Amended  IN  Assembly  March 16, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 594

Introduced by Assembly Member McCarty

February 11, 2021

An act to amend the heading of Chapter 17.4 (commencing with Section 7286) of Division 7 of Title 1 of, and to add Section 7287 to, the Government Code, relating to law enforcement.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 594, as amended, McCarty. Law enforcement policies.
Under existing law, a peace officer is justified in using deadly force when the officer reasonably believes, based on the totality of the circumstances, that such force is necessary to defend against an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another person, or to apprehend a fleeing felon, as specified.
Existing law requires each law enforcement agency to maintain a policy that provides guidelines on the use of force, and to annually furnish specified information to the Department of Justice regarding the use of force by peace officers employed by that agency.
Existing law requires the Attorney General to investigate incidents of an officer-involved shooting resulting in the death of an unarmed civilian, as specified.
This bill would, for specified deadly use of force incidents other than those required to be investigated by the Attorney General, require an agency to cause a criminal investigation of these incidents to be conducted, and would prohibit a law enforcement agency from having primary responsibility for conducting the criminal investigation into those incidents involving an officer employed by that agency. This bill would instead provide alternative protocols for investigations of those incidents, including investigation by the district attorney’s office, another law enforcement agency, or a multidisciplinary and multiagency task force. The bill would specify that these requirements apply only to a criminal investigation and not to any administrative or disciplinary investigation. The bill would also require each agency to adopt a written policy, or amend their existing written policy on the criminal investigation of officer-involved deadly use of force incidents, to be compliant with the requirements of this bill, and to make that policy available to the public, as specified.
By placing new requirements on local law enforcement agencies, this bill would impose a state mandate.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: YES  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 The heading of Chapter 17.4 (commencing with Section 7286) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code is amended to read:
CHAPTER  17.4. Law Enforcement Use of Force Policies and Investigations

SEC. 2.

 Section 7287 is added to the Government Code, to read:

7287.
 (a) Except for those incidents required to be investigated by a state prosecutor pursuant to Section 15252.3, 12525.3, a law enforcement agency shall cause a criminal investigation of all deadly use of force incidents to be conducted by either of the following means:
(1) By an outside agency agency, including a police department, sheriff’s department, or district attorney’s office, with which the employing agency has a memorandum of understanding or similar agreement to conduct such deadly use of force investigations, or which that has primary jurisdiction to investigate the incident.
(2) By a multidisciplinary and multiagency task force composed of representatives from various law enforcement agencies within the county or region for the purpose of investigating use of force incidents. with which the employing agency has a memorandum of understanding or similar agreement to conduct deadly use of force investigations.
(b) Under no circumstances shall the employing agency conduct have primary responsibility in conducting the criminal investigation described in subdivision (a).
(c) This section does not limit the authority of an agency to conduct an administrative or disciplinary investigation of any deadly use of force incident separately from the criminal investigation.
(d) Each law enforcement agency shall, by no later than January 1, 2023, adopt a written policy or amend its existing written policy regarding the criminal investigation of officer-involved deadly use of force incidents, to be compliant with this section and shall make that policy available to the public on its internet website.
(e) As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Criminal investigation” means an investigation that is conducted to determine if a violation of state law was committed by a peace officer involved in a shooting was committed. deadly use of force incident.
(2) “Law enforcement agency” means any police department, sheriff’s department, or agency of the state or any political subdivision thereof that employs peace officers.
(3) “Use “Deadly use of force incident” means any use of force by an officer that results in death, any use of an electronic control device or chemical agent by an officer that results in great bodily injury, or any discharge of a firearm by an officer that results in any injury. death.

SEC. 3.

 If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.