State lawmakers are set to decide on a bill that would create a process for making sure that police officers found guilty of egregious misconduct can’t work in law enforcement again.
California is one of only four states in the country without such a law.
"I call it the wash, rinse, and repeat cycle," said Southern California State Senator Steve Bradford, who co-wrote the bill. Bradford named it after a Los Angeles man who was shot and killed by an officer, who it turned out had been investigated in three other shootings at a different department.
The bill would create a panel in state government that would, after local officials investigate, make a recommendation on whether that officer should essentially be stripped of his or her ability to work in law enforcement.
"We absolutely, emphatically want decertification," said Chief Abdul Pridgen of the Seaside Police Department in Monterey County and President of the California Police Chiefs Association.
"The only thing that we ask is the composition of this oversight board, that is comprised of a group of objective people," said Pridgen.
As it’s proposed, the board will have a higher percentage of people without law enforcement experience on it than those who do. They are specifically hoping to include people whose lives have been touched by police violence.
"I don’t think there could be anything more biased than the current setup," said Bradford. "We’ve been doing it for 150 years and we’ve clearly seen the police cannot police the police."
Related
