMANTS CLEAR STATE SENATE

Legislation limiting the use of children as police informants was
approved Thursday by the state Senate.

The measure by Assemblyman Scott Baugh,R-Huntington Beach,was prompted
by the killing of a 17-year-old Orange County youth who had served as
an informant for Brea police.

Although the youth, Chad McDonald, was no longer working as an
informant, his family believes that the killing stemmed from that
role, according to a Senate analysis of Baugh's bill.

The proposal would bar law enforcement agencies from using children
younger than 13 as informants.

To use a youth age 13 to 17 as an informant, an agency would have to
get permission from the minor, a court and the child's parent, unless
the parent was a suspect in the criminal investigation.

The bill would not affect a current law that allows the use of 15-and
16-year-olds in undercover operations to determine if merchants are
selling tobacco to minors.

A 34-0 vote returned the bill to the Assembly for a vote on Senate
amendments.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry