California’s leaders failed on critical police reforms. Where’s the moral courage?

The killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Dijon Kizzee and too many others outraged our nation to its core and sparked protests around the world. California’s no exception.

Protests and vigils from the upper north of the state in Arcata to as far south as San Diego are visible proof that Californians support the need to change our unjust policing laws.

Over the past few weeks, many grassroots organizations came together to get a series of police reform bills passed to address these unjust laws in California. We should commend those organizations for their incredible work, especially on Senate Bill 731, the bill to decertify police who break the law. The bill’s co-sponsors included: the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color, the ACLU of California, the Anti-Police-Terror Project, Black Lives Matter California, California Families United 4 Justice, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, PolicyLink, STOP Coalition and the Youth Justice Coalition.

However, while the California Legislature made some strides in addressing these injustices, it punted on critical reforms. Specifically, both the state Assembly and Senate failed to pass laws to end qualified immunity, decertify police officers who break the law or force the release of personnel records of officers who commit serious incidents. Without these laws, our state lacks the ability to identify bad cops, prosecute their misconduct and get them off the streets — further eroding trust between police officers and the communities they serve.

In a state as progressive as California and with Democrats holding “supermajorities” in both the Assembly and Senate, it’s worth asking how this happened and what we can do to change it.

To start, let’s call out the effect police union lobbying has on lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The Fraternal Order of Police is the largest police union in the country and it donates millions to Republicans and Democrats. And they’ve been pushing back against reform in California to protect their members. That’s understandable, but when California lawmakers denounce what’s happening in Minneapolis, we should ask how they vote in Sacramento. As a state, we need to walk the walk. We need to demand more from our elected officials than performative allyship. Wagging their finger at police abuse in other states while turning a blind eye in our own state is problematic and hypocritical.

In addition to the critical legislation mentioned above, the state needs to overturn the Peace Officers Bill of Rights which was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown during his first term in 1976. This is one of the most severe and rigid police laws in the nation. It protects abusive police from being properly investigated, prosecuted or even terminated. Our communities have been hitting the streets, protesting and demanding bold action. California needs leadership with the moral courage to stand up for our values and take common sense action to rebuild the public faith at a time that our democratic values are being challenged and our country feels like it is eroding into fascism.

The protests that have sprung up throughout California and throughout the country in response to police killings of Black people represent a movement. The young leaders of this movement are calling upon elected officials from both parties to examine the systemic racism at the core of the disproportionate number of Black and brown people being incarcerated and killed by police.

Similar to the fight for climate justice, this fight is also undergirded by racism and is disproportionately impacting Black and Indigenous people of color, as well as low-income people. We have built grassroots movements to turn out young voters to affect change and we know that, once elected officials recognize there’s a price to be paid at the ballot box, they will change their tune. Backing progressive policing policies should be analogous to supporting health care reform — a given for any candidate who wants to seek office as a Democrat.

On the final day of the legislative session in Sacramento, Dijon Kizzee was shot and killed by LA County Sheriffs after evading arrest for being suspected of illegally riding a bicycle. Without real reform, we cannot guarantee that we’ll find out if the officers who committed this heinous act had personnel histories of misconduct or be able to decertify them if they do. And our own Attorney General’s office won’t have the resources it needs to conduct an independent investigation.

California has an opportunity to be a leader in police reform — and build a more progressive and equitable environment for all its residents — much like it’s done with progressive climate change laws. But with that comes a need for California legislators with strong political will to bring about much needed change and not adhere to the status quo.

This is a transformational moment. It is our hope that state lawmakers take a second look at these bills and reconsider the impact they can make during this historic moment. Our communities and base will support all those legislators who do and will continue advocating toward that reform effort.