Black California police chiefs: Let us quickly fire bad cops

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Black police chiefs representing departments from across California on Friday called for changing state law so they can immediately fire officers for egregious behavior, with due-process appeals only after the fact.

Об этом сообщает Устав

California has some of the nation’s toughest police disciplinary rules and until last year the nation’s most secretive police privacy law.

Coupled with collective bargaining agreements, the chiefs said that prevents the rapid dismissal of officers, in contrast to recent cases in Atlanta and Minneapolis where officers were fired in the deaths of Black men even before criminal charges were brought.

The eight chiefs from cities including San Francisco and Sacramento support officers’ rights to due process as required by California’s strict Peace Officers Bill of Rights, said Seaside Police Chief Abdul Pridgen, speaking for the group at the state Capitol.

But he said the law, augmented by union agreements, gives some officers “extraordinary due process rights.”

“Uncommon rights and lengthy arbitration, then appeals, make it extremely difficult to terminate an employee who exhibits abhorrent behavior,” Pridgen said.

“Police chiefs should be provided the latitude in statute to summarily terminate an officer for an egregious use of excessive force that violates policy or meets the elements of criminal statute. The officer would be afforded their due process during a formal appeal and a full evidentiary hearing post-discipline,” he said.

Three large police unions that this week called for systemic national change said that even officers accused of egregious criminal acts are entitled to due process.

But they said they are open to discussing how a new approach could work alongside their call for a national database…