Skip to content
CapRadio

CapRadio

listen live donate
listen live donate
listen live
donate
  • News
    • News

    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
    News
    • News

    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
  • Music
    • Music

    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic

    • Daily Playlist
    Music
    • Music

    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic

    • Daily Playlist
  • Podcasts & Shows
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Support
    • Support
    • Ways to support
    • Evergreen Donation
    • One-Time Donation
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Giving
    • Legacy Giving
    • Endowment Support
    • Members
    • Member Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • Member Newsletter

    • Fund drives
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
    Support
    • Support
    • Ways to support
    • Evergreen Donation
    • One-Time Donation
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Giving
    • Legacy Giving
    • Endowment Support
    • Members
    • Member Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • Member Newsletter

    • Fund drives
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About
  • Close Menu
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
  • State Government
  •  

A Truncated Session, Gamesmanship And Police Opposition: Why So Many Police Reforms Failed In California’s Liberal Legislature

  •  Nicole Nixon 
Friday, September 4, 2020 | Sacramento, CA
Listen
/
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Rich Pedroncelli / AP Photo

Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Carson, bows his head as he and other members of the California Legislature kneel for 8 minutes and 46 second to honor George Floyd at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. Tuesday, June 9, 2020.

Rich Pedroncelli / AP Photo

After days of nationwide protests in June following George Floyd’s death under the knees of Minneapolis police, California lawmakers knelt in a moment of silence and solidarity on the steps of the state Capitol. 

They pledged to pass laws and work with their communities to make them safer. It was the same day Floyd’s funeral took place in Houston.

Months later, the Democrat-led state legislature failed to pass several bills — one of which was named the “George Floyd Law” — that would have addressed the same issues that kept protesters in the streets across the country.

Lawmakers did pass a handful of police reform bills before they adjourned early Tuesday morning, including measures to ban police use of neck restraints and to require independent investigations into law enforcement killings of unarmed civilians.

But Sen. Steven Bradford (D–Gardena), who sponsored perhaps the most closely-watched policing bill, says the measures that would have “had a direct impact on the community — those are the bills that didn’t get out.”  

That includes his Senate Bill 731, which would have created a process to strip the badges from officers who are convicted of certain crimes or charged with misconduct. The rules are intended to keep so-called “bad apple” cops hopping from department to department.

California is one of only five states — along with Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island — that does not currently have a process to decertify police, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In the days following the session, there was plenty of blame to go around over why important bills dealing with public safety, housing and other measures failed.

Bradford blames political gamesmanship between the chambers and members across the aisle on the final night. Senate Republicans, forced to vote remotely after a member of their caucus tested positive for coronavirus, filibustered bills and forced a shutdown of the entire chamber for nearly two hours. 

But Bradford’s bill died in the Assembly, which is also controlled by Democrats. 

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D–Lakewood) told Politico it wasn’t brought to the floor because it didn’t have the votes to pass. But Bradford says that’s not completely true. He maintains that he and the bill’s Assembly floor manager, Asm. Shirley Weber (D–San Diego), had identified 31 solid “yes” votes, with 14 others leaning “aye” — putting approval within striking distance.

“We had our votes, but the speaker wouldn’t know that unless he allowed us to have our day in the sun,” Bradford said in an interview with CapRadio this week.

Demonstrators at the east steps of the California State Capitol in Sacramento on June 3, 2020 protest the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

Because the bill was never brought up for debate, Bradford did not have an opportunity to “work the bill” — or attempt to persuade hesitant colleagues to cast a vote in the bill’s favor if it didn’t immediately reach the required 41-vote threshold.

The Gardena Democrat also points out that at the same time police reform bills were stalling Monday night, Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a black man, 29-year-old Dijon Kizzee.

Police unions, barred from the Capitol due to the coronavirus, lobbied vigorously but remotely against the bill. “They lit members’ phones up,” Bradford said. 

Brian Marvel, President of the Peace Officers Research Association of California, said the group does support some process for decertifying problem cops, but that SB 731 went too far. 

“With the COVID-19 truncated process this year, a lot of the public safety bills didn’t get quite the vetting we would have liked to have seen” through committee hearings and regular negotiations, Marvel said. 

He said Bradford refused to work with law enforcement groups until the legislative session was nearly over. “I don’t think Senator Bradford and his sponsors wanted compromise on this,” he said. “They felt that with the amount of stuff going on nationally, they felt that they could jam it through.”

Marvel’s main concern with the bill was the proposed makeup of an accountability panel, which would have included three members from law enforcement and six others not from a police background. He argues the board would have immediately been stacked against officers. 

“You’re setting up a process that’s going to be a failure. I don’t think California wants to go through that,” he said. 

Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D–San Diego) acknowledged technical issues and a partisan spat earlier in the evening led to a shortened time clock to pass critical bills in the final hours. 

“Clearly, some colleagues felt like there needed to be more conversation” on the policing measures, Atkins told reporters around 2 a.m. after the Senate adjourned. 

In a statement Thursday, Atkins and Bradford pledged to “carry the momentum behind SB 731 through to the next legislative session,” indicating there would not be a special session on policing reform bills, as some advocates have requested. 

Other public safety bills that stalled include one — also opposed by law enforcement groups — that would have made complaints of police violence more open to the public. 

Another would have restricted police from using tear gas, rubber bullets and other “less-lethal” crowd control tactics during protests, after scores of demonstrators and journalists reported injuries during summer demonstrations.

Author Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D–San Diego) echoed disappointment that her measure was a casualty of stall tactics and a shortened clock, but blamed one group of lawmakers in particular. 

“To be clear, the next nonviolent protester who is injured by one of these weapons in California can point directly at the dysfunction and filibustering of the Senate Republicans as the reason why there are still no standards for ‘less than lethal’ force,” she said in a statement. 

Demonstrators march down L Street in downtown Sacramento on June 3, 2020 to protest the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

A measure nicknamed a “George Floyd law,” which would have required officers to intervene if they witness a colleague using excessive force, was held back earlier in August. 

Assemblyman Chris Holden (D–Pasadena), the bill’s author, said in a statement that he still has not received an explanation over why it was not released to the floor. 

“There was no reason for this bill to be held, especially since it had enough support from members on the Committee to pass,” he said. “Given the widespread public outcry for police reforms right now, it is a missed opportunity for California to lead on this issue.” 

Meanwhile, Sen. Bradford said he wishes Gov. Gavin Newsom would have provided louder support for policing reforms in the final weeks of the session. “That would have been an important signal that this was important to all Californians,” he said.

Looking back at the event on June 9 when he and other state lawmakers knelt in support of George Floyd and other Black people killed by police, Bradford said for some, it was just “the opportunity for a photo op.”

“If you can take a knee for eight minutes and [46] seconds, but you can’t cast a vote on the floor for a bill that will save lives — I’m deeply saddened,” he said.

Bradford waved off the idea that California bills itself a national policy leader and ‘the next coming attraction,’ pointing out that Florida and Georgia have among the most robust police oversight and decertification laws. 

“Southern states get it right,” he said, “but a progressive state like California can’t do the real things when it comes to police reform.”


Follow us for more stories like this

CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you.  As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.

Donate Today  

    More about George Floyd

  • Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

    Background: The Killing Of George Floyd, Trial Of Derek Chauvin

    The death of George Floyd — who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police in 2020 — sparked nationwide protest, including in Sacramento. Former police officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for Floyd's murder, with a verdict expected soon.

 George FloydRacial Justice

Andrew Nixon / CapRadio

Nicole Nixon

Politics Reporter

Nicole covers politics and government for CapRadio. Before moving to California, she won several awards, including a regional Edward R. Murrow Award, for her political reporting in her hometown of Salt Lake City.  Read Full Bio 

 @_Nixo Email Nicole Nixon

Sign up for ReCap and never miss the top stories

Delivered to your inbox every Friday.

 

Check out a sample ReCap newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

Thank you for signing up for the ReCap newsletter! We'll send you an email each Friday with the top stories from CapRadio.

Browse all newsletters

More State Government Stories

Stephanie Hughes

Garbology is the study of trash. This is why students love it

March 24, 2023

AP Photo/Allen Breed, File

Bill to extend time to investigate scams against older Californians advances

March 28, 2023

Most Viewed

California coronavirus updates: The FDA may soon authorize another round of boosters for some individuals

State may scale down its new home loan program designed to assist first-time homebuyers

A plumber crawled under a house in Los Angeles to do a job and then went missing

California coronavirus updates: Americans' life expectancy has dropped to 76 years, second time in a row since pandemic

10 new California laws that go into effect in 2023

We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

Most Viewed

California coronavirus updates: The FDA may soon authorize another round of boosters for some individuals

State may scale down its new home loan program designed to assist first-time homebuyers

A plumber crawled under a house in Los Angeles to do a job and then went missing

California coronavirus updates: Americans' life expectancy has dropped to 76 years, second time in a row since pandemic

10 new California laws that go into effect in 2023

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    •  
      (916) 278-8900
    •  
      (877) 480-5900
    •  Contact / Feedback
    •  Submit a Tip / Story Idea
  • About

    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Stations & Coverage Map
    • Careers & Internships
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
    • Press
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile Apps
    • Smart Speakers
    • Podcasts & Shows
    • On-Air Schedules
    • Daily Playlist
    • Signal Status
  • Connect

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen Live

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2023, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.