In California, there is no decertification process for a police officer who is, after an investigation, found to be unfit to work as a police officer.
Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) and Sen. Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) introduced Senate Bill 2 in December 2020, which would create a process and procedures to hold those officers accountable. Over the past several months, the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) has tried to work with Bradford to make Senate Bill 2 into a bill they say would provide officers with full due process and ensure an investigation will occur.
“Unfortunately, the bill that’s been brought forward by Sen. Bradford doesn’t necessarily respect the due process rights of the officers,” PORAC President Brian Marvel told the Southern California Record. “It creates a very, I don’t want to say cumbersome, but just the overall makeup of the commission that oversees the certification process is inclined to already have an anti-police bent to it.”
The bill also takes aim at the 1987 Civil Rights legislation known as the Bane Act, which was created to address hate crimes.
“We don’t actually have qualified immunity in California. It’s all under this Bane Act, which according to one of the senators at the judicial says 'is a hot mess,'” said Marvel. “The courts have made so many rulings on it that there’s a lot of interpretations on it. I know there were some recommendations – removing the Bane Act out of this bill and then having a special bill to address the Bane Act, so it’s much more clear as we move forward. I thought that was a good recommendation. If it’s as messed up as they said it is, it’s probably a good idea to take a look at it as an individual item versus trying to match it together with this licensure program."
Marvel says his organization is not against a licensure program for police officers, but there are issues with Senate Bill 2 as it is written, and the advisory board that would report to the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) about an officer’s eligibility to retain their licensure.
“I think what happens is, they’ve created a panel – basically it’s a supermajority of individuals that lack impartiality or expertise and then it also opens up the possibility of dual investigations with conflicting results because this panel has its own investigatory authority,” said Marvel.
For PORAC, the goal is to ensure that officers are allowed to go through the whole process, but that POST would be notified and an investigation would occur even if an officer were to leave the department before the internal investigation happened.
“This way, as soon as the investigation is administered by the department, they notify POST and POST puts a checkmark by their name so that even if they do leave or quit the department, the investigation is going to be completed there will be a final determination of whether this officer should be decertified. (That's) irrespective of whether they’re on the department or not on the department,” said Marvel. “We make sure that individual, if they are ultimately found not eligible to keep their certification, that they’re not practicing law (enforcement) here in California or anywhere in the United States.”
But, Marvel says that Bradford has been unwilling to accept the amendments offered by PORAC. He also warns that if the bill passes in its current form, that could mean fewer people pursue jobs as police officers because of liability issues.
“We clearly want the license piece to get through, and we’ve recommended some amendments on the Bane Act,” said Marvel. “We’re actively engaged and willing to see this bill through, but unfortunately Sen. Bradford has not been an easy person to work with in this regard.”