California police departments have some of the highest rates of killings in the nation. Current use of force standards allows for too much officer discretion to justify killing people. And the law lets district attorneys let any cop off the hook if they claim to have feared for their lives. Tragically, we saw this in recent weeks when Sacramento DA Anne Marie Schubert refused to charge the officers responsible for the murder of Stephon Clark. This has to stop. An historic bill, AB 392, would give district attorneys in CA the legal grounds necessary to prosecute killer cops who don't even attempt to deescalate situations and just shoot first.

But, the police-backed opposition threatens to halt progress in its tracks. The law enforcement lobby has sponsored SB 230, a competing bill, as a diversion from the real change AB 392 will bring. It uses the language of criminal justice reform but doesn't make any changes that will lead to actual accountability for killer cops. For example, SB 230 asks each individual police department to have a use of force policy, but it doesn't require these policies to explicitly limit the use of deadly force. SB 230 will empower California law enforcement to continue killing without impunity. We must quickly and loudly urge lawmakers to not be distracted, derailed, or fooled by the lobby’s attempt to undermine meaningful reforms. SB 230 is an insult to the hundreds of families who have lost someone to police violence. We won't let this attempt to silence families’ calls for justice via AB 392 be overshadowed by this competing bill. If we do our part to let these elected officials know where we stand on these bills, we can get them to vote the right way and win this important rule change for California. 

Sign the petition to join impacted families, Color Of Change, The Alliance for Boys and Men of Color, ACLU of California, Anti Police-Terror Project, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ), PICO California, PolicyLink, Youth Justice Coalition L.A., and others to ask for a common sense legal standard to protect the sanctity of life for all people.

Here is the Petition:

California lawmakers,

We urge you to pass AB 392, a bill to change the legal standard for police use of deadly force. Police should only be authorized to use deadly force when all other options have been exhausted. 

Current law justifies and gives legal cover to unnecessary police killings and has widened the rift between grieving communities – particularly communities of color – and the law enforcement agencies that are theoretically supposed to protect the entire community.

Further, we ask you to vote no on SB 230, a bill drafted by the law enforcement lobby which uses the language of criminal justice reform but doesn't offer any real pathways to accountability when police use deadly force against the people in our communities.

Please do your part to ensure a more safe state for all Californians by voting to pass AB392 and rejecting SB 230.