California Police Chiefs Association
2022 Legislative Priorities
Social justice and law enforcement reform remain one of the top issue areas for legislation. As such, CPCA continues to lead as a voice for balanced and reasonable policy changes, while rejecting reckless approaches that deteriorate public safety. The outline below builds upon the work accomplished over the last several years, while also elevating emerging issues as priorities for CPCA.
Recruitment and Education
CPCA co-sponsored legislation signed into law last year, AB89 (Jones-Sawyer) that established a working group to develop a plan for advancing our education standard through augmented college curriculum. CPCA will continue to engage in the development of modernized educational requirements for CA law enforcement.
Officer Decertification and Officer Accountability
CPCA will focus on the implementation of SB 2 (Bradford), which was signed into law last year and establishes a decertification system for law enforcement. SB 2 set a framework for this new system, but many of the details still need to be developed through regulations. CPCA will actively engage during the regulatory development process to support fair and balanced policy.
Addressing Increases in Crime
At their core, CPCA’s policy objectives center around improving public safety. Unfortunately, over the last several years we have all seen an increase in various crimes, including an alarming increase in violent crimes across our state. CPCA will continue to prioritize policies that protect the public and ensure well-resourced public safety officers are given the tools to be successful in protecting our communities.
Transparency
CPCA continued to support the public release of police personnel files last year. CPCA also supports statewide funding to assist in the implementation of SB 16 (Skinner).
Peace Officer Mental Health and Wellness
CPCA supports funding for programs to improve peace officers’ mental health and wellness and supports regular mental health and wellness checks for peace officers. CPCA also supports prioritizing funding for programs and best practices that have been effective in improving officer resiliency and health.
Training
CPCA presented twice last year to the Little Hoover Commission on law enforcement training. Through these presentations, CPCA made a series of recommendations for improving subject matters and modalities for training. Additionally, CPCA supports increased funding for law enforcement training, especially considering the myriad of new requirements, expectations, and changing laws.
Mental Health
CPCA supports improving law enforcement’s response to those in crisis – especially individuals with severe mental illness and substance abuse disorders. Police are not always the appropriate response and CPCA supports having police look to service providers in many of these cases or respond using highly trained co-deployment teams with capabilities that match the need.
Polygraphs in Employment Screening
Research has suggested for years the reliance on polygraph tests during the pre-employment phase may be unfairly excluding qualified candidates. In line with this research, CPCA will explore setting parameters around the use of polygraphs for employment screening purposes.
Catalytic Converter Theft
Catalytic converter theft has surged nationwide, with California leading in overall thefts. CPCA supports efforts to curtail this through coordinated statewide efforts that focus on the criminal organizations that are orchestrating the massive acquisition and sale of stolen parts.
Efforts Upstream
CPCA supports efforts to keep individuals from ending up in our criminal justice system, and believes preventive measures are as important as any social reforms. This includes supporting drug treatment for individuals suffering from substance abuse disorders and rehabilitative and re-entry programs. Furthermore, CPCA supports closing the educational achievement gaps by increasing resources to areas historically disadvantaged and increasing access to vocational training and job opportunities, including careers in public safety. Finally, CPCA supports fair housing, which will create core stability for those in need and help reduce the homeless population