On a Wednesday afternoon in April of 2018, Gardena police officers heard a “triple beep ” on their radios: three high-pitched sounds indicating an emergency. According to reports, they had been made up to 20 Shots near a local park.
“That gets you a little adrenaline pumping,” Gardena Police Officer Michael Robbins would later tell investigators.
Just a few minutes later, a black man from 25 years, Kenneth Ross Jr., died: Officer Robbins shot him two times and killed him as he ran through Rowley Park. Police said a gun was found in the dead man’s shorts pocket, and Robbins would later be cleared by local authorities of any crime.
But the case was far from over. .
What happened on 11 April 2018, which generated demonstrations and lawsuits calls for Police accountability, is now a centerpiece of a bill that is arguably California’s largest criminal justice bill in this legislative session.
The bill The statute would allow the state to decertify police officers for misconduct, effectively stripping them of a license to work on the enforcement and expelling them from the profession. California is one of only four states in the country without that power. As a result, several high-profile cases have been reported over the years in which an officer involved in a questionable shooting was allowed to remain on the streets, only to kill again. Agents were also fired for wrongdoing in one department and then quietly moved to another agency.
“California can revoke the certification or license of bad doctors, bad lawyers, even bad barbers and cosmetologists ; furthermore, you can remove an elected official, but you cannot decertify agents who have violated the law and the public trust, ”Senator Steven Bradford declared at a committee hearing earlier this year.
Bradford, a Gardena Democrat who chairs the public safety committee and lives near where the shooting occurred, introduced the bill along with Senate Interim President Toni Atkins.
In the Gardena shooting, the local police, as they usually do in such cases, investigated the shooting. The district attorney’s office cleared Robbins of wrongdoing because they said the agent believed the man fleeing him was armed and could have reasonably feared for his life.
But advocates of criminal justice reform say that for too long the responsibility of the Police has been solely in the hands of local agencies: the Police control itself. They question whether the man Robbins shot in the back was actually a fleeing threat and point out that it was the officer’s fourth shooting, suggesting he was too quick to use deadly force.
The Bradford bill is the latest effort to break through the wall of legal protections built over the years that critics say protect California law enforcement officers from accountability.
CalMatters was only able to obtain internal police reports and video about the Gardena shooting because a 2018 for the first time opened certain police records , including files related to the use of deadly force and misconduct. Another law that went into effect this year requires that The attorney general’s office handles investigations on police killings of unarmed civilians.
“This nation has cried out, especially in communities of color, for a change, ”Bradford told CalMatters, ticking off a list of high-profile police killings and incidents of use of force from Stephon Clark in Sacramento to Oscar Grant in Oakland and Rodney King. In Los Angeles. “He’s definitely late.”
But there is still work to be done, he added.
“It is one thing to pass laws. Another is to change the mindset and internal training and operations of law enforcement, ”said Bradford.
And his bill is far from secure, as police associations and heads across the state have signaled their opposition.
“Nobody wants bad officers to be removed from law enforcement more than good officers,” said Brian Marvel, president of the California Peace Officers Research Association, in a statement to CalMatters.
“ When an officer acts in a way that is grossly incompatible with the missions and goals of our profession, it tarnishes the insignia and the great work officers do day after day to keep our families and communities safe. ”
But he added that the bill as written creates a “partial and unclear process to revoke an officer’s license.”
The bill would create a wildebeest This is a division within the state Peace Officers Training and Standards Commission to investigate or review possible misconduct. A nine-member advisory board would consider the evidence and recommend whether to strip a certification officer. The majority of that board would be civilians with no police experience, including four members who would be experts in “police responsibility” and two who personally suffered the use of force by an officer or lost a loved one in such an incident.
The commission would have the last word on decertification, but the language of the bill suggests that they be adopted Advisory board recommendations when reasonably supported by evidence.
As to what constitutes a violation that could cost an officer a career, it is unclear. The bill includes categories such as sexual assault and dishonesty, but would allow the commission to develop a comprehensive definition of “gross misconduct” that also includes broader areas such as “abuse of power” and “physical abuse.”
“We all want to see a fair and transparent decertification system that permanently eliminates officers for serious misconduct, but even with the recent amendments (the bill) fails to create a balanced and uniform process” said Abdul Pridgen, president of the California Police Chiefs Association, in an email to CalMatters.
“However, we remain committed to continuing our work with the Governor’s office, legislative leaders, and Senator Bradford to address our remaining concerns and establish a decertification process that we can all have faith in.”
Among the conflictive points for the association is the composition of the advisory board, the degree to which that board’s recommendations are binding, and what will happen if a local department exonerates an officer, but the state commission finds wrongdoing.
A draft decertification law failed in the last session . The current bill came out of the Senate, but not without changes.
The initial version had made it easy for civilians to sue officers for misconduct, but that language has largely disappeared.
The most recent amendments reduce the role of the advisory council. Bradford’s spokesman said those changes were made after working with the governor’s office and key legislators. The original bill gave the advisory board the power to order the commission to investigate certain officers. The new version, however, simply says that the board can recommend research. It also reduces a license fee for officers.
Police unions have been donating to some Democratic lawmakers who could play a role in imposing additional changes, news that sparked a sharp tweet from Senator Bradford accusing opponents of trying to “kill solid politics.”
“If you can’t win on the merit of your argument, do you resort to paying legislators ? SHAME, BUT NOT SURPRISING !! ”he tweeted.
Advocates said they are concerned that powerful police associations will further weaken the bill.
“They’re trying to evade responsibility over and over again,” said Sheila Bates, a member of the Black Lives Matter Los Angeles policy team and part of the coalition cosponsoring the bill. “If (Gardena Police Officer) Michael Robbins had been responsible for the first, second, or third time when he shot someone, then Kenneth Ross Jr. could still be alive.”
Shooting investigation records show that as Agent Robbins approached the scene, he saw other officers arriving and then saw Ross , which matched the description of the suspect, flee. Robbins pulled up, grabbed his assault rifle and yelled for Ross to stop.
“They’re going to shoot you,” Robbins yelled.
His body camera video shows what happened next.
Standing behind the block from his patrol’s engine for cover, the barrel of Robbins’ rifle tracks Ross’s movement. Right after Ross crosses in front of Robbins position, maybe to 100 feet away, the officer gives the trigger two quick taps. (“I gave it … a double tap that was just amazing, the training just started,” he told the researchers later). Ross falls to the ground dead.
It was the fourth time that Robbins shot someone in his near 30 years of career, although it was his first shot since the early 2000, he later said.
The Gardena Police Department, currently facing a lawsuit over the shooting, rejected a interview request. The attorneys representing the officer also did not comment for this story.
As for Robbins, the pending decertification bill probably wouldn’t affect you. He retired from the Gardena Police Department in July 2020 with the rank of Sergeant, records show. But if future officers are expelled from the profession, it will be because of a bill named after the man he killed.
Next month, lawmakers will take over the Decertification Act of Kenneth Ross Jr.Police of 2021.
CalMatters.org is a non-profit, non-partisan media organization that explains public policy and political issues in California.