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.”
(Calif.) Sacramento Democrat Kevin McCarty, newly-appointed chair of the Assembly’s budget subcommittee on education finance, wasted no time in the new legislative session taking up a cause that has gained serious momentum in the state but has yet to be fully enacted – preschool for all kids.
Debate over AB 47, as with the other 99 bills introduced the first week of the 2015-16 session, won’t begin until lawmakers reconvene Jan. 5, but there will be plenty to discuss.
SACRAMENTO - Today, Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) introduced a groundbreaking legislative proposal to ensure that all children have access to preschool regardless of their family’s income. Under the provisions of AB 47, the California Department of Education will be required to work with the Legislature and the Department of Finance on how to bridge the preschool gap for the children of low income parents who aren’t already covered by the state’s preschool coverage efforts, which passed earlier this year as part of the state’s budget.
