Gov. Newsom signs bill giving civilian oversight boards access to police personnel files

"AB 847 gives oversight commissions the same access to peace officer files currently held by prosecutors, grand juries and the state attorney general. While many oversight panels can subpoena documents and investigate misconduct complaints, requests for officer personnel files have routinely been denied by law enforcement agencies. Without that information, they say, it's difficult to identify patterns of misconduct, understand disciplinary history or recommend policy changes."

"The reality is that effective civilian oversight of the sheriff's department requires that oversight commissions be able to subpoena and receive confidential documents, Sharp-Collins, a La Mesa Democrat, told the Assembly's public safety committee in April. AB 847 fixes that problem. The measure includes strict confidentiality protections. Records may only be reviewed in closed session, and commissions are barred from releasing personally identifying or sensitive details."

"Last month, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors officially voted to support AB 847, with Supervisors Monica Montgomery Steppe, Terra Lawson-Remer and Paloma Aguirre in favor and Republicans Jim Desmond and Joel Anderson opposed. Montgomery Steppe, who requested the vote, argued that AB 847 would give the Citizens' Law Enforcement Review Board the tools it needs to conduct the kind of investigations voters expected when they created it more than three decades ago."

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 847, authored by Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins, granting law enforcement oversight boards access to confidential police personnel records. AB 847 gives oversight commissions the same access to peace officer files held by prosecutors, grand juries and the state attorney general. Many oversight panels previously faced routine denials when requesting personnel files, hindering efforts to identify misconduct patterns, understand disciplinary histories and recommend policy changes. The law requires records to be reviewed only in closed session and bars release of personally identifying or sensitive details. Local votes and law enforcement group positions on the bill were split.

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