California Governor Proposes Change to Police Transparency Law

By Trân Nguyên | Associated Press

The administration of California Governor Gavin Newsom has put forth a proposal to eliminate public disclosure of investigations into abusive and corrupt police officers. The responsibility would instead be handed over to local agencies as a means to address the state’s estimated $31.5 billion budget deficit.

This proposal, which is still being negotiated with the Legislature, has drawn strong criticism from a coalition of criminal justice and press freedom groups. These groups spent years advocating for the disclosure rules established by a landmark law signed by Newsom in 2021.

Under the current law, the state Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training is authorized to investigate and decertify police officers for misconduct, such as excessive force, sexual assault, and dishonesty. It also requires the commission to make the records of decertification cases public.

The Newsom administration now aims to remove this transparency requirement, suggesting that the public can still access the records from police departments. However, advocates argue that local police departments often resist releasing this information.

Several states with a police decertification process, including Republican-led states like Tennessee and Georgia, mandate that state agencies disclose records of police misconduct.

In Tennessee, such records revealed new details about a case in which police officers brutally beat Tyre Nichols, a Black man, during a traffic stop earlier this year. These details, released by the state police certification commission, were not previously made public by the local police department.

J Vasquez, representing the social justice group Communities United For Restorative Justice, criticized the proposed change at a recent news conference, stating that it goes against an important provision of the decertification process and is disrespectful to families who have lost loved ones due to police misconduct.

Antioch Mayor Pro Tem Tamisha Torres-Walker expressed concerns that removing transparency from the 2021 law would further erode public trust. The city of Antioch was shaken by a federal investigation revealing that more than half of the officers in the police force were involved in a group text where racial slurs were used and where officers bragged about fabricating evidence and assaulting suspects.

A coalition of over 20 groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, accused Governor Newsom of using the budget process to push through his proposal without going through the traditional legislative process.

Carmen-Nicole Cox, director of government affairs for ACLU California Action, argued that the proposal should have been subject to the customary legislative process rather than being included in the budget.

Democratic Senator Steven Bradford, who authored the 2021 law, declined to comment on the proposed change.

The governor’s office deferred questions to the commission, whose spokesperson stated that the proposed change is a cost-saving measure that would still allow the public to access information on decertification cases from local police departments. With California facing a significant budget deficit of nearly $32 billion this year, the proposal is part of Newsom’s broader cost-cutting measures.

Neither the governor’s office nor the commission provided details on the potential cost savings under the proposal.

According to a budget request in May, the commission expects to handle up to 3,500 decertification cases each year, which amounts to approximately 4% of all officers in California. In light of this caseload, the commission requested an additional $6 million to handle the increased number of complaints.

The commission’s spokesperson, Meagan Poulos, emphasized that the proposed change is necessary due to the substantial financial implications and the urgency of implementing cost-saving measures. In her statement, she justified the inclusion of the proposal in the budget process.

David Loy, Legal Director of the First Amendment Coalition, noted that for decades, police officers in California have been shielded from public scrutiny due to legal protections. However, recent developments have brought about a shift, with the Legislature passing a bill in 2018 that required disclosure of records related to police misconduct. This law was further expanded in 2021 to include investigations into racist or biased behavior, unlawful searches or arrests, and use of unreasonable force.

The 2021 decertification law was hailed as another tool to hold law enforcement accountable, making the proposed change a significant cause for concern. Loy’s group is part of the coalition opposing the change, and he emphasized that California should not regress in terms of police transparency.

The state Legislature recently passed its own version of the state budget without including Newsom’s proposed change to the decertification process. Negotiations between legislative leaders and the governor’s office will continue in order to finalize the budget by the end of the month.

Associated Press reporter Jonathan Mattise contributed from Nashville, Tennessee.