Kenneth Ross Jr. Police Decertification Act of 2020

As Amends the Law Today

This act shall be known as the Kenneth Ross Jr. Police Decertification Act of 2020.

SEC. 2.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) California is one of the last few states that does not have a process for revoking peace officer certificates as a result of misconduct. Nationwide, 45 states have the authority to decertify peace officers. Five states do not have decertification authority: California, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

(b) In 2017, 172 Californians were killed by the police, and our state’s police departments have some of the highest rates of killings in the nation. Of the unarmed people California police killed, three out of four were people of color. Black and Latino families and communities of color are disproportionately vulnerable to police violence, creating generations of individual and community trauma.

(c) More than 200 professions and trades, including doctors, lawyers, and contractors are licensed or certified by the State of California, in order to maintain professional standards and to protect the public. Law enforcement officers are entrusted with extraordinary powers including the power to carry a firearm, to stop and search, to arrest, and to use force. They must be held to the highest standards of accountability, and the state should ensure that officers who abuse their authority by committing serious or repeated misconduct, or otherwise demonstrate a lack of fitness to serve as peace officers, are removed from the streets.

(d) To ensure public trust that the system for decertification will hold peace officers accountable for misconduct and that California’s standards for law enforcement reflect community values, it is the intent of the Legislature that the entities charged with investigating and rendering decisions on decertification shall be under independent civilian control and maintain independence from law enforcement.

SEC. 2.SEC. 3.

 Section 52.1 of the Civil Code is amended to read:

52.1.

 (a) This section shall be known, and may be cited, as the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act.

(b) (1)  If a person or persons, whether or not acting under color of law, interferes by threat, intimidation, or coercion, or attempts to interfere by threat, intimidation, or coercion, with the exercise or enjoyment by any individual or individuals of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or of the rights secured by the Constitution or laws of this state, the Attorney General, or any district attorney or city attorney may bring a civil action for injunctive and other appropriate equitable relief in the name of the people of the State of California, in order to protect the peaceable exercise or enjoyment of the right or rights secured. An action brought by the Attorney General, any district attorney, or any city attorney may also seek a civil penalty of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). If this civil penalty is requested, it shall be assessed individually against each person who is determined to have violated this section and the penalty shall be awarded to each individual whose rights under this section are determined to have been violated.

(2) The threat, intimidation, or coercion required under this section need not be separate or independent from, and may be inherent in, any interference or attempted interference with a right. A person bringing suit under this section need not prove that a person being sued under this section had specific intent to interfere or attempt to interfere with a right secured by the Constitution or law. For any person, public entity, or private entity sued under this section, intentional conduct to interfere or attempt to interfere with a constitutional right or right granted by law or deliberate indifference or reckless disregard for a constitutional right or right granted by law that interferes or attempts to interfere with that right, is sufficient to prove a violation of this section by threat, intimidation, or coercion. For purposes of this section, a person acts “intentionally” when the person acts with general intent or a conscious objective to engage in particular conduct.

(c) (1)  Any individual whose exercise or enjoyment of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or of rights secured by the Constitution or laws of this state, has been interfered with, or attempted to be interfered with, as described in subdivision (a), may institute and prosecute in his or her  their  own name and on his or her  their  own behalf a civil action for damages, including, but not limited to, damages under Section 52, injunctive relief, and other appropriate equitable relief to protect the peaceable exercise or enjoyment of the right or rights secured, including appropriate equitable and declaratory relief to eliminate a pattern or practice of conduct as described in subdivision (a). (b). 

(2) A cause of action for the death of a person caused by a violation of this section may be asserted by any person described in Section 377.60 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(d) An action brought pursuant to subdivision (a) (b)  or (b) (c)  may be filed either in the superior court for the county in which the conduct complained of occurred or in the superior court for the county in which a person whose conduct complained of resides or has his or her  their  place of business. An action brought by the Attorney General pursuant to subdivision (a) (b)  also may be filed in the superior court for any county wherein the Attorney General has an office, and in that case, the jurisdiction of the court shall extend throughout the state.

(e) If a court issues a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent injunction in an action brought pursuant to subdivision (a) (b)  or (b), (c),  ordering a defendant to refrain from conduct or activities, the order issued shall include the following statement: VIOLATION OF THIS ORDER IS A CRIME PUNISHABLE UNDER SECTION 422.77 OF THE PENAL CODE.

(f) The court shall order the plaintiff or the attorney for the plaintiff to deliver, or the clerk of the court to mail, two copies of any order, extension, modification, or termination thereof granted pursuant to this section, by the close of the business day on which the order, extension, modification, or termination was granted, to each local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the residence of the plaintiff and any other locations where the court determines that acts of violence against the plaintiff are likely to occur. Those local law enforcement agencies shall be designated by the plaintiff or the attorney for the plaintiff. Each appropriate law enforcement agency receiving any order, extension, or modification of any order issued pursuant to this section shall serve forthwith one copy thereof upon the defendant. Each appropriate law enforcement agency shall provide to any law enforcement officer responding to the scene of reported violence, information as to the existence of, terms, and current status of, any order issued pursuant to this section.

(g) A court shall not have jurisdiction to issue an order or injunction under this section, if that order or injunction would be prohibited under Section 527.3 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(h) An action brought pursuant to this section is independent of any other action, remedy, or procedure that may be available to an aggrieved individual under any other provision of law, including, but not limited to, an action, remedy, or procedure brought pursuant to Section 51.7.

(i) In addition to any damages, injunction, or other equitable relief awarded in an action brought pursuant to subdivision (b), (c),  the court may award the petitioner or plaintiff reasonable attorney’s fees.

(j) A violation of an order described in subdivision (d) (e)  may be punished either by prosecution under Section 422.77 of the Penal Code, or by a proceeding for contempt brought pursuant to Title 5 (commencing with Section 1209) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure. However, in any proceeding pursuant to the Code of Civil Procedure, if it is determined that the person proceeded against is guilty of the contempt charged, in addition to any other relief, a fine may be imposed not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or the person may be ordered imprisoned in a county jail not exceeding six months, or the court may order both the imprisonment and fine.

(k) Speech alone is not sufficient to support an action brought pursuant to subdivision (a) (b)  or (b), (c),  except upon a showing that the speech itself threatens violence against a specific person or group of persons; and the person or group of persons against whom the threat is directed reasonably fears that, because of the speech, violence will be committed against them or their property and that the person threatening violence had the apparent ability to carry out the threat.

(l) No order issued in any proceeding brought pursuant to subdivision (a) (b)  or (b) (c)  shall restrict the content of any person’s speech. An order restricting the time, place, or manner of any person’s speech shall do so only to the extent reasonably necessary to protect the peaceable exercise or enjoyment of constitutional or statutory rights, consistent with the constitutional rights of the person sought to be enjoined.

(m) The rights, penalties, remedies, forums, and procedures of this section shall not be waived by contract except as provided in Section 51.7.

(n) With the exception of judicial and prosecutorial immunity for individual attorneys acting on behalf of a prosecutor’s office in a prosecutorial capacity, state immunity provisions shall not apply to any cause of action brought against any employee or agent of a public entity, or directly against a public entity, under this section.

SEC. 3.SEC. 4.

 Section 1029 of the Government Code is amended to read:

1029.

 (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), (c), (d),  or (d), (e),  each of the following persons is disqualified from holding office as a peace officer or being employed as a peace officer of the state, county, city, city and county or other political subdivision, whether with or without compensation, and is disqualified from any office or employment by the state, county, city, city and county or other political subdivision, whether with or without compensation, which confers upon the holder or employee the powers and duties of a peace officer:

(1) Any person who has been convicted of a felony.

(2) Any person who has been convicted of any offense in any other jurisdiction which would have been a felony if committed in this state.

(3) Any person who has been discharged from the military for committing an offense, as adjudicated by a military tribunal, which would have been a felony if committed in this state.

(3) (4)  Any person who, after January 1, 2004, has been convicted of a crime based upon a verdict or finding of guilt of a felony by the trier of fact, or upon the entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a felony. This paragraph shall apply  applies  regardless of whether, pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 17 of the Penal Code, the court declares the offense to be a misdemeanor or the offense becomes a misdemeanor by operation of law.

(4) (5)  Any person who has been charged with a felony and adjudged by a superior court to be mentally incompetent under Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 1367) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Penal Code.

(5) (6)  Any person who has been found not guilty by reason of insanity of any felony.

(6) (7)  Any person who has been determined to be a mentally disordered sex offender pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 6300) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(7) (8)  Any person adjudged addicted or in danger of becoming addicted to narcotics, convicted, and committed to a state institution as provided in Section 3051 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(9) Any person who has been convicted of, or adjudicated through an administrative, military, or civil judicial process, including a hearing that meets the requirements of the administrative adjudication provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), as having committed, any act that is a violation of Section 115, 115.3, 116, 116.5, or 117 of, or of any offense described in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 92), Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 118), Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 132), or Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 142) of Title 7 of Part 1 of the Penal Code, including any act committed in another jurisdiction that would have been a violation of any of those sections if committed in this state.

(10) Any person who has been issued a certificate described in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 13500) of Title 4 of Part 4 of the Penal Code, and has had that certificate revoked by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, has voluntarily surrendered that certificate, or having met the minimum training and experience requirement for issuance of the basic certificate, has been denied issuance of that certificate.

(b) (1) A plea of guilty to a felony pursuant to a deferred entry of judgment program as set forth in Sections 1000 to 1000.4, inclusive, of the Penal Code shall not alone disqualify a person from being a peace officer unless a judgment of guilty is entered pursuant to Section 1000.3 of the Penal Code.

(2) A person who pleads guilty or nolo contendere to, or who is found guilty by a trier of fact of, an alternate felony-misdemeanor drug possession offense and successfully completes a program of probation pursuant to Section 1210.1 of the Penal Code shall not be disqualified from being a peace officer solely on the basis of the plea or finding if the court deems the offense to be a misdemeanor or reduces the offense to a misdemeanor.

(c) Any person who has been convicted of a felony, other than a felony punishable by death, in this state or any other state, or who has been convicted of any offense in any other state which would have been a felony, other than a felony punishable by death, if committed in this state, and who demonstrates the ability to assist persons in programs of rehabilitation may hold office and be employed as a parole officer of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation  or the Department of the Youth Authority,  and Community Restoration,  or as a probation officer in a county probation department, if he or she  the person  has been granted a full and unconditional pardon for the felony or offense of which he or she was  they were  convicted. Notwithstanding any other provision of  law, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation  or the Department of the Youth Authority,  Youth and Community Restoration,  or a county probation department, may refuse to employ that person regardless of his or her  their  qualifications.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to  This section does not  limit or curtail the power or authority of any board of police commissioners, chief of police, sheriff, mayor, or other appointing authority to appoint, employ, or deputize any person as a peace officer in time of disaster caused by flood, fire, pestilence or similar public calamity, or to exercise any power conferred by law to summon assistance in making arrests or preventing the commission of any criminal offense.

(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to  This section does not  prohibit any person from holding office or being employed as a superintendent, supervisor, or employee having custodial responsibilities in an institution operated by a probation department, if at the time of the person’s hire a prior conviction of a felony was known to the person’s employer, and the class of office for which the person was hired was not declared by law to be a class prohibited to persons convicted of a felony, but as a result of a change in classification, as provided by law, the new classification would prohibit employment of a person convicted of a felony.

SEC. 4.SEC. 5.

 Section 830 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

830.

 Any person who comes within the provisions of this chapter  chapter, who is currently certified as a peace officer or who has applied for certification while employed as a recruit pursuant to Section 13510.1,  and who otherwise meets all standards imposed by law on a peace officer is a peace officer, and notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person other than those designated in this chapter is a peace officer. The restriction of peace officer functions of any public officer or employee shall not affect his or her  their  status for purposes of retirement.

SEC. 5.SEC. 6.

 Section 13503 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

13503.

 In carrying out its duties and responsibilities, the commission shall have all of the following powers:

(a) To meet at those times and places as it may deem proper.

(b) To employ an executive secretary and, pursuant to civil service, those clerical and technical assistants as may be necessary.

(c) To contract with other agencies, public or private, or persons as it deems necessary, for the rendition and affording of those services, facilities, studies, and reports to the commission as will best assist it to carry out its duties and responsibilities.

(d) To cooperate with and to secure the cooperation of county, city, city and county, and other local law enforcement agencies in investigating any matter within the scope of its duties and responsibilities, and in performing its other functions.

(e) To develop and implement programs to increase the effectiveness of law enforcement and when those programs involve training and education courses to cooperate with and secure the cooperation of state-level officers, agencies, and bodies having jurisdiction over systems of public higher education in continuing the development of college-level training and education programs.

(f) To investigate and determine the fitness of any person to serve as a peace officer in the state of California.

(f) (g)  To cooperate with and secure the cooperation of every department, agency, or instrumentality in the state government.

(g) (h)  To do any and all things necessary or convenient to enable it fully and adequately to perform its duties and to exercise the power granted to it.

(h) The commission shall not have the authority to adopt or carry out a regulation that authorizes the withdrawal or revocation of a certificate previously issued to a peace officer pursuant to this chapter.

(i) Except as specifically provided by law, the commission shall not have the authority to cancel a certificate previously issued to a peace officer pursuant to this chapter.

SEC. 6.SEC. 7.

 Section 13506 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

13506.

 The commission may adopt those regulations as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter. The commission shall not have the authority to adopt or carry out a regulation that authorizes the withdrawal or revocation of a certificate previously issued to a peace officer pursuant to this chapter. Except as specifically provided by law, the commission shall not have the authority to adopt regulations providing for the cancellation of a certificate. 

SEC. 7.SEC. 8.

 Section 13510 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

13510.

 (a) For the purpose of raising the level of competence of local law enforcement officers, the commission shall adopt, and may from time to time amend, rules establishing and upholding  minimum standards relating to physical, mental, and moral fitness that shall govern the recruitment of any city police officers, peace officer members of a county sheriff’s office, marshals or deputy marshals, peace officer members of a county coroner’s office notwithstanding Section 13526, reserve officers, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 830.6, police officers of a district authorized by statute to maintain a police department, peace officer members of a police department operated by a joint powers agency established by Article 1 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 5 of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code, regularly employed and paid inspectors and investigators of a district attorney’s office, as defined in Section 830.1, who conduct criminal investigations, peace officer members of a district, safety police officers and park rangers of the County of Los Angeles, as defined in subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 830.31, or housing authority police departments.

The commission also shall adopt, and may from time to time amend, rules establishing minimum standards for training of city police officers, peace officer members of county sheriff’s offices, marshals or deputy marshals, peace officer members of a county coroner’s office notwithstanding Section 13526, reserve officers, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 830.6, police officers of a district authorized by statute to maintain a police department, peace officer members of a police department operated by a joint powers agency established by Article 1 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 5 of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code, regularly employed and paid inspectors and investigators of a district attorney’s office, as defined in Section 830.1, who conduct criminal investigations, peace officer members of a district, safety police officers and park rangers of the County of Los Angeles, as defined in subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 830.31, and housing authority police departments.

These rules shall apply to those cities, counties, cities and counties, and districts receiving state aid pursuant to this chapter and shall be adopted and amended pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(b) The commission shall conduct research concerning job-related educational standards and job-related selection standards to include vision, hearing, physical ability, and emotional stability. Job-related standards that are supported by this research shall be adopted by the commission prior to January 1, 1985, and shall apply to those peace officer classes identified in subdivision (a). The commission shall consult with local entities during the conducting of related research into job-related selection standards.

(c) For the purpose of raising the level of competence of local public safety dispatchers, the commission shall adopt, and may from time to time amend, rules establishing minimum standards relating to the recruitment and training of local public safety dispatchers having a primary responsibility for providing dispatching services for local law enforcement agencies described in subdivision (a), which standards shall apply to those cities, counties, cities and counties, and districts receiving state aid pursuant to this chapter. These standards also shall apply to consolidated dispatch centers operated by an independent public joint powers agency established pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 5 of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code when providing dispatch services to the law enforcement personnel listed in subdivision (a). Those rules shall be adopted and amended pursuant to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. As used in this section, “primary responsibility” refers to the performance of law enforcement dispatching duties for a minimum of 50 percent of the time worked within a pay period.

(d) Nothing in this section shall  This section does not  prohibit a local agency from establishing selection and training standards that exceed the minimum standards established by the commission.

SEC. 8.SEC. 9.

 Section 13510.1 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

13510.1.

 (a) The commission shall establish a certification program for peace officers specified in Sections 13510 and 13522 and for the California Highway Patrol.  officers.  Certificates of the commission established pursuant to this section shall be considered professional certificates. the property of the commission. 

(b) Basic, intermediate, advanced, supervisory, management, and executive certificates shall be established for the purpose of fostering professionalization, education, and experience necessary to adequately accomplish the general police service duties performed by peace officer members of city police departments, county sheriffs’ departments, districts, university and state university and college departments, or by the California Highway Patrol.

(c) (1) Certificates shall be awarded on the basis of a combination of training, education, experience, and other prerequisites, as determined by the commission.

(2) In determining whether an applicant for certification has the requisite education, the commission shall recognize as acceptable college education only the following:

(A) Education provided by a community college, college, or university which has been accredited by the department of education of the state in which the community college, college, or university is located or by a recognized national or regional accrediting body.

(B) Until January 1, 1998, educational courses or degrees provided by a nonaccredited but state-approved college that offers programs exclusively in criminal justice.

(d) Persons who are determined by the commission to be eligible peace officers may make application for the certificates, provided they are employed by an agency which participates in the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) program.

(e) The commission shall assign each person who applies for or receives a certificate a unique identifier that shall be used to track certification status from application for certification through that person’s career as a peace officer.

(e) (f)  The commission shall have the authority to suspend, revoke, or  cancel any certificate that has been obtained through misrepresentation or fraud or that was issued as the result of an administrative error on the part of the commission or the employing agency. pursuant to this chapter. 

(g) An agency authorized to employ peace officers as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 or described in any provision specified in Section 13510 shall employ as a peace officer only individuals with current, valid certification pursuant to this section, except that an agency may provisionally employ a person as a recruit for up to six months, pending certification by the commission, provided that the person has applied for certification and has not previously been certified or denied certification.

(h) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (d), the commission shall issue a basic certificate to any peace officer who, on January 1, 2021, is employed by an agency which participates in the POST program and who is eligible for a basic certificate, but has not applied for a certificate.

(2) Notwithstanding subdivisions (b), (c), and (d), the commission shall, commencing on January 1, 2021, issue a certificate to every person who is employed as a peace officer, as that term is defined in Section 830, by an agency which does not participate in the POST program and who does not otherwise possess a certificate issued pursuant to this section, unless that person is ineligible to receive a certificate pursuant to Section 13510.8, in which case the commission shall notify the employing agency that the person is ineligible for certification.

SEC. 10.

 Section 13510.8 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

(a) A certificate holder shall have their certificate revoked, and an applicant shall have their application for a certificate denied, upon a determination pursuant to subdivision (d) that the applicant or holder of a certificate has done any of the following:

SEC. 11.

 Section 13510.9 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

(a) Any agency employing peace officers shall report to the commission within seven days, in a form specified by the commission, any of the following events:

SEC. 11.SEC. 12.

 Section 13512 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

13512.

 (a)  The commission shall make such inquiries as may be necessary to determine whether every city, county, city and county, and district receiving state aid pursuant to this chapter is adhering to the standards for recruitment and training recruitment, training, certification, and reporting  established pursuant to this chapter.

(b) The commission shall report annually, for each reporting agency, on the number of applications for certification, the events reported pursuant to paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 13510.9, the number of investigations conducted by the Civil Rights Enforcement Section of the Department of Justice, the number of notices of revocation sent by the Civil Rights Enforcement Section pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 13510.8, the number of certificates revoked without administrative hearing, the number of administrative hearings on contested revocations conducted pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 13510.8, the number of certificates voluntarily surrendered, and the number of certificates revoked pursuant to those administrative hearings.

SEC. 13.

 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district because, in that regard, this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.

However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains other 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.