Use-of-force bill for police standards is mothballed
California Senate shelves measure that would hold officers more accountable for killing civilians.
SACRAMENTO — Major legislation that would have toughened state standards for police officers to use deadly force will not advance this year.
Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) announced late Wednesday that lawmakers did not have enough time to garner support for the measure to pass both houses of the Legislature by Friday’s deadline. Atkins said lawmakers would resume work on the effort next year.
“Make no mistake: We have a critical problem that remains unaddressed,” Atkins said in a statement. “We need to end preventable deaths and to do so without jeopardizing the safety of law enforcement officers.”
Assembly Bill 931 would have required police departments across the state to update their policies to indicate when officers are allowed to use force. Under the bill, such policies would have had to include rules stating that officers must exhaust reasonable alternatives before turning to deadly force, including using verbal warnings and tactics aimed at deescalating encounters. If such standards were violated, departments could have faced greater liability in civil court and disciplined officers more easily than they can now.
Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D-San Diego) introduced the bill in April, just weeks after Sacramento police shot and killed Stephon Clark, an unarmed 22-yearold black man, while searching for a car vandal. The killing sparked weeks of protests in the state’s capital.
Initially, the bill sought to make it easier to criminally prosecute officers involved in killing civilians by saying police could use deadly force only if it was necessary to prevent imminent and serious bodily injury or death.
But in the face of intense law enforcement opposition, Weber scaled back the bill late last week to remove the proposed prosecution standards. By then, the measure had been parked in a Senate committee to allow for negotiations between Weber and civil rights advocates and police groups.
Weber said in a statement late Wednesday that she was “disappointed” that the bill would not advance, and that she planned to introduce another version in January.
“My commitment is to the families of those who have lost loved ones and the communities most affected by the current use-of-force standard,” Weber said.