California AG calls for police reform across the state

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra outlined sweeping steps toward police reform on Monday and called for problem officers to be stripped of their badges.

Becerra is urging law enforcement agencies statewide to develop and implement policies on use of force reforms.

“We’re urging law enforcement statewide to immediately develop and implement policies as appropriate to require police officers to intervene to stop excessive and unnecessary force by another officer,” he said.

Becerra is also recommending things like banning chokeholds, carotid restraints, as well as adding de-escalation techniques, prohibiting officers from firing at or from moving vehicles, and using deadly force as a last resort. The recommendations largely align with the current nationwide campaign for police reform called #8CANTWAIT.

Becerra also goes a step further on police accountability.

“We’re pushing ahead with significant plans to support or sponsor legislation that works to decertify police officers for misconduct,” Becerra said.

California currently does not have a system in place to decertify officers.

Becerra’s recommendations come one day after police unions for San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles took out a full-page ad in major newspapers on Sunday, calling for police reforms and rooting out racist police officers.

San Francisco Police Officers Association President Tony Montoya said the first step is admitting that racist police officers exist in their profession.

“We're calling for a national database that would list people that have gross misconduct, whether it's racism, biases, or just don't have the temperament to do the job so they don't go from agency to agency,” Montoya said.

The unions’ national reform plan begins with:   

A national database of former police officers fired for gross misconduct that prevents other agencies from hiring them.

A national use-of-force standard that emphasizes reverence for life, de-escalation, a duty to intercede if witnessing excessive force or misconduct, proportional responses to dangerous incidents, and strong accountability provisions.

An early warning system to identify officers that may need more training and mentoring. 

Ongoing and frequent crisis intervention and de-escalation training of police officers to build and refresh skills to improve police and community outcomes. 

A transparent and publicly accessible use-of-force analysis website so that the public can monitor when and how force is used.

Becerra said he appreciates the unions for speaking, noting that his recommendations on police reform are similar. He is urging local law enforcement agencies to adopt the practices before SB230 takes effect in January 2021, which requires agencies to maintain use of force policies.

“Let’s see if we can show the people of California that we can start doing this work without having to be required to do it starting January 1st,” Becerra added. “I’m hoping we can go from the spectrum of restoring some respect to restoring some trust.”

Becerra said he is open to discussing other issues, including qualified immunity, which currently protects police officers from being sued for brutality or excessive force.

SFPD said it is one of only two of the top 100 police departments to have implemented every #8CANTWAIT reform.

Click for the attorney general's full list of recommendations.