San Bernardino County sheriff’s union seeks to block release of police personnel records statewide
San Bernardino County sheriff’s employees are seeking an emergency order from the California Supreme Court to prohibit law enforcement agencies from retroactively releasing police disciplinary records under a new law.
The statute, set to take effect Jan. 1, would allow the public to obtain police personnel records for officers involved in the use of deadly force, sustained allegations of sexual assault and sustained misconduct. The law, Senate Bill 1421, would shatter 40 years of police secrecy under special confidentiality rules for officers.
But as departments gear up for what they believe will be a onslaught of requests next week, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Employees’ Benefit Association asked the state’s high court for an immediate order banning enforcement of the new law for incidents that occurred before Jan. 1, 2019. Essentially, no shootings or other forms of misconduct before that date could be considered for release if the order is granted.
“SEBA is very concerned about any plans to retroactively apply Senate Bill 1421,” said SEBA President Grant Ward. “We believe retroactive application violates our members’ rights and we hope the California Supreme Court will consider the serious issues raised by our legal challenge.”
The group is seeking an immediate stay, pointing to the short, 10-day deadline for agencies to comply with requests for the personnel records.
The law, as proposed by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, makes no mention of whether records should be released retroactively. Large police agencies say that would create an overwhelming request for records and be too large a burden to fulfill.
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore wrote to Skinner that the law, if applied in a retroactive manner, would be “exceptionally burdensome and would require significant reallocation of front-line investigative personnel,” such that “the workload on the men and women of the LAPD could prove to be well beyond any reasonable expectation given the sheer volume of complaints and incidents maintained by that agency.”
The court request from the San Bernardino sheriff’s union said police privacy could be irreparably harmed.
“Petitioner has no plain, speedy or adequate remedy … to obtain prompt and final resolution of this controversy so as to prevent irreparable harm and violation of the right of peace officers to confidentiality of their peace officer personnel records and information,” the motion said.
Before the new law, California was believed to have the most strict set of police confidentiality protections. Skinner’s bill was expected to go a long way toward police transparency and accountability, supporters have said.
The San Bernardino County sheriff’s union said that if state justices don’t act, it would prompt several other cases with conflicting resolutions.