State Senate Approps Committee (Lara, chair; Mendoza, member) Blocks Bill That Would Have Opened A Number Of Records Regarding Police Misconduct To Public/Press Access

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(May 29, 2016) -- The state Senate Appropriations Committee (chaired by LB-area state Senator Ricardo Lara (D, LB-Huntington Park) with state Senator Tony Mendoza (D, Cerritos) as a member) has blocked the advance of SB 1286 that would have opened a number of records regarding police misconduct to public and press access.

SB 1286 by Sen. Mark Leno (D, San Francisco) was supported by groups including the ACLU to the CA Newspaper Publishers Association (list below); it was opposed by multiple police officer unions -- including the Long Beach Police Officers Association -- and prosecutor associations (list below.)

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The bill would have pierced the confidentiality of personnel records in complaints against police officers and would have required that when cities and other public agencies conduct hearings on complaints against those officers, they do so in proceedings open to the public with some or all of the documents available for public inspection, significantly expanding the public's ability to access records of complaints against police officers.

The Appropriations Committee is supposed to decide whether a bill should proceed to a full Senate vote based on whether it could have state budget fiscal impacts, but as a practical matter the majority party (currently Dem) uses the Committee to quietly kill bills before they come to a potentially bruising public debate and recorded vote in the full Senate.

At the Committee's Friday (May 27) meeting, Sen. Lara delivered a rapid fire reading of a list of over 100 bills that the Committee (5 Dems, 2 Repubs) had chosen to advance or to withhold...and SB 1286 was among those withheld. Committee members didn't publicly discuss the bills withheld. A few days earlier, the Committee voted 6-0 (Beall, Hill, Lara, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen...with no vote recorded for Bates) to put SB 1286 among bills in "suspense" status (where it could be withheld or allowed to advance.)

As previously reported by LBREPORT.com, the Committee allowed the advance of SB 1472 that would expand the MTA Board by two members chosen by Sac'to legislative leadership (creating the potential for a rep from Long Beach, which has had an MTA board rep (elected by area cities) in the past; current, the area's rep is a Lakewood Councilmember.)

Under SB 1286, cities or other public agencies would have had to notify a complaining party of what charges, if any, the agency framed in response to the complaining party's complaint; how the agency reached its decision on the charges; its factual findings for its decision on the charges and discipline imposed or corrective action taken.

Investigations or proceedings by civilian review agencies, personnel boards, police commissions, civil service commissions, city councils, boards of supervisors would have become records subject to disclosure under the CA Public Records Act subject to the Act's confidentiality provisions for certain documents. Peace officer/custodial officer personnel records or records relating to complaints against them would also have become available for public inspection, including the framing allegation or complaint, the agency's full investigation file, any evidence gathered, and any findings or recommended findings, discipline, or corrective action taken.

Information could be redacted to remove personal data/information to preserve the anonymity of complainants and witnesses, or to protect confidential medical, financial, or other information under current exemptions to disclosure in the Public Records Act including when there's a specific, particularized reason to believe disclosure would pose a significant danger to the physical safety of the officer or to others.

Supporters listed in an April Senate Public Safety Committee legislative analysis included:

American Civil Liberties Union of California; California Newspaper Publishers Association; PICO California; Youth Justice Coalition; ACCE Action; Anti-Racist Action – Los Angeles/People Against Racist Terror; BerekelyLaw; Black and Pink Prison Abolition Now; Black Lives Matter Sacramento; Black Lives Matter Long Beach; Bill of Rights Defense Committee / Defending Dissent Foundation; Boys and Men of Color, Santa Ana; California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance; California Public Defenders Association; California Immigrant Policy Center; Californians for Justice; Chinese for Affirmative Action; California Attorneys for Criminal Justice; Coalition for Grassroots Progress; Community Coalition; Courage Campaign; Critical Resistance; Dignity and Power Now; Ella Baker Center for Human Rights; Fathers and Families of San Joaquin; Friends Committee on Legislation of California; Islamic Shura Council of Southern California; Justice Not Jails; Legal Services for Prisoners with Children; Los Angeles Workers Assembly; National Center for Youth Law; A New PATH; A New Way of Life Re-Entry Project; Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans; Public Counsel; Riverside Temple Beth El; Riverside Coalition for Police Accountability; San Diego Immigrant Rights Consortium; Silicon Valley De-Bug; Skid Row Housing Trust; Southeast Asia Resource Action Center; Transgender, Gender Variant and Intersex Justice Project; UAW Local 2865; UNITE HERE Local 30; Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity; Urban Peace Institute; The W. Haywood Burns Institute; Women’s Foundation of California; Youth ALIVE! Youth Justice Coalition

Opponents listed in the analysis were:

Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs; Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs; California College and University Police Chiefs Association; California Correctional Peace Officers Association; California District Attorneys Association; California Peace Officers Association; California Correctional Supervisors’ Organization; California Narcotic Officers Association; California Police Chiefs Association; California School Employees Association; California State Sheriffs’ Association; California Statewide Law Enforcement Association; Fontana Police Officers Association; Fraternal Order of Police; Labor Coalition; Long Beach Peace Officers Association; Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO; Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association; Los Angeles Police Protective League; Office of the District Attorney, County of Ventura; Office of the San Diego County District Attorney; Orange County Employees Association; Peace Officers Research Association of California; California Association of Highway Patrolmen; Riverside Sheriffs Association; San Diego Police Officers Association; Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs Association; Southern California Alliance of Law Enforcement

Senator Leno is about to be termed-out in the Senate. While an Assemblyman, Leno introduced legislation to SB 1286, as did now-former state Senator Gloria Romero; their bills (AB 1648, SB 1019) died in their respective chambers' Public Safety Committees in 2007.