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sl8

(13,786 posts)
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 06:05 AM Jun 2023

'Pretty staggering': Thousands of California police officers could be stripped of their badges ...

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/california-cops-decertified-18151927.php

‘Pretty staggering’: Thousands of California police officers could be stripped of their badges under new law

Sophia Bollag
Updated: June 14, 2023 7:06 p.m.

California’s police standards commission is bracing to decertify or suspend 3,000 to 3,500 police officers each year for serious misconduct under a new state law, according to estimates from the commission.

The estimates suggest the police officers engaging in serious misconduct in any given year could represent a significant percentage of the roughly 90,000 officers working in California, although some may already be fired or retired by the time the commission moves to strip them of their certification.

The estimates, detailed in a budget request from the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, are preliminary. The commission’s new power to decertify officers took effect at the start of the year, so the commission doesn’t yet know exactly how many cases it will receive each year or how many will ultimately rise to the level of decertification. So far this year, it has already received thousands of serious misconduct complaints that it is investigating.

Lizzie Buchen, who advocated for the police decertification law and now serves on the board that will review decertification cases when they are appealed, said she was surprised that the estimates are so high.

[...]

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'Pretty staggering': Thousands of California police officers could be stripped of their badges ... (Original Post) sl8 Jun 2023 OP
Based on the number of YouTube videos which capture police interactions with the public Otto_Harper Jun 2023 #1
This is true in many or most professions bucolic_frolic Jun 2023 #2
I would agree - there are incompetents everywhere. RipVanWinkle Jun 2023 #3
Yep, & the bigger the company the harder it is to get rid of the deadheads. Re: the crooked cops, if onetexan Jun 2023 #5
I've encountered a good number of people over the years EYESORE 9001 Jun 2023 #11
True, but most of those professions don't have the life and death power of the badge be- FailureToCommunicate Jun 2023 #7
There is the life and death power of the scalpel or the mechanic's ratchet bucolic_frolic Jun 2023 #20
Desantis will welcome them NJCher Jun 2023 #4
Not far from a profound basic truth there, NJCher. jaxexpat Jun 2023 #9
Yep, as he's one himself. brush Jun 2023 #19
At least they'll have to upend themselves to find the next victims. live love laugh Jun 2023 #24
Given the amount of dough paid out each year 617Blue Jun 2023 #6
What we can do. multigraincracker Jun 2023 #8
How fact based do you think a fear of retribution is for those who file complaints? jaxexpat Jun 2023 #10
... EYESORE 9001 Jun 2023 #12
Every complaint goes in multigraincracker Jun 2023 #16
Ron DeSatan will welcome them to Florida HAB911 Jun 2023 #13
I know of 2 of them lambchopp59 Jun 2023 #14
when i grew up , i was living 25 miles east of la and we AllaN01Bear Jun 2023 #21
gee. barbtries Jun 2023 #15
Bad cops almost never turn into good cops. Danascot Jun 2023 #17
How does this law work? Fiendish Thingy Jun 2023 #18
A good start. n/t Merlot Jun 2023 #22
This message was self-deleted by its author The Mouth Jun 2023 #23
I've had family members and friends who were Mr.Bill Jun 2023 #25

Otto_Harper

(509 posts)
1. Based on the number of YouTube videos which capture police interactions with the public
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 06:11 AM
Jun 2023

I would say this is a low-ball number. There are large numbers of badge wearers who do not deserve to wear a badge, nor even to be allowed to live among normal, civilized humans.

bucolic_frolic

(43,173 posts)
2. This is true in many or most professions
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 06:28 AM
Jun 2023

I suspect there are 7-15% of professional anythings just skirting by, either unable or unwilling to measure up to standards of the profession, or in it because it soothes some private agenda they can't find elsewhere.

RipVanWinkle

(228 posts)
3. I would agree - there are incompetents everywhere.
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 06:44 AM
Jun 2023

I'm retired now, but when I was working as a auditor, a few of my co-workers were, in my opinion, not up to standards.

onetexan

(13,041 posts)
5. Yep, & the bigger the company the harder it is to get rid of the deadheads. Re: the crooked cops, if
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 07:05 AM
Jun 2023

they have been found as a serious offender they deserve to be fired from their job given they've taken the oath to protect & serve the public and their crimes prove exactly the opposite of that. Better to be short staffed than to have crooked cops who can harm the public. The counties & cities will just need to do a better job at hiring qualified candidates.

EYESORE 9001

(25,941 posts)
11. I've encountered a good number of people over the years
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 07:30 AM
Jun 2023

that I would classify as ‘walking major findings.’ No corrective action short of firing would have sufficed.

FailureToCommunicate

(14,014 posts)
7. True, but most of those professions don't have the life and death power of the badge be-
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 07:17 AM
Jun 2023

hind them.
Abuse of power.
Rotten apples in Blue.
Kick 'em out.

jaxexpat

(6,831 posts)
9. Not far from a profound basic truth there, NJCher.
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 07:21 AM
Jun 2023

Many of the LOE's fired for cause simply move to another city or state. (or maybe join the Wagner group) Apparently, policing is their "calling".

live love laugh

(13,118 posts)
24. At least they'll have to upend themselves to find the next victims.
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 05:09 PM
Jun 2023

Good on California and governor Newsom.

617Blue

(1,279 posts)
6. Given the amount of dough paid out each year
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 07:17 AM
Jun 2023

by municipalities sued by citizens over police misconduct, you'd think it would be in their interest to scrutinize applicant more thoroughly and dump the bad ones before they cost the city million$$.

multigraincracker

(32,687 posts)
8. What we can do.
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 07:19 AM
Jun 2023

Always file a complaint on bad cops. The Brass fears lawsuits and need to know about bad police behavior.

jaxexpat

(6,831 posts)
10. How fact based do you think a fear of retribution is for those who file complaints?
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 07:26 AM
Jun 2023

Would such a fear be more justified if one lived in neighborhoods that are more heavily patrolled than, say, one who lived in a gated community?

lambchopp59

(2,809 posts)
14. I know of 2 of them
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 09:02 AM
Jun 2023

Both had as motivations to attend police academy blatantly racist violence. One of them was often my meatwagon partner. Ww just tended to agree to disagree about his racist shit. That was early 80's in the ambulance Corp, one of them shared pics of his LAPD badge years later, unknown if he grew out of that: he was under peer pressure from the other big lug who I never liked at all. But if he participated in racist policing I'd be glad he lost his job.

AllaN01Bear

(18,244 posts)
21. when i grew up , i was living 25 miles east of la and we
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 10:48 AM
Jun 2023

constantly heard horror stories about lapd . we had our own trouble maker cops .

Danascot

(4,690 posts)
17. Bad cops almost never turn into good cops.
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 09:18 AM
Jun 2023

When LEOs behave like that it's almost never an isolated instance. It's very likely they have committed other abuses so their removal helps prevent future incidents of bad behavior. Plus, removing the bad apples should help to lower the overall rate of complaints. Other states and jurisdictions should be implementing similar programs.

Fiendish Thingy

(15,619 posts)
18. How does this law work?
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 09:18 AM
Jun 2023

It’s always been said that the police unions have such strong contracts, along with qualified immunity, it’s almost impossible to fire a cop.

I’m guessing instead of paying out millions in wrongful death settlements, governments will be in court fighting wrongful termination suits.

Still, this seems like a good step, I wasn’t aware of the law previously.

Response to sl8 (Original post)

Mr.Bill

(24,300 posts)
25. I've had family members and friends who were
Fri Jun 16, 2023, 06:23 PM
Jun 2023

rejected when they applied to become police officers. Mostly by failing the psychiatric evaluation. I don't know how long they have been doing these evaluations, but in the case of these people I know, I'm glad they did.

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