[ad_1]
A bill that creates a process for revoking the accreditation of police officers who have committed serious misconduct was brought forward to the state assembly on Friday morning after lawmakers agreed to overhaul some of its most controversial provisions .
Assembly vote 46-18 clears the way for the State Senate to give Senate Bill 2 the final approval he needs before going to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office. While the Senate voted on May 26 to support the bill, many senators who voted to support it expressed concerns about the bill and suggested that they might vote against the bill when it will come back for final approval.
The latest changes to the bill by Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, seek to appease critics who have argued that the legislation is biased against police officers by changing the composition of the new Officer Accountability Advisory Board of the peace, a panel that will be responsible for making recommendations on decertification.
The previous version of SB 2 allocated two of the nine council seats to individuals who had been subjected to excessive use of force by the police or to family members of individuals who had been killed by the use. abuse of lethal force by the police. The amended version of the bill removes this requirement and only clarifies that these two members will not be former peace officers and that the governor gives “high consideration” to those who have been affected by police misconduct. . The bill also designates two seats for police officers or former police officers, two for non-profit organizations or academic institutions related to police accountability, and two for members of community organizations involved in police accountability. Another seat goes to a lawyer with solid experience in controlling police officers.
Another amendment in SB 2 increases the voting threshold required to withdraw an officer’s accreditation. The Peace Officer Training and Standards Commission (POST), which is currently responsible for setting standards for the training and recruitment of officers, would review the recommendations of the new group and decide whether an officer should be decertified. To do so, under the new amendment, would require a two-thirds vote of the current committee members and only after the committee has established that “serious misconduct has been established by clear and convincing evidence”. The commission will also have the possibility to suspend but not to revoke the certification of an agent.
The Assembly vote is a significant victory for a proposal that supporters of the bill see as the centerpiece of Sacramento’s efforts to institute police reforms following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 in Minneapolis. If the bill clears the Senate during the reconciliation vote and is signed by the governor, California would lose its status as one of four states that do not have a process for revoking the certification of officers who have committed a serious fault.
Assembly member Akilah Weber D-La Mesa introduced the bill to the assembly on Friday and urged his colleagues to approve the legislation. There are currently problematic agents, she said, who “make a mistake in a department and are not held to account and continue to be a problem for that department and this community where they are held accountable but are able to find employment in another department of our state. . “
“SB 2 is a thoughtful and well-intentioned approach to this issue that provides due process for officers, provides the necessary community repression and ensures that good officers are not decertified,” Weber said.
Not everyone was convinced. Assembly member Kelly Seyarto, R-Murrieta, said the changes did not go far enough and argued that the composition of the advisory committee remains biased against police officers. He noted that panels that can withdraw certification from doctors and lawyers do not have members who have been “harmed by poor operation or representation.”
“They have lawyers, they have professionals who know what this job is,” Seyarto said. “This doesn’t do that.”
Several members of the Bay Area assembly, including David Chiu, D-San Francisco, and Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, spoke in favor of SB 2, which Kalra said is “essential to ensure that we protect our communities from agents who create gross misconduct. . ”Marc Berman MP D-Menlo Park also voted in favor of the bill, which Palo Alto City Council officially supported.
[ad_2]
Source link