Police Officer Decertification Conference - September 7, 2023

Every day, many peace officers across the country assist the community and intervene during tense, emotional and sometimes crisis situations. For those peace officers, the community is grateful. However, when they act outside of their duty to protect and actively engage in misconduct, the consequences to the community can be dire. Too often when peace officers who engage in misconduct are discovered, they quietly leave their employer and simply move to a different law enforcement agency and continue their misconduct in another jurisdiction. In 2021, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 2 into law, which creates a decertification process to prohibit officers who engage in misconduct from regaining eligibility for peace officer employment anywhere in California.

The virtual conference discussed the process and circumstances when the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) can revoke certifications for peace officers so that those individuals will be disqualified from peace officer employment in California. The panel discussed the decertification database housed by POST and touched on the criteria necessary to include a peace officer on the Brady list, when a peace officer can be relieved of duty in accordance with the civil service rules, and when a peace officer can be charged with a crime.

Los Angeles County Civilian Oversight Commission Interim Executive Director Danielle Butler Vappie provided remarks, and the event was moderated by Commission Chair Sean Kennedy, who also serves as Executive Director for Loyola Law School's Center for Juvenile Law & Policy. Speakers included Manuel Alvarez Jr., Executive Director, Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training; Annemarie Del Mugnaio, Assistant Executive Director, Standards and Accountability Division, Peace Officer Standards & Training; Ernie Arce, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; Diana M. Teran, Director of Prosecution Support, Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office; Max Huntsman, Los Angeles County Inspector General; Mayra Joachin, Staff Attorney at ACLU of Southern California.

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