SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police when an officer held his knee on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, resulting in his death.
(b) The outcry over this murder has resulted in demands for police reform across the state and the nation.
(c) For decades, Californians have experienced horrific civil rights violations, injuries, and death at the hands of peace officers.
(d) These incidents often result in civil lawsuits and payouts made by cities, counties, and the state to the civilians harmed by the actions of police officers, sheriffs’ deputies, and other peace officers. These settlements and judgments are often agreed to in closed sessions at city council and board of supervisors meetings, and settlements can range from thousands to millions of dollars.
(e) Despite the burden these payouts have on local jurisdictions, there is little publicly available information about the costs to taxpayers of law enforcement liability, the manner in which governments budget for and pay lawsuits involving law enforcement, and the financial impact of these arrangements on law enforcement agency budgets.
(f) Throughout the country, municipalities with
the 20 largest police departments have paid over $2 billion since 2015 in misconduct claims. Of those 20 municipalities, four are located in California. The County of Los Angeles paid $238,300,000, the City of Los Angeles paid $172,200,000, the City and County of San Francisco paid $22,000,000, and the City of San Diego paid $12,500,000.
(g) State law stipulates that individual officers do not pay towards these settlements. Instead, these settlements typically come from the general fund of the municipality involved, or if the law enforcement agency itself pays, then it is part of a specific budget line item set aside for settling officer misconduct litigation. Municipal budgets allocate funds to their law enforcement agencies with the expectation that they will be financially liable for their wrongdoing, year over year.
(h) Cities and counties typically use liability insurance or
general obligation bonds procured by the municipality or state to pay for police settlements. Cities and counties pay annually for liability insurance, which is also used to cover trip-and-fall injuries and workers’ compensation claims, to cover the costs of settlements involving police misconduct, brutality, or death of a civilian by a peace officer.
(i) In 2019, the City of Sacramento paid an insurance company $2,000,000 in taxpayer dollars to secure up to $35,000,000 for settlements and judgments. Among the payouts made in 2019 was the city’s largest ever settlement, involving $5,200,000 for a man who was so brutally beaten by a police officer that he requires intensive, lifelong medical care.
(j) In 2017, the Los Angeles Police Department cost taxpayers $80,000,000
settling lawsuits involving officer misconduct. Similarly, the County of Los Angeles paid out over $50,000,000 in misconduct claims from 2015 to 2016, inclusive, the majority of which were excessive force claims. Shootings alone cost the County of Los Angeles $60,000,000 between 2011 to 2016, inclusive.
(k) During the 2021–22 fiscal year, the County of Los Angeles paid $26,500,000 in judgments, with the two most costly judgments, $53,000,000 and $14,000,000, incurred against the Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement conduct against a civilian. Additionally, the county paid $56,000,000 in settlement costs, for a total of $82,500,000 in settlements and judgments paid. The Sheriff’s Department paid significantly higher than other County of Los Angeles departments in litigation expenses for the 2021–22 fiscal year, costing taxpayers
$73,200,000.
(l) In addition to liability insurance, the board of supervisors or city council can authorize a general obligation bond to pay for these incidents of police misconduct and brutality. These types of general obligation bonds are so common that they are called Police Brutality Bonds by the Wall Street firms who profit from them. These bonds are paid for by taxpayers and take years to pay off due to additional fees and high interest rates.
(m) In 2009 and 2010, the City of Los Angeles issued $71,400,000 in Police Brutality Bonds. Banks and other private firms collected more than $1,000,000 in issuance fees on these two bonds. By the time these bonds are paid off, taxpayers will have handed over more than $18,000,000 to investors, allowing Wall Street to profit from the
death or serious injury of a civilian at the hands of a police officer.
(n) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to establish transparency requirements surrounding police use of force settlements and judgments against police and
sheriff’s departments.