Police reform clock ticking
Less than three months after a Minneapolis police officer’s killing of George Floyd drove nationwide demonstrations against police violence and racism, the recorded closerange shooting of Jacob Blake as he walked away from officers in Kenosha, Wis., has caused more outrage and unrest. The unending series shows that protest alone, no matter how forceful, can’t transform police practices.
That falls to legislators and other policymakers, and the overwhelming impression in the wake of Floyd’s killing is that they’re not up to the task. Congress considered largely incremental measures and whiffed most of them. And while the California Legislature floated a more substantial crop of reforms, it has just days left to consider those it hasn’t buried.
Among the most important measures remaining is the latest iteration of a longstanding campaign by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, DSacramento, to require the state attorney general to review more uses of police force. Attorney General Xavier Becerra and his predecessor, Kamala Harris, generally opposed the idea, leaving such matters to local police and district attorneys who are loath to find fault with officers.
Law enforcement groups have constituted the chief resistance to McCarty’s AB1506. But in a sign of its moderate approach, it has also drawn criticism from reformers who believe it doesn’t go far enough, requiring state involvement only when requested by local police or prosecutors. Even that would represent progress in California, however: Becerra refused to investigate the fatal June shooting of Sean Monterrosa by Vallejo police, for example, despite a request from the Solano County district attorney.
Another gauge of legislative seriousness is a bill by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, DBerkeley, to open more police records to public and press scrutiny. Building on a 2018 law by Skinner that has unearthed evidence of police misconduct, SB776 would extend its provisions to records related to use of force, wrongful arrests, sexual misconduct and racial and other discrimination. The Legislature is also considering worthy bills to permit decertification of wayward officers and ban choke holds.
Failing to enact meaningful reform would not only ignore the latest police excess, but also invite the next.