The office of California’s attorney general formally announced it will investigate police-involved shooting deaths to align with a new state law passed last September that took effect July 1.
The state’s AG Rob Bonta released guidelines and protocols for the investigation teams on Wednesday detailing how it will investigate officer-involved shooting deaths of unarmed civilians.
Before the new law, officer-involved shootings had been handled by local law enforcement and district attorneys, but will now be overseen by the California Department of Justice under Bonta.
Bonta, as a state Assembly member, co-authored the measure signed into law Sept. 30, 2020.
"One of the most important tasks ahead for public safety and our society is building and maintaining trust between our communities and law enforcement," Bonta said in a statement with the outline.
"Impartial, fair investigations and independent reviews of officer-involved shootings are one essential component for achieving that trust. Today, California is strengthening our state’s mechanisms for accountability and transparency in investigations of officer-involved shootings.
"These cases are never going to be easy, but the California Department of Justice will follow the facts and seek to ensure every Californian is afforded equal justice under the law."
The state’s Department of Justice "will make public its determinations regarding potential criminal prosecutions of incidents that fall under the law’s purview — either through a written report explaining a decision not to seek criminal prosecution or by the filing of criminal charges," Bonta’s office said, The Hill reported.
Along with the guidelines posted online, Bonta’s office also released documents addressing how the new law will be put into practice, including a bulletin outlining definitions of terms such as "unarmed civilian" and "deadly weapon," as well as the procedural guidelines for investigations into police shooting incidents.
Probes into the shootings will be handled by the newly established California Police Shooting Investigation Teams — dubbed CaPSIT -- which Bonta’s office said are "geographically and strategically located across California in alignment with historical patterns in officer-involved shootings in the state."
The new protocols were passed following a summer of civil unrest prompted by the police shootings of Breonna Taylor and other unarmed Black individuals.
According to data compiled by the Washington Post, an estimated 953 people have been fatally shot by police in the past year.
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Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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