California - State of Affairs

As soon as the governor signs the bill into law these are the changes you can expect to see:

🚓 POLICE REFORM

Requires reporting on deaths in police custody.

Requires police to provide a predicate offense for resisting arrest. (That is, a reason for why an arrested was occurring in the first place.)

Expands police training on use of force and crisis intervention, as well as first aid training.

Requires statewide standards and services for officers to receive regular mental health screenings and assistance, while ensuring that counseling and screenings remain confidential.

Requires police departments to participate in the FBI’s use of force database and strengthens the requirements for use of deadly force.

Prohibits chokeholds by police officers.

Imposes upon police a duty to intervene in the excessive use of force by another officer and to render aid when necessary.

Enhances whistleblower protections.

Extends all restrictions of the use of force that apply to law enforcement officers to bounty hunters as well.

Bans the use of certain military equipment and provides guidance on the use of crowd control measures.

Requires the maintenance of police misconduct records and requires the use of special prosecutors in officer-involved deaths.

Expands the officer misconduct database.

Requires the use of body cameras statewide by 2025.

Removes the requirement for sworn affidavits for police misconduct complaints.

Codifies that the use of force by police as a punishment or retaliation is prohibited.

Creates new requirements in the event police execute no-knock warrants, including that: (1) each participating member is assigned a body worn camera and is following policies and procedures; (2) steps are taken in planning the search to ensure accuracy and plan for children or other vulnerable people on-site; and (3) if an officer becomes aware the search warrant was executed at an address, unit, or apartment different from the location listed on the search warrant, that member will immediately notify a supervisor who will ensure an internal investigation ensues.

Establishes that a law enforcement officer could lose certification if they are convicted of or found guilty of a felony offense or some misdemeanors under current state law.

Gives the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board the discretionary authority to decertify an officer under certain circumstances.

Outlines the process for receiving and reviewing violations, notice and hearing requirements, and the appeals process.

Expands the State Police Merit Board to seven members.

Requires officers to complete training verification forms.

Implements two new officer misconduct databases for transparency.

COURT REFORMS

Abolishes monetary bail.

Ends the practice of suspending drivers’ licenses for failure to pay.

Aligns the eligibility for the Mental Health Court or Veterans and Service members Court with the other specialty courts.

Modernizes earned sentence credits, and shortens mandatory supervised release times for certain offenses.

Clarifies the “Felony-murder rule” and modernizes the three strikes rule.

Allows the courts to deviate from mandatory minimums and implement alternate sentencing.

DETAINEE AND PRISONER RIGHTS

Increases services and programming for pregnant prisoners, and requires medical treatment of prisoners and detainees without unreasonable delay.

Establishes the right to make three free phone calls within three hours of arrival at the police station and before questioning occurs.

Establishes the right to retrieve phone numbers contained in their cell phone’s contact list prior to the phone being placed in inventory.

Requires conspicuous notice of these rights in police stations and booking rooms.

Requires that the telephone number to the public defender or appointed attorney's office must also be displayed.

Provides that in the event a person who is in police custody is transferred to a new place of custody, his or her right to make a call.

Prohibits people with less than four months on their sentence from being imprisoned and allows them to be diverted to electronic monitoring or another DOC facility or program.

Ends “prison gerrymandering,” the practice under current law of counting prisoners toward a jurisdiction’s census count rather than their permanent address.

Makes changes to streamline the crime victims compensation process.

Promotes the use of co-responder models and enhances data collection on mental health crisis response.