This is part two of a two-part series about California’s officer decertification system. Read part one here.
Hundreds of law enforcement agencies throughout California, including some in San Diego County, have reported few — if any — serious misconduct cases to the state’s officer decertification system, raising concerns that many departments are bypassing a critical avenue for police accountability.
In 2021, California passed a law creating a system to strip bad officers of their badges for good, meaning they could no longer serve in law enforcement anywhere in the state. The law aimed to eliminate the so-called “wandering officer” problem, where some cops bounce from one department to another and leave behind a trail of misconduct.
The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) is tasked with certifying and decertifying officers. There are nine categories of serious misconduct that result in decertification. Officers who commit felonies and certain misdemeanors also face decertification.
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But the system only works if departments participate. The law requires every law enforcement agency — from big city police departments to remote sheriff’s offices to campus public safety units — to submit all allegations of serious misconduct to POST.
There are hundreds of departments around the state that have submitted three or fewer serious misconduct reports. Dozens never responded when POST inquired about potential under-reporting.
Many of the departments with few serious misconduct reports are tiny agencies, such as the Cal State San Marcos Police Department and San Diego County Bureau of Public Assistance Investigations.
But there are a number of small or mid-size agencies up and down the state that appear to be under-reporting or neglecting to report cases. Examples include:
El Cajon Police Department
The El Cajon Police Department, which has roughly 120 officers, has submitted just one serious misconduct report to POST. That’s substantially lower than similarly-sized departments elsewhere in the state. Clovis Police Department, for example, submitted more than 80 reports of potential misconduct to POST. The police departments in El Monte and Chino have submitted around 40 complaints each.
“The El Cajon Police Department submits reports to (POST) in accordance with the [state law that] defines serious misconduct,” wrote El Cajon Police Department Lt. Nick Sprecco in an email. “It is important to note that the department only reports incidents that meet this specific definition.”
Tuolumne County Sheriff
The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office, which patrols a 2,300 square mile area in California’s Sierra Foothills, has reported zero serious misconduct allegations to POST. The department has over 100 officers.
Tuolumne County Sheriff David Vasquez did not respond to a request for comment. The office also did not respond to an inquiry from POST about its lack of reporting.
“When you're starting to look at 100 officers, it's probably not realistic that you would never have a serious misconduct complaint, charge or allegation,” said Annemarie Del Mugnaio, Assistant Executive Director for POST’s Standards and Accountability Division.
Humboldt County Sheriff
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received over 400 civilian complaints between 2020 and 2023, according to the most recently available data from the California Department of Justice. It’s a remarkably high number for an agency with about 170 officers. Most of the complaints came from people in detention.
While a portion of the complaints presumably contain minor allegations, others likely meet the criteria for serious misconduct.
The sheriff’s office so far has only reported six cases of potential serious misconduct to POST.
“It appears likely that (the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office) has under-reported,” said Paul Parker, former executive officer of the San Diego County Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board, who emerged as an outspoken expert and advocate on jail safety.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
The lack of repercussions for non-reporting agencies has sparked concern among people pushing for greater police accountability.
“I think the risk is substantial for underreporting of serious misconduct to POST,” Parker said. “You could have people that should not be peace officers in the state of California, out on the font lines providing services to the public.”
A law lacking teeth
California’s decertification system began accepting serious misconduct reports in 2023 and was inundated from the start. So far, POST has received over 35,000 reports, including cases going back decades.
KPBS found roughly 300 officers have lost their certification so far, though there remains a substantial backlog of open cases.
But right now, there is little POST can do to ensure law enforcement agencies fully comply with the state’s decertification law.
“There's nothing in the law that sanctions an agency … if an agency fails to report,” Del Mugnaio said.
She said POST routinely reaches out to law enforcement departments to encourage reporting cases and monitors news stories for incidents of potential serious misconduct.
Steven Bradford, the former state senator who authored the decertification law, believes there needs to be follow-up legislation that would give the system more teeth.
“We know there are plenty of departments who are still not fully cooperating,” Bradford said. “That's the greatest concern right now.”
Bradford said the state Legislature should consider a bill that would give POST more “leverage to force these departments to submit these violations.”
“There's always room for improvement on just about any type of legislation,” he said.
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