PD Editorial: When the police are investigated
Who should investigate police shootings?
The question is straightforward; a consensus answer has proven elusive.
Who should investigate police shootings?
The question is straightforward; a consensus answer has proven elusive.
Statement from Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D – Sacramento) Chair of Budget Sub- Committee 2 on Education Finance, regarding the 2015-16 proposed budget:
“I am pleased with the Governor’s proposed budget blue print. The Governor’s focus is rightly on fiscal prudence, but also significantly reinvests in education from K-12, community colleges, and our higher education institutions. This framework is a good starting point for the Legislature to engage the administration and I look forward to working with the Governor on these issues and others, particularly increasing access for low income families to preschool.”
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A California bill aimed at increasing the public's trust of investigations of on-duty officers who fatally shoot suspects is being proposed by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento.
AB-86 would create a law enforcement panel, likely within the state Attorney General's office, to study each case of a California police officer fatally shooting someone and write reviews or issue recommendations.
Police officers who fatally shoot suspects would be subject to an outside review under California legislation being introduced by Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento.
The bill follows a number of intensely scrutinized police killings, both the deaths of Michael Brown in Missouri and Eric Garner in New York, which drew national attention, and the case of an Army veteran, Parminder Singh Shergill, felled by police bullets in Lodi.
Bill would require independent panel to investigate civilian shootings
(SACRAMENTO, CA) - Under legislation introduced today, cases like those of Eric Garner and Michael Brown in California would be investigated by a state independent law enforcement panel rather than a local district attorney. AB 86 (McCarty, D-Sacramento) would require that any officer-involved shooting that results in the death of a civilian must be reviewed by an independent law enforcement panel established within the California Department of Justice. The bill further requires the results of the investigation be submitted to the district attorney where the incident occurred, and the Attorney General.
“For far too long there has been a cloud of confusion surrounding police shootings, now is the time for California to be a leader on this issue. The creation of an independent police review panel is a common sense solution which will create trust between the police the community,” said Assemblymember McCarty. “District attorneys will no longer have to worry about investigating the police with whom they work so closely. No one should be able to police themselves.”