Governor signs bill to banish bad cops
Newsom signed four bills into law aimed at police reform
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed four bills into law aimed at police reform, including one that creates a process for decertifying officers who engage in misconduct, preventing them from moving to another agency.
The law sets up an advisory committee that will review misconduct cases and make recommendations to the state Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, which could then suspend or revoke officers’ certifications.
Senate Bill 2 was co-authored by State Sens. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena and Toni G. Atkins, D-San Diego. The wrongdoing would include excessive force, sexual assault, making a false arrest, being part of a law enforcement gang or showing bias based on race religion or gender.
California became the 47th state to create a process to banish problem officers as Newsom signed the bill into law during a news conference at Rowley Park in Gardena.
“I’m here as governor mindful that we are in the juxtaposition of being a leader on police reform and a laggard on police reform,” Newsom said. “We have a lot to be proud of, but there are areas where we have nothing to brag about. California has asserted itself in certain areas, but it’s remarkable that we still struggle in other areas.”
Bradford said the bill was inspired by the fatal shooting of Kenneth Ross Jr., who was killed at Rowley Park in April 2018.
Michael Wayne Robbins, the officer who shot Ross, had transferred to Gardena from the Orange Police Department in 2016 and had been involved in three police shootings in Orange County, Bradford said.
Ross was running southbound in the parking lot at Rowley Park with another officer in pursuit when Robbins parked his patrol SUV along the east curb at Van Ness Avenue, stood on the driver's side of the SUV and fired two rounds at Ross from a rifle as Ross ran a short distance away, bodycam video released by the department showed.
Police have said they found a loaded 9-mm gun in Ross' left pocket.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said the shooting was justified. Robbins has since retired from Gardena Police Department.
“He was having some issues,” Bradford said of Ross on Thursday. “Instead of bringing a crisis team, he was shot in the back in broad daylight.”
Ross' mother, Fouzia Almarou, stood to Newsom's right as he signed the bills. She said Ross, the oldest of her six children, was murdered in the park for doing nothing, “but he's with me spiritually and why I fight for change.”
“Kenneth Ross Jr. was a very kind and loving man,” she said. “He loved me, he loved his siblings, he has a son he left behind. This bill is going to protect other families and I hope and pray it will keep other parents from ever having to feel the pain I do.”
SB 2 was approved in the senate, 28-9, Sept. 8, which sent it to Newsom's desk.
Opponents have said the bill would establish an untrustworthy process to decide the meaning of “serious misconduct” and determine who should lose their eligibility to carry a badge and gun.
Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes said earlier this month that he supports efforts to keep bad employees out of law enforcement, but “unfortunately, SB 2 is a flawed solution. The bill includes poorly defined language and creates an advisory board with the potential for anti-law enforcement bias.
Instead, he said, the legislature should work with shareholders on a decertification process “that accomplishes the goal of holding accountable bad peace officers without penalizing the vast majority of peace officers who take good faith actions each day.”
The Los Angeles Police Protective League also issued a joint statement with the San Francisco and San Jose Police Officers Associations opposing the bill and also claiming the possibility of a biased advisory panel. Newsom signed three other bills Thursday:
• Assembly Bill 26requires cops to intervene in situations where other police officers use excessive force and prohibits retaliation against officers who report an incident of excessive force.
• Assembly Bill 89moves the minimum age requirement to get hired by a law enforcement agency to 21 and establishes certain higher education requirements for employment.
• Assembly Bill 490expands a law signed last year prohibiting carotid restraint and chokeholds.
Also in attendance at Thursday's news conference were family members of Angelo Quinto, a 30-yearold Antioch man and Navy veteran who died in December, they say, after an officer responding to a call of a mental health issue put his knee on Quinto's neck for several minutes while Quinto was face down on the ground. Quinto never regained consciousness and died three days later.
A coroner's inquest concluded he died due to “excited delirium syndrome,” brought about by a physical struggle with officers, but family members dispute that claim.
They were on hand to support the signing of AB 490.
“Angelo was not violent, he was having a mental health crisis and that was not addressed,” said Robert Collins, Quinto's step-father. “These bills … bring justice for the mothers, hope that change is possible and that this loss is not in vain if it can prevent others from suffering the same loss.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the bills would “infuse our criminal justice system with more trust, more transparency and more accountability.
“We are in a crisis of trust when it comes to law enforcement right now, across the state, across the nation,” Bonta said. “With these laws, we are showing that you can build trust with the public and enhance safety of our community and officers at the same time.”