DPCCC membership approved the following resolution at the June 17, 2021 regular meeting.
WHEREAS, because police officers, sheriffs’ deputies, and other peace officers hold extraordinary powers to detain, search, arrest, and use force—including deadly force—the state has a correspondingly strong interest in ensuring that peace officers do not abuse their authority; and
WHEREAS, In 2017, 172 Californians were killed by the police, and our state’s police departments have some of the highest rates of killings in the nation, and of the unarmed people California police killed, three out of four were people of color. The nationwide protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd have made clear that Californians want to end police brutality and that our state must create a process to remove abusive police from the streets and protect those who are targeted by police violence; and
WHEREAS, Senate Bill 2 would create a statewide decertification process to revoke the certification of a peace officer following the conviction of serious crimes or termination from employment due to misconduct, thereby helping to ensure these individuals are held accountable and that California’s standards for law enforcement better reflect community values;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County supports the passage of Senate Bill 2 (Bradford and Atkins), as amended on May 20, 2021, and urges the Democratic supermajority in the California State Legislature to pass the legislation and the Democratic Governor to sign the bill into law;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County shall communicate this resolution to Contra Costa County Democrats, the California Democratic Party, members of the State Senate and State Assembly representing any part of Contra Costa County, members of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, and the Governor of the State of California.
Submitted by: Craig Cheslog, Associate Member, District 2, May 27, 2021