AB 807: Police use of force.

Existing law requires law enforcement agencies to report to the Department of Justice, as specified, any incident in which a police officer is involved in a shooting or use of force that results in death or serious bodily injury. Existing law requires the state prosecutor to investigate incidents involving a shooting by a peace officer resulting in the death of an unarmed civilian. Existing law authorizes the state prosecutor to criminally prosecute any officer that, pursuant to such an investigation, is found to have violated state law. Existing law provides that the Attorney General is the state prosecutor unless otherwise specified or named.

This bill would require the state prosecutor to investigate incidents in which the use of force by a peace officer results in the death of a civilian without regard to whether the civilian was unarmed.

Existing law requires law enforcement agencies to maintain a policy on the use of force, as specified. Existing law requires, commencing July 1, 2023, the Attorney General to operate a Police Practices Division within the Department of Justice to review, upon request by a local law enforcement agency, the use of deadly force policies of that law enforcement agency and make recommendations, as specified.

The bill would remove the requirement on the Attorney General to operate the Police Practices Division.