California law enforcement agencies have hindered transparency efforts in use-of-force cases
And some basic personnel records — including complaints and disciplinary action against officers — are still hidden from the public. California law enforcement agencies have hindered transparency efforts in use-of-force cases, according to a report by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and The Associated Press. The study found that California had at least 198 non-shooting deaths from 2012 through 2021 after police used force that isn't supposed to be deadly, the most documented in any state in the nation. However, basic personnel records, such as complaints and disciplinary action against officers, are still hidden from the public. Despite these efforts, attempts to increase transparency regarding claims of police misconduct have been thwarted by police departments and their unions. The California Reporting Project, a collaboration of California news outlets, computer scientists and lawyers, began in March 2019 to report on the newly available police records.
Opublikowany : 4 tygodnie temu za pomocą Associated Press w
And some basic personnel records — including complaints and disciplinary action against officers — are still hidden from the public.
Example video title will go here for this video
Example video title will go here for this video
California had at least 198 non-shooting deaths from 2012 through 2021 after police used force that isn't supposed to be deadly — the most documented in any state in the nation, an investigation by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, in conjunction with The Associated Press, found. The investigation identified 1,036 deaths across the country during that time frame, though suppression of information means the numbers are likely an undercount.
California passed a series of bills in recent years designed to give the public the right to records related to certain actions by law enforcement officers. And law enforcement agencies across the state have since released previously confidential documents under an avalanche of records requests. But attempts at greater transparency surrounding claims of police misconduct continue to be stymied by police departments and their unions.
With the passage of these bills, government-created documents related to alleged or real misbehavior by police were supposed to be made available to anyone on request. The laws made public reports, investigations and records produced by police agencies or external investigating agencies, such as district attorneys, including interview transcripts, autopsy reports and disciplinary actions against officers.
The Carlsbad Police Officers Association, for example, was one of several police unions and agencies that sued to block the release of records created before the new law took effect, arguing it did not retroactively apply to existing cases. The ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, where Loy was the legal director at the time, argued that the bill applied to records regardless of when they were created.
In March 2019, a collaboration of California news outlets, computer scientists and lawyers joined together to request, litigate for, and report on the newly available police records. The California Reporting Project began with six newsrooms, including San Francisco-based KQED and the Los Angeles Times. The collaborative has since grown to include dozens of member newsrooms, including The Associated Press and the Howard Centers for Investigative Journalism in Arizona and Maryland.
At the time, records retention laws gave agencies the right to destroy complaint records that were more than five years old. Among the cities named by Skinner were Downey and Morgan Hill, whose representatives told the Howard Center the records were destroyed according to the cities’ retention schedule.
Skinner introduced her second bill, which became law in 2022, to broaden the types of police transparency records available to the public and to address some of the issues and confusion resulting from her first piece of legislation. The law expanded the categories of public information to include excessive use-of-force cases, as well as unlawful searches and arrests, failures to intervene against other officers who use unreasonable force, and cases in which police officers showed discrimination against certain people based on race, religion, sex or disability.
The law requires agencies to maintain complaints and any related reports or findings for at least five years if the complaints are determined to be unfounded — and at least 15 years if the findings are confirmed. The law also set a 45-day deadline for agencies to produce requested police records.
Tematy: Law Enforcement