This week, California continued its efforts to strip badges from hundreds of officers across the state, including those in cities like San Diego. The state has decertified almost 300 police officers in the last two years. Their offenses? Lying, sexual assault, and excessive use of force, among other violations of their oath and human decency. Despite this progress, there remains a backlog of cases, and the problems of American policing remain. Brutality has been key to U.S. law enforcement since its slave patrol origin. Trump‘s use of the law as a fascist tool isn’t helping San Diego either.
San Diego Officer Badges Taken for Misconduct
Sometimes, the consequences are small, like getting a hat snatched off your head. Other times, they’re large, ending in loss of life or liberty. In the U.S., however, qualified immunity protects police officers from repercussions in most situations of wrongdoing. California is one state attempting to remedy that. Decertifying officers, in theory, prevents them from working similar jobs elsewhere in the state, thus protecting the public from further harm. While some officers could face criminal prosecution as well, that’s a separate process.
A Reddit post by u/Randomlynumbered about the officer decertifications garnered over 1k upvotes and many positive comments. Most voiced support for California’s efforts. “Good. The people we are supposed to trust to keep us safe should be held to a higher standard with harsher penalties,” said one commenter. Another focused on the list of offenses the officers had committed, including sexual assault, saying,
Those things sure sound like crimes that they’re being fired instead of arrested for.
California passed a state law in 2001 to begin decertifying some officers. In the years since then, 20 San Diego County officers have lost their badges. They represent a tiny fraction of the almost 20,000 current or former officers with active complaints against them in the state. The immense backlog and agency short-staffing mean many cases might never see the light of justice. As Trump weaponizes “Back the Blue” rhetoric to justify increasing brutality and oppression, California’s situation is a precious one.
