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5 Things to Know About California’s Backlog of Police Shooting Investigations
The state program has closed 41 cases in five years, but delays now limit charges and officer decertification in older shootings.
- Attorney General Rob Bonta originally pledged to close police shooting investigations within one year, but the California Department program now averages nearly two years and five months per case.
- Following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the Legislature established the program to reduce conflicts of interest and restore faith in the judicial system by removing local prosecutors who relied on police testimony.
- For 92% of crimes in California, the statute of limitations is three years; when investigations stretch past that deadline, the Justice Department cannot recommend decertification or charge officers with crimes like involuntary manslaughter.
- The program has closed 41 cases in five years with a $13 million annual budget despite requesting $26 million, while local departments often take a hands-off approach once the DOJ takes over investigations.
- Brian Cole, detective division overseer at the Redding Police Department, said local agencies avoid investigations once the state intervenes, while Cristine Soto DeBerry of the San Francisco District Attorney noted that "local interest is felt by local prosecutors.
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The Bakersfield Californian+9 Reposted by 9 other sources
5 things to know about California’s backlog of police shooting investigations
Under growing pressure from a restive public during the summer of 2020, the Legislature passed a bill that put police shootings of unarmed people under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Justice.
·Bakersfield, United States
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5 things to know about California's backlog of police shooting investigations
Under growing pressure from a restive public during the summer of 2020, the Legislature passed a bill that put police shootings of unarmed people under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Justice. The belief, at the time, was that pulling investigations from local prosecutors — the same prosecutors who relied on police officers to testify in criminal cases — would reduce conflicts of interest and restore faith in a judicial system …
·Sacramento, United States
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Total News Sources11
Leaning Left2Leaning Right0Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution67% Left
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources lean Left
67% Left
L 67%
C 33%
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