A bill making its way through the California Legislature would give civilian oversight boards access to confidential police personnel records — a move ers say will strengthen law enforcement ability.
Assembly Bill 847, introduced by Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins, D-La Mesa, would give oversight commissions — such as San Diego County’s Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board and the city’s Commission on Police Practices — access to peace officer personnel files during misconduct investigations.
The proposal follows years of dispute between oversight bodies and California law enforcement agencies over access to records. While state law grants oversight boards subpoena power, requests for certain personnel records are routinely denied.
Without this information, oversight leaders say, it’s difficult to identify patterns of misconduct, recommend appropriate discipline and suggest policy changes.
“The reality is that effective civilian oversight of the sheriff’s department requires that oversight commissions be able to subpoena and receive confidential documents,” Sharp-Collins told the Assembly’s public safety committee in April. “AB 847 fixes that problem.”
The oversight commissions would have the same access to records as prosecutors, grand juries and the state attorney general, Sharp-Collins said, while maintaining strict confidentiality requirements.
Oversight boards would be allowed to review records only in closed session and would be barred from releasing sensitive details to the public.
In an interview, Sharp-Collins said she wrote the bill to address struggles faced by the commission overseeing the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which has historically withheld documents, even in response to subpoenas.
At the April committee hearing, Robert Bonner, a former federal judge who chairs L.A.’s Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission, described AB 847 as “absolutely essential” to giving oversight boards meaningful authority.
“The (Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department) is afflicted with systemic and cultural issues,” Bonner told committee , referencing long-standing concerns over deputy gangs, excessive force and internal resistance to reform.
San Diego County’s Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board, or CLERB, has also expressed public for the bill. At a meeting last week, the board voted unanimously to submit a letter of .
CLERB, which was established by voters more than three decades ago, has the authority to recommend discipline if its investigation finds that law enforcement personnel engaged in misconduct.
“CLERB has rarely, if ever, recommended imposition of discipline due to the fact CLERB has never had access to officer personnel files, which would provide guidance on the processes and discipline imposed by the Sheriff,” the letter says. “Only with the same access to confidential information as other oversight bodies will Sheriff Oversight Boards be able to provide the increased transparency into the policies and practices of sheriff departments that the public was promised with their creation.”
Paul Parker, CLERB’s former executive officer and a former police officer, also submitted a letter in of the bill.
“Knowing the disciplinary history and remedial training of subject officers is necessary to thoroughly assess allegations of misconduct, use of force, officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths,” Parker wrote.
Despite bipartisan and collaboration with some law enforcement groups, the bill has drawn strong opposition from others. The Sheriff’s Employees’ Benefit Association, citing challenges with recruiting and retaining law enforcement personnel, warned that AB 847 was a “direct threat to public safety.”
“AB 847 would only worsen this crisis by deterring qualified candidates from ing the force and pushing experienced officers out of the profession,” the association, which represents San Bernardino law enforcement, said in a statement.
The California State Sheriffs’ Association also criticized the bill, arguing oversight boards already have subpoena power and sufficient access.
But both the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association and the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), two of the state’s most powerful law enforcement advocacy groups, switched their positions from opposed to neutral after working with Collins-Sharp to reinforce the bill’s confidentiality protections.
“The amended AB 847 strikes a balance,” said PORAC President Brian Marvel. “It allows oversight agencies to do their job while respecting officer privacy.”
Sharp-Collins described the bill as a “common sense measure,” reflected by law enforcement groups’ willingness to work with her.
“If there was going to be an issue with trying to recruit and retain law enforcement officers, then I don’t believe that we would have been able to work with so many other law enforcement groups on this bill,” she said.
AB 847 ed the Assembly last week and now makes its way to the Senate.
