Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham’s police transparency bill passes state Senate committee
A bill authored by a Central Coast legislator to increase transparency of serious police misconduct is one step closer to becoming law.
Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham’s office announced Friday that his Assembly Bill 1599 passed the state Senate Committee on Public Safety with a unanimous 6-0 vote.
The proposed bill would mandate the disclosure of police agency records in cases of sustained allegations of improper use of deadly force, sexual assault on a member of the public, or dishonesty on the job.
“Our law enforcement officers do a very difficult job and most do it admirably. But there are instances when officers abuse their badge,” Cunningham wrote in a new release. “AB 1599 is a common-sense measure. In cases where there are sustained findings of serious misconduct, the records should be made public. My hope is that this measure will increase trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.”
The law enforcement transparency bill was partly inspired by the case of a former Paso Robles police sergeant who was accused of raping a woman he encountered on the job.
A Sheriff’s Office investigation recommended criminal charges against former officer Christopher McGuire, who resigned from the department in October 2018, but the District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges.
The bill easily passed the state Assembly in January even though Cunningham, a former deputy district attorney who currently works as a defense and civil attorney, was one of only four Republican lawmakers to vote for it.
Cunningham’s office says the bill would have closed a legal loophole that prevented The Tribune and KSBY from obtaining records related to Paso Robles’ investigation into McGuire’s alleged misconduct.
“We passed a landmark police transparency measure in 2018, but a glaring loophole lets bad actors who commit sexual assault under color of law keep records hidden,” Cunningham said in a written statement at the time. “The public deserves access to investigative records into sexual assault under color of law under tight parameters. (The bill) will bring transparency to government and help restore the public trust.”
Under another bill passed in late 2018, SB 1421, records of verified police dishonesty, criminal conduct, and certain use-of-force incidents must be released to the public.
But Cunningham argues that, in cases like McGuire’s, many California police departments do not complete internal investigations if an officer resigns during the investigation.
The bill has received support from the ACLU, the California News Publishers Association, the California Public Defenders Association and the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.
The Tribune and the other California McClatchy newspapers have also published strong editorials in support of the bill.
Cunningham, a second-term assemblyman first elected in 2016, represents all of San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County.
