County supervisors back bill to bolster civilian oversight of law enforcement

A bill that would give California’s law enforcement oversight boards access to police personnel files got official support from the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The board voted 3-2 — with Republicans Jim Desmond and Joel Anderson opposed — to officially endorse state Assembly Bill 847 as part of its legislative platform.

Authored by Assemblymember Dr. LaShae Sharp-Collins, D-La Mesa, the bill would for the first time give oversight commissions — among them the county’s Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board, or CLERB — access to peace officer personnel files during misconduct investigations.

This access, supporters say, will strengthen law enforcement accountability.

CLERB had voted in June to submit a letter of support of the bill but was forced last month to rescind it after being told by county officials that only the Board of Supervisors could take a position on state legislation.

Sharp-Collins’ bill 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, limiting oversight boards’ ability to make informed recommendations about officer discipline or policy reform.

Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, who requested the vote, argued that AB 847 would finally give CLERB the tools it needs to deliver the transparency voters expected when they created it more than three decades ago.

Currently, only district attorneys, grand juries and the state attorney general can access this information.

“Only with the same access to confidential information as other oversight bodies will civilian oversight commissions, including CLERB, be able to provide the increased transparency into the policies and practices of police and sheriff departments,” Montgomery Steppe said.

Oversight boards would be allowed to review records only in closed session and would be barred from releasing certain details to the public.

The San Diego Sheriff’s Office has joined several other law enforcement agencies and organizations in opposing the bill.

The union representing San Bernardino sheriff’s deputies has described AB 847 as a “direct threat to public safety,” citing challenges with recruiting and retaining law enforcement personnel.

The California State Sheriffs’ Association also voiced opposition, arguing that oversight commissions already have sufficient authority.

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 Sharp-Collins to reinforce the bill’s confidentiality protections.

“The amended AB 847 strikes a balance,” PORAC President Brian Marvel told The San Diego Union-Tribune in June. “It allows oversight agencies to do their job while respecting officer privacy.”

In an interview with the Union-Tribune, Sharp-Collins described the bill as a “common-sense measure,” pointing to 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 has passed the Assembly and is awaiting a vote by the state Senate.