The law aims to prevent officers fired by one department for bad behavior from later finding a job in another. So far, 20 officers from local departments have been decertified for offenses ranging from sexual misconduct to domestic violence to dishonesty.

#Hundreds of officers decertified

Lawmakers gave POST a year to set up the state’s decertification system, including hiring staff and establishing investigation procedures. From the start, the commission was playing catch-up.

That’s because, under SB 2, some decertification would apply retroactively. That includes officers who committed felonies, qualifying misdemeanors and certain kinds of misconduct — specifically dishonesty, sexual assault and use of deadly force.

So far, POST has received over 35,000 cases for review. About half of them involve incidents dating before 2023.

The reports include allegations against nearly 20,000 current or former officers who worked for big cities, small towns, universities and a slew of government agencies.

POST has completed investigations into more than 13,000 cases, with nearly 300 resulting in decertifications. Dozens of them voluntarily surrendered their badges.

Another 140 have had their certifications suspended while POST investigates.

    • @JustAnotherKay@lemmy.worldEnglish
      27•3 days ago

      You’re not wrong, but at least it’s one step in the right direction. Let’s positively reinforce that behavior and try to get them to continue doing better. The police force can be an okay thing once it’s demilitarized. Look into some of the civilian forces around America and how successful they’ve been

      • @amino@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        0•2 days ago

        a lot of countries don’t have militarized police yet they’re still inherently racist. that’s why policing was invented in the first place, to reinforce the state’s monopoly over use of force. I have a feeling you learned nothing from BLM and why it became so massive in 2020

        • @JustAnotherKay@lemmy.worldEnglish
          5•2 days ago

          You’re not wrong. Much of the world has fucked up their civilian forces too. That’s not to say it can’t be done right, which is why it’s so important for us to study the times it has been done right and innovate on those, not the racist and/or militarized ones