Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Shouts, Tears, Votes Push Police Use-of-Force Standard Through Assembly
gvw_calmatters
By CalMatters
Published 6 years ago on
May 31, 2019

Share

For an hour and a half Wednesday morning, California lawmakers lined up to speak for or against (but mostly for) one of the most high-profile bills of the year. One member of the Assembly, a former state cop, choked back tears as he wrestled with the implications of his vote.

by Ben Christopher
CALmatters

But when the rolls opened on AB392, which would make it harder for police to legally justify killing a civilian, the tally wasn’t close. The Assembly passed the bill, 68 to 0, with 12 members abstaining.

Wednesday’s vote pushes California one step closer to enacting use-of-force standards that would be among the strictest in the country. If AB392 is signed into law, police would only be able to use lethal force if “necessary” to defend human life.

The current standard, established by the U.S. Supreme Court, allows the lethal use of force if the split-second decision to pull the trigger is “reasonable.”

Introduced by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber from San Diego, the bill is a product of a long political tug-o’-war. On one side are criminal justice advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union, which has argued that current law allows police officers to justify all but the most flagrant misconduct. On the other are law enforcement groups, which have said that a stricter use-of-force standard would allow prosecutors to second-guess difficult policing decisions in often dangerous situations.

But most of the state’s major law enforcement groups are no longer actively opposing the bill, the result of an amendment last week. An earlier version of the bill defined “necessary” use of force as lacking any “reasonable alternative,” but that phrasing was stripped. Police groups argued that the “no reasonable alternative” would give prosecutors too much leeway to question every decision after the fact.

It Offers Balanced Approach

At a news conference after the vote, Weber insisted that the amendments had not substantially weakened the bill’s civil liberty safeguards. But the change seems to have helped clear the way for Wednesday’s vote among officials ordinarily allied with law enforcement, with most moderate Democrats and 9 of the chamber’s 19 Republicans voting in favor.

“In my entire elected experience never has a bill consumed my thinking as this has,” said Assemblyman Tom Lackey, a Republican and former California Highway Patrol officer, who paused a number of times throughout his speech to collect himself.

He recalled a former colleague, “someone who was a very big part of my life,” who had killed someone while in the line of duty and, struggling with the guilt, later took his own life. But Lackey said that he would support the bill because he argued, it offered a balanced approach.

Jim Gallagher, a Republican from Yuba City, also spoke in favor of the bill, saying that with the new amendments it represents a “reasonable compromise.”

Devon Mathis, a Republican from Visalia, was initially the only Republican to vote “no” before switching his vote to an abstention. He argued that a lack of respect for police officers was the source of many civilian killings.

“We teach our youth ‘no means no,’” he said. “But when are we going to teach them, ‘stop means stop,’ ‘freeze means freeze’?”

 

Fierce Response From Assemblyman Mike Gipson

That argument prompted a fierce response from Assemblyman Mike Gipson, a Democrat from Compton.

“I listen to all of you with your commentaries and words, but you don’t have to have my kind of experience,” said Gipson, who is African American, his voice reverberating around the chamber. “You don’t live where I live or grow up where I grew up.”

“I listen to all of you with your commentaries and words, but you don’t have to have my kind of experience. You don’t live where I live or grow up where I grew up.” — Assemblyman Mike Gipson

Weber, also an African American, said that the bill was part of a “400-year challenge” for racial justice in the United States. She closed by dedicating the bill to her two grandchildren. When the vote was called, criminal justice advocates stood in the balcony and sang “This Land is Your Land.”

The bill now progresses to the Senate, where a similar version of the proposal died in committee last year. But this time around, the bill has the public support of the Democratic President Pro Tem Toni Atkins of San Diego, who stood beside Weber at Wednesday’s news conference.

Earlier this week, the state Senate passed a police-backed “companion” bill unanimously. The proposal by Democratic Sen. Anna Caballero from Salinas would provide more use-of-force training to police.

Learn more about these two bills and about the legal, political and human dimensions of this debate by subscribing to Laurel Rosenhall’s podcast, Force of Law.

CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

DON'T MISS

Fight Over Phonics: Will CA Require the ‘Science of Reading’ in K-12 Schools?

DON'T MISS

Russia Says Trump’s Threats Against Iran Could Trigger ‘Global Catastrophe’

DON'T MISS

Get Off the Phone! Fresno Police Target Distracted Driving

DON'T MISS

Federal Reserve Chief Says Trump Tariffs Likely to Raise Inflation and Slow US Economic Growth

DON'T MISS

The NBA’s Playoff Chase Enters Its Final Days. Here’s a Look at What’s Happening

DON'T MISS

USC’s JuJu Watkins Named AP Player of the Year After Historic Sophomore Season

DON'T MISS

Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman Lands on Injured List Following Fall in His Shower at Home

DON'T MISS

How Trump’s Latest Tariffs Could Affect Your Wallet

DON'T MISS

Curry Scores 37 Points and Warriors Beat Lakers in a Potential First-Round Playoff Preview

DON'T MISS

LA Fires Death Toll Rises to 30 After Remains Are Found

UP NEXT

A Tale of Two Local Districts: Implementing the CA Classroom Cell Phone Ban

UP NEXT

Northern California Gets Record Rain and Heavy Snow. Many Have Been in the Dark for Days in Seattle

UP NEXT

FUSD’s Easy Credit Recovery Classes Don’t Square With Measure H Bond Claims

UP NEXT

Does CalPERS Have No Shame? It Invests Millions in Azerbaijan, a Country as Brutal as North Korea

UP NEXT

Fresno State Psych Professor Offers 10 Tips for Effective New Year’s Resolutions

UP NEXT

Fresno State Psych Professor Offers 10 Tips for Effective New Year’s Resolutions

UP NEXT

California’s Farmers Give Great Gifts to Us All – During the Holidays and All Year Long

UP NEXT

California’s Farmers Give Great Gifts to Us All – During the Holidays and All Year Long

UP NEXT

Someone Will Need to Proofread the Work of Fresno Unified’s High-Priced Copy Editors

UP NEXT

Someone Will Need to Proofread the Work of Fresno Unified’s High-Priced Copy Editors

Federal Reserve Chief Says Trump Tariffs Likely to Raise Inflation and Slow US Economic Growth

45 minutes ago

The NBA’s Playoff Chase Enters Its Final Days. Here’s a Look at What’s Happening

51 minutes ago

USC’s JuJu Watkins Named AP Player of the Year After Historic Sophomore Season

55 minutes ago

Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman Lands on Injured List Following Fall in His Shower at Home

1 hour ago

How Trump’s Latest Tariffs Could Affect Your Wallet

1 hour ago

Curry Scores 37 Points and Warriors Beat Lakers in a Potential First-Round Playoff Preview

1 hour ago

LA Fires Death Toll Rises to 30 After Remains Are Found

1 hour ago

US Added 228,000 Jobs in March as Economy Showed Strength in Buildup to Trump Trade Wars

1 hour ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Samantha Jenny Audelo

2 hours ago

Russell Brand Charged With Rape, Sexual Assault

2 hours ago

Fight Over Phonics: Will CA Require the ‘Science of Reading’ in K-12 Schools?

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Can you spell deja vu? By Carolyn Jones CalMatters The ...

1 minute ago

1 minute ago

Fight Over Phonics: Will CA Require the ‘Science of Reading’ in K-12 Schools?

40 minutes ago

Russia Says Trump’s Threats Against Iran Could Trigger ‘Global Catastrophe’

The Fresno Police Department will conduct an enforcement operation on April 7, 2025, to target drivers violating the hands-free cell phone law, aiming to reduce distracted driving. (Shutterstock)
44 minutes ago

Get Off the Phone! Fresno Police Target Distracted Driving

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at the Federal Reserve in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
45 minutes ago

Federal Reserve Chief Says Trump Tariffs Likely to Raise Inflation and Slow US Economic Growth

51 minutes ago

The NBA’s Playoff Chase Enters Its Final Days. Here’s a Look at What’s Happening

55 minutes ago

USC’s JuJu Watkins Named AP Player of the Year After Historic Sophomore Season

1 hour ago

Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman Lands on Injured List Following Fall in His Shower at Home

A hand-embroidery dress fabric made in India, costing a couple hundred dollars per yard, is sold at the Francia Textiles fabric store in the Fashion District in Los Angeles on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
1 hour ago

How Trump’s Latest Tariffs Could Affect Your Wallet

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend