Title PEN, California Penal Code

All the provisions of this Chapter apply where the property taken is an instrument for the payment of money, evidence of debt, public security, or passage ticket, completed and ready to be issued or delivered, although the same has never been issued or delivered by the makers the…

The provisions of this Chapter apply where the thing taken is any fixture or part of the realty, and is severed at the time of the taking, in the same manner as if the thing had been severed by another person at some previous time. (Enacted 1872.)

(a) Every person who buys or receives any property that has been stolen or that has been obtained in any manner constituting theft or extortion, knowing the property to be so stolen or obtained, or who conceals, sells, withholds, or aids in concealing, selling, or withholding any…

(a) A person who unlawfully possesses property that was acquired through one or more acts of theft from a vehicle, unlawful entry of a vehicle, burglary of a locked vehicle, or vehicle tampering as defined in Section 10852 of the Vehicle Code, whether or not the person committed …

(a) Any person who possesses property unlawfully that was acquired through one or more acts of shoplifting, theft, or burglary from a retail business, whether or not the person committed the act of shoplifting, theft, or burglary, is guilty of the unlawful deprivation of a retail…

(a) Every person who is a dealer in or collector of junk, metals, or secondhand materials, or the agent, employee, or representative of such dealer or collector, and who buys or receives any wire, cable, copper, lead, solder, mercury, iron, or brass which they know or reasonably …

Every person who, being a dealer in or collector of second-hand books or other literary material, or the agent, employee or representative of such dealer, or collector, buys or receives any book, manuscript, map, chart, or other work of literature, belonging to, and bearing any m…

Any person who shall copy, transcribe, photograph or otherwise make a record or memorandum of the contents of any private and unpublished paper, book, record, map or file, containing information relating to the title to real property or containing information used in the business…

(a) Every person who buys or receives any motor vehicle, as defined in Section 415 of the Vehicle Code, any trailer, as defined in Section 630 of the Vehicle Code, any special construction equipment, as defined in Section 565 of the Vehicle Code, or any vessel, as defined in Sect…

(a) Any person who is engaged in the salvage, recycling, purchase, or sale of scrap metal and who possesses any of the following items that were owned or previously owned by any public agency, city, county, city and county, special district, or private utility that have been stol…

Every person who, in another state or country steals or embezzles the property of another, or receives such property knowing it to have been stolen or embezzled, and brings the same into this state, may be convicted and punished in the same manner as if such larceny, or embezzlem…

(a) The following definitions govern the construction of this section: (1) “Person” means any individual, or any partnership, firm, association, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal entity. (2) “Utility” means any electrical, gas, or water corporation as those t…

(a) Any person who, having been convicted of a previous violation of Section 10851 of the Vehicle Code, or of subdivision (d) of Section 487, involving a vehicle or vessel, and having served a term therefor in any penal institution or having been imprisoned therein as a condition…

(a) Any person who shall, without the permission of the owner thereof, take any bicycle for the purpose of temporarily using or operating the same, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding four hundred dollars ($400), or by imprisonment in a cou…

(a) As used in this section: (1) “Access” means to approach, a way or means of approaching, nearing, admittance to, including to instruct, communicate with, store information in, or retrieve information from a computer system or computer network. (2) “Article” means any object, m…

Any person who operates or takes an aircraft not his own, without the consent of the owner thereof, and with intent to either permanently or temporarily deprive the owner thereof of his title to or possession of such vehicle, whether with or without intent to steal the same, or a…

(a) Any person who receives money for the actual or purported purpose of transmitting the same or its equivalent to foreign countries as specified in Section 1800.5 of the Financial Code who fails to do at least one of the following acts unless otherwise instructed by the custome…

Upon a trial for larceny or embezzlement of money, bank notes, certificates of stock, or valuable securities, the allegation of the indictment or information, so far as regards the description of the property, is sustained, if the offender be proved to have embezzled or stolen an…

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to expand the degree of protection afforded to individuals, businesses, and governmental agencies from tampering, interference, damage, and unauthorized access to lawfully created computer data and computer systems.…

(a) As used in this section: (1) “Property subject to forfeiture” means any property of the defendant that is illegal telecommunications equipment as defined in subdivision (g) of Section 502.8, or a computer, computer system, or computer network, and any software or data residin…

Every person who, after mortgaging or encumbering by deed of trust any real property, and during the existence of such mortgage or deed of trust, or after such mortgaged or encumbered property shall have been sold under an order and decree of foreclosure or at trustee’s sale, and…

(a) Any person who knowingly, willfully, and with the intent to defraud, possesses a scanning device, or who knowingly, willfully, and with intent to defraud, uses a scanning device to access, read, obtain, memorize or store, temporarily or permanently, information encoded on the…

(a) Any person who, knowingly, willfully, and with intent to defraud a person providing telephone or telegraph service, avoids or attempts to avoid, or aids, abets or causes another to avoid the lawful charge, in whole or in part, for telephone or telegraph service by any of the …

(a) Any person who knowingly advertises illegal telecommunications equipment is guilty of a misdemeanor. (b) Any person who possesses or uses illegal telecommunications equipment intending to avoid the payment of any lawful charge for telecommunications service or to facilitate o…

Upon conviction of a felony violation under this chapter, the fact that the victim was an elder or dependent person, as defined in Section 288, shall be considered a circumstance in aggravation when imposing a term under subdivision (b) of Section 1170. (Amended by Stats. 2004, C…

When a sheriff or other public officer authorized to execute process finds, or has reason to apprehend, that resistance will be made to the execution of the process, the officer may command as many able-bodied inhabitants of the officer’s county as he or she may think proper to a…

The officer must certify to the Court from which the process issued the names of the persons resisting, and their aiders and abettors, to the end that they may be proceeded against for their contempt of Court. (Enacted 1872.)

Where any number of persons, whether armed or not, are unlawfully or riotously assembled, the sheriff of the county and his or her deputies, the officials governing the town or city, or any of them, must go among the persons assembled, or as near to them as possible, and command …

If the persons assembled do not immediately disperse, such magistrates and officers must arrest them, and to that end may command the aid of all persons present or within the county. (Enacted 1872.)

A person committing any of the following acts shall be guilty of a misdemeanor: (a) Willful false reporting in conjunction with a report or a request for testing under this title. (b) Willful use or disclosure of test results or confidential information in violation of any of the…

A peace officer may search for dangerous weapons any person whom he has legal cause to arrest, whenever he has reasonable cause to believe that the person possesses a dangerous weapon. If the officer finds a dangerous weapon, he may take and keep it until the completion of the qu…

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage law enforcement and county child welfare agencies to develop protocols in collaboration with other local entities, which may include local educational, judicial, correctional, and community-based organizations, when appropriate…

(a) In addition to any other detention permitted by law, if a peace officer has reasonable cause to believe that a person has a firearm or other deadly weapon with him or her in violation of any provision of law relating to firearms or deadly weapons the peace officer may detain …

An arrest is taking a person into custody, in a case and in the manner authorized by law. An arrest may be made by a peace officer or by a private person. (Enacted 1872.)

If a person has knowledge, or by the exercise of reasonable care, should have knowledge, that he is being arrested by a peace officer, it is the duty of such person to refrain from using force or any weapon to resist such arrest. (Added by Stats. 1957, Ch. 2147.)

(a) (1) In accordance with federal law and the provisions of this section, every peace officer, upon arrest and booking or detention for more than two hours of a known or suspected foreign national, shall advise the foreign national that he or she has a right to communicate with …

An arrest is made by an actual restraint of the person, or by submission to the custody of an officer. The person arrested may be subjected to such restraint as is reasonable for his arrest and detention. (Amended by Stats. 1957, Ch. 2147.)

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) That the authority to use physical force, conferred on peace officers by this section, is a serious responsibility that shall be exercised judiciously and with respect for human rights and dignity and for the sancti…

(a) A peace officer may arrest a person in obedience to a warrant, or, pursuant to the authority granted by Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2, without a warrant, may arrest a person whenever any of the following circumstances occur: (1) The officer ha…

When a person commits an assault or battery against the person of a firefighter, emergency medical technician, or mobile intensive care paramedic while that person is on duty engaged in the performance of his or her duties in violation of subdivision (b) of Section 241 or subdivi…

A peace officer may make an arrest in obedience to a warrant delivered to him, or may, without a warrant, arrest a person who, while charged with or convicted of a misdemeanor, has escaped from any county or city jail, prison, industrial farm or industrial road camp or from the c…

(a) A public officer or employee, when authorized by ordinance, may arrest a person without a warrant whenever the officer or employee has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a misdemeanor in the presence of the officer or employee that is a v…

(a) It is unlawful for any person who is remanded by a magistrate or judge of any court in this state to the custody of a sheriff, marshal, or other police agency, to thereafter escape or attempt to escape from that custody. (b) It is unlawful for any person who has been lawfully…

A private person may arrest another: 1. For a public offense committed or attempted in his presence. 2. When the person arrested has committed a felony, although not in his presence. 3. When a felony has been in fact committed, and he has reasonable cause for believing the person…

A magistrate may orally order a peace officer or private person to arrest any one committing or attempting to commit a public offense in the presence of such magistrate. (Enacted 1872.)

Any person making an arrest may orally summon as many persons as he deems necessary to aid him therein. (Enacted 1872.)