Gavin Newsom signs police accountability law to keep troubled cops out of law enforcement

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Thursday that will make it easier to strip cops with misconduct records of their badges and keep them from jumping to another law enforcement agency without facing discipline.

Newsom’s signature fulfills more than a year’s worth of promises Democrats made after George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis to weed out officers with concerning records of excessive force and other serious misconduct. California was one of only four states without a police decertification process.

“This has been hard,” Newsom said at a press conference in Gardena where he was joined by families of young men killed by police. “We have a lot to be proud of, but there are areas where we have nothing to brag about. California has asserted itself in certain areas, but it’s remarkable that we still struggle in other areas.”

Senate Bill 2 became one of the most-watched bills the Legislature considered this year. Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, initially introduced a similar proposal in 2020, but failed to get it through the Legislature.

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