First-year Assemblymember Sharp-Collins marks passing of police oversight law

A new California law could serve as a model for other states seeking to strengthen law enforcement oversight.

At a news conference Thursday to celebrate her Assembly Bill 847 becoming law, Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins, D-La Mesa, said she had learned recently that the bill was a topic of conversation at a recent national conference on civilian oversight of law enforcement.

“I was humble and grateful for those who understand that what we’re doing here in California is something that should be replicated across the country,” she said.

AB 847 gives California’s law enforcement oversight boards access to police personnel files in misconduct investigations. While state law already grants oversight commissions subpoena power, requests for certain files have been routinely denied.

Without this information, oversight leaders say, it’s difficult to identify patterns of misconduct, recommend appropriate discipline and suggest policy changes.

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

Sharp-Collins was joined by county Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe and two of her Assembly colleagues, Chris Ward and Tasha Boerner.

Ward praised Sharp-Collins for championing such a significant reform in her first year in office.

“This was a really heavy lift,” Ward said. “For her to arrive in Sacramento just 11 months ago and take on issues such as this — we’re so grateful to have her.”

Sharp-Collins said the legislation was the product of months of negotiation with law enforcement organizations.

“We worked really, really hard, and they worked with us,” she said, noting that two powerful groups — the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association and the Peace Officers Research Association of California — went from opposing the bill to taking a neutral stance after amendments strengthened privacy safeguards.

Montgomery Steppe, who authored a resolution in September in support of AB 847, called the signing “an important milestone for accountability and transparency in public safety.”

“Before AB 847, only grand juries, district attorneys and the Attorney General’s Office could access confidential officer personnel files during misconduct investigations,” she said. “Civilian oversight commissions, including our own Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board, were not explicitly included under that authority.”

That gap, she said, “created uncertainty and, in some jurisdictions, real barriers to transparency.”

Frederick Carroll, managing legal director for the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties, called the new law a “common-sense accountability measure.”

“When officers engage in misconduct, whether falsifying evidence, using excessive force or abusing their authority, the public deserves accountability,” he said. “This law delivers on that promise.”