Law Enforcement

OAKLAND – In honor of Human Trafficking Awareness Day, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that the Attorney General’s office, Truckers Against Trafficking, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office will host a training on Wednesday, January 13, 2016, to equip the trucking industry and law enforcement with the tools to effectively identify and charge suspected traffickers.

The training will be held at the Port of Oakland and will provide resources to help truck drivers recognize and report suspected traffickers to law enforcement.  Given the cross-jurisdictional nature of the crime of human trafficking and the use of major thoroughfares by traffickers, truck drivers are particularly well-positioned to aid law enforcement.  The event will also feature The Freedom Drivers Project, a first-of-its-kind 48-foot mobile exhibit that includes artifacts from trafficking cases, portraits of Truckers Against Trafficking members, and ways members of the public can join the fight against human trafficking.

“Human trafficking is one of the world’s most heinous and profitable criminal enterprises,” said Attorney General Harris.  “It is unconscionable that each year, thousands of vulnerable children and adults are forced into labor and prostitution.  Those who buy trafficked labor must also be held accountable for their outrageous crimes.  I thank Truckers Against Trafficking and our law enforcement partners for their work to dismantle networks of traffickers and this criminal industry.”

“California is at the national forefront in the fight to end human trafficking.  Local and statewide law enforcement agencies and prosecutor’s offices cannot wage this battle without the assistance of groups like Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT),” said Alameda County District Attorney Nancy E. O’Malley.  “TAT enables concerned truckers to act as additional eyes on the road for signs of human trafficking and to subvert demand for sex trafficking.  Every member of our community should be aware that children and adults are trafficked on a daily basis around our state and nation, and we each have a vital role to play in ending this horrendous criminal enterprise.”

“We are pleased to be able to forge a partnership with Attorney General Harris’ office, Alameda County District Attorney O’Malley and the Truckers Against Trafficking to combat human trafficking,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Brian J. Stretch.  “This alliance will illustrate once again why a collaborative model unifying state and federal law enforcement with service providers is an effective instrument in our fight against human trafficking.” 

“We are thrilled to work with our partners at the California Trucking Association and the California Attorney General's office to bring law enforcement and key trucking industry stakeholders into a networking and training session,” said Kylla Lanier, the Deputy Director for Truckers Against Trafficking.  “By equipping these critical audiences to recognize suspected human trafficking, traffickers will find it harder to operate, and victims will have a better opportunity at being recovered.”

“The California Trucking Association is proud to partner with Truckers Against Trafficking and the California Attorney General’s office,” said Shawn Yadon, CEO of The California Trucking Association. “As a long-standing supporter of Truckers Against Trafficking, the trucking industry has made it a top priority to work with our coalition partners by helping to deliver educational platforms to fight against issues related to human trafficking.”

"We encourage everyone to get educated on trafficking by visiting http://www.notraffickahead.com/, a workgroup of over 50 agencies across the Bay Area leading the fight against Human Trafficking,” said Sharan Dhanoa of the No Traffick Ahead Coalition.

Wednesday’s training is part of an ongoing partnership between Attorney General Harris’s office and U.S. Attorney’s offices in California to address the need for heightened awareness of labor trafficking, which is often overlooked in anti-human trafficking efforts.  Participants in previous trainings have included the U.S. Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, California’s Employment Development Department and Department of Fair Employment and Housing, City Attorney’s Offices, local regulatory offices, as well as service providers and law enforcement agencies.  This training in Oakland is the ninth in a series that began over a year ago in Fresno and other trainings have been held in Sacramento, San Francisco, Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Luis Obispo. 

On Tuesday, January 12, 2016, Attorney General Harris will also receive the Modern Day Abolition Award from the San Francisco Coalition Against Human Trafficking, which she helped to establish while serving as District Attorney of San Francisco.  The award recognizes individuals who have worked to prevent and prosecute human trafficking and protect victims from violence, exploitation, and slavery.

Throughout her career, Attorney General Harris has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to fighting human trafficking.  She has advocated for increased collaboration between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in investigating and prosecuting trafficking cases, as well as early and frequent collaboration between law enforcement and victim service providers.

In addition, Attorney General Harris’s office will be working with local law enforcement in Santa Clara County and statewide to combat human trafficking in the lead-up to and during the Super Bowl, which will be held on February 7, 2016, in the city of Santa Clara, California.

The Attorney General’s office is actively investigating and prosecuting human trafficking cases across California, most recently securing convictions against four defendants who were running a brothel out of an Emeryville massage parlor, with the owner receiving a 10-year prison sentence.

Last year, Attorney General Harris released a resource guide for companies on complying with the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 (SB 657), a law requiring retailers and manufacturers doing business in California that have annual worldwide gross receipts exceeding $100,000,000 to disclose on their websites their efforts to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from their product supply chains.  Attorney General Harris’s office is actively investigating companies that may be in violation of the law.  More information is available at https://oag.ca.gov/SB657.

In 2014, Attorney General Harris released a report, Gangs Beyond Borders: California and the Fight Against Transnational Organized Crime, which identified human trafficking as an emerging criminal enterprise undertaken by transnational criminal organizations and recommended creating state task forces to investigate and disrupt these organizations.  In 2012, Attorney General Harris created a Human Trafficking Work Group and released a report, The State of Human Trafficking in California, which outlined the growing prevalence of this $32 billion-a-year global industry and the way in which California is uniquely affected.

LOS ANGELES - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today issued an information bulletin to California law enforcement agencies outlining new responsibilities under state law to report incidents involving shootings or any use of force that results in serious bodily injury or death of a civilian or a peace officer.

AB 71 (Rodriguez), which was supported by Attorney General Harris, requires all California law enforcement agencies starting January 1, 2016 to begin collecting data on incidents involving the shooting of a civilian by a peace officer, the shooting of a peace officer by a civilian, as well as data on incidents involving use of force by a civilian/peace officer against the other that result in serious bodily injury or death.  An annual report of data must be submitted to the California Department of Justice beginning January 1, 2017.

“As a career prosecutor, I have always known one central truth: the public and law enforcement need each other to keep our communities safe.  I am proud to implement landmark legislation requiring reporting from law enforcement agencies to the California Department of Justice on shooting and use of force incidents,” said Attorney General Harris.  “California is leading the nation in promoting accountability through open data, which will strengthen trust between law enforcement and the communities that we are sworn to protect.”

As a part of the bulletin, the Attorney General distributed a use of force incident template to inform law enforcement agencies and officers of the required data fields that must be submitted to the Department of Justice.  This template was created with input from stakeholders including Assemblymember Rodriguez’ office, California law enforcement associations, state and local law enforcement agencies, and advocacy groups.  The template and its accompanying instructions are also available on the California Law Enforcement Web and on the California Department of Justice website: http://oag.ca.gov/law.

In order to make reporting less cumbersome for officers, the Department of Justice will be working with select law enforcement agencies to develop and field test a web-based data collection system that will allow law enforcement to track and submit use of force data electronically.  Once user tested and accepted, all law enforcement agencies will be able to track data internally as well as report data electronically utilizing this system.  This new web-based collection system will dramatically improve the quality and efficiency of data collection by the Department. 

In 2017, use of force data collected by the Department of Justice under the new law will also be published on the Attorney General’s OpenJustice Dashboard and Data Portal, which was launched in September 2015.  OpenJustice is a first-of-its-kind criminal justice open data initiative that releases unprecedented data and provides user-friendly visualization tools.  The Dashboard spotlights key metrics and embraces transparency in the criminal justice system to strengthen trust, enhance government accountability, and inform public policy.  Attorney General Harris began by releasing data on: (1) Deaths in Custody, (2) Arrest Rates and (3) Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted. 

Since January 2015, Attorney General Harris has taken several steps to strengthen the trust between law enforcement and California communities.  These actions include:

• Directing the Department of Justice’s Division of Law Enforcement to conduct a 90-Day Review of its special agent trainings on implicit bias and use of force.
• Initiating a body camera pilot program for  DOJ special agents.
• Convening law enforcement, youth, and community organizations to facilitate discourse about the best ways to cultivate trust and positive relationships.
• Creating the 21st Century Policing Working Group to foster discussion regarding implicit bias and building community trust, and to share best practices.
• Launching OpenJustice, a first-of-its-kind criminal justice open data initiative that is releasing unprecedented information with a focus on being interactive and highlighting data stories.  
• Training Police Executives from 29 different law enforcement agencies in a Principled Policing Course, a POST Certified Training on Implicit Bias and Procedural Justice.

SACRAMENTO - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced the arrest of Alex Morales III, 54, an employee of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), on bribery charges. Morales allegedly received bribes in the form of money and a vehicle in return for ensuring that Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) contracts were awarded to the person or company providing the bribe.

“Accepting bribes in exchange for awarding public contracts is illegal and corrupt, and violates the public’s trust in government,” said Attorney General Harris. “My office will continue to hold this individual – and others like him – accountable for their crimes.”

Morales is an ADA Statewide Coordinator for Caltrans, a role which involves making Caltrans systems, including bridges and public walkways, ADA compliant. According to the felony complaint, he accepted numerous bribes totaling at least $100,000 over the course of approximately four years. The bribes were presented in monthly cash payments ranging from $1,800 to $12,000, and also through a bribe in the form of a new white Ford sports utility vehicle.

The arrest came after a 9 month-long investigation by the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Investigation, Special Investigation Team. Special agents served 4 search warrants leading up to the arrests, including some at state office buildings. All agencies involved, including Caltrans, fully cooperated with the Attorney General’s investigation.

“We have a set of values that drive Caltrans and this behavior is not consistent with those values,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty. “If an employee goes outside of those values, they don’t have a place in this department.” 

A copy of the felony complaint is attached to the online version of this press release at oag.ca.gov/news.

VENTURA - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that the California Department of Justice will be formally joining the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office in the ongoing prosecution of multiple individual and corporate defendants charged with environmental crimes and other specified offenses related to the November 18, 2014 explosion at the Santa Clara Waste Water Company facility located in Santa Paula, California. 

The explosion disbursed toxic chemical residue and is alleged to have caused serious injuries to employees and first responders. In August 2015, a Ventura County grand jury indicted nine individuals and two corporate entities on multiple criminal counts including conspiracy to dispose of hazardous waste, failure to warn of a serious concealed danger, handling a hazardous waste with a reckless disregard for human life, withholding information regarding a substantial danger to public safety, filing a false or forged instrument, and dissuading a witness.

“The reckless handling of hazardous waste is a danger to public health and safety, and will not be tolerated in California,” said Attorney General Kamala D. Harris.  “My office will continue to prosecute serious environmental and health violations and will work closely with the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office to hold all perpetrators accountable.”

Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten stated, “We are pleased with the Attorney General’s decision and welcome the contribution of prosecutorial resources and environmental expertise the Department of Justice will bring to this case.”

This joint prosecution effort follows a nine-month investigation by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Ventura County Environmental Health Department, and the Ventura County Fire Department. The joint prosecution will include all aspects of the case, as well as the ongoing investigation into the storage of thousands of gallons of chemicals recently discovered through execution of a search warrant at the company’s facility in Santa Paula on November 5, 2015.

Green Compass Environmental Solutions LLC, one of the corporate entities previously indicted by the Ventura County Grand Jury, has facilities in Orange County, Kern County, and conducts waste disposal services in the Bay Area, making this matter one of statewide significance.

The next court date is an arraignment on December 1, 2015, at 9:00 a.m. in Department 12 of the Ventura Superior Court.

FRESNO - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that California Department of Justice Bureau of Firearms Special Agents have removed more than 500 firearms from a single individual that is legally barred from owning them and is in the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS) database.  Through this operation, agents seized 209 handguns, 88 shotguns, 234 rifles, 181 standard capacity magazines, 10 high capacity magazines, 100,521 rounds of various ammunition, and 10 assault weapons including a .50 caliber bolt action rifle. The individual, from Clovis, is on the APPS database due to a prior mental health hold, which prohibits an individual from possessing firearms. The individual was arrested for illegally possessing the firearms. 

This operation, as well as ongoing and day-to-day investigations have reduced the number of individuals in APPS to a historic low.  Since November 2013, Attorney General Harris has brought the number of individuals in the registry down by nearly half.  Over the last two years, the California Department of Justice has doubled the average number of guns seized annually and increased the number of investigations per month by nearly 300%, allowing special agents to conduct 17,465 investigations as of October 30, 2015. 

“Removing firearms from dangerous and violent individuals who pose a threat to themselves and the public is a top priority for the California Department of Justice,” said Attorney General Harris.  “I thank our Bureau of Firearms Special Agents for their bravery in carrying out these dangerous investigations and their commitment to keeping our communities safe.”

In October, California Department of Justice Special Agents and the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department conducted an APPS operation that resulted in the seizure of 82 firearms and 10 arrests.  In May, California Department of Justice Special Agents and local law enforcement partners in Los Angeles County conducted a similar successful operation that resulted in the seizure of 254 firearms, 48,000 rounds of ammunition, and 18 illegal high capacity magazines, as well as the arrest of 26 individuals.

In 2011, Attorney General Harris sponsored SB 819 (Leno) to allow the Department of Justice to use existing regulatory fees collected by gun dealers (“DROS fees”) for purposes of regulatory and enforcement activities related to firearms, including management of APPS.  This went into effect January 2012.  In 2013, Attorney General Harris sponsored SB 140 (Leno) to appropriate $24 million in funding from the DROS Account to help support the APPS program; this urgency legislation went into effect immediately in May 2013.

APPS works to identify individuals who previously procured firearms, but later became barred from legally owning them because they were convicted of a felony or a violent misdemeanor, placed under a domestic violence restraining order, or suffer from serious mental illness.  California is the first and only state in the U.S. to establish an automated system for tracking handgun and assault weapon owners who might fall into a prohibited status.

LOS ANGELES - In the wake of recent events in California and across the nation that highlight the need for building trust between law enforcement and the communities they are sworn to serve, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has taken several steps to strengthen this relationship. Today, Attorney General Harris announced the kickoff of the first Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (“POST”) certified law enforcement training on both procedural justice and implicit bias, the first of its kind in the country.

The first of two course dates will be held today at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles and the second will be held on Thursday, November 19 at the California Highway Patrol in Sacramento. 

“In January, I began a dialogue with leaders of the California law enforcement community about strengthening the relationship of trust between law enforcement and the communities we are sworn to serve,” said Attorney General Harris.  “Throughout this dialogue, a theme has emerged regarding the need to continue to bring best-in-class training to law enforcement across our state.  Today, we are proud to announce that the California Department of Justice is offering the first POST certified course in the nation to combine the concepts of procedural justice and implicit bias.  This course is the result of a true collaboration with law enforcement, community partners and academics to bring evidence-based concepts into practice.”

The training course, titled “Principled Policing:  Procedural Justice and Implicit Bias” is the result of a collaborative partnership between the California Department of Justice, the Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training, the Stockton and Oakland Police Departments, Stanford University and the California Partnership for Safe Communities.

“On behalf of POST, we are proud to join Attorney General Harris in offering this innovative course on Principled Policing,” said Bob Stresak, Executive Director of POST.  “The high enrollment in this course is a testament to California's law enforcement leaders recognizing that California's communities deserve the highest levels of professional service and that they are committed to making every effort to accomplish this goal.”

Specifically, the procedural justice and implicit bias training will consist of six areas that focus on policing approaches that emphasize respect, listening, neutrality and trust, while recognizing and addressing implicit biases that can be barriers to these approaches.  As a result, the training will work to create a broader awareness of both procedural justice and implicit bias in order to build trust and improve public and officer safety.

“We are pleased to have contributed to this new, research-based training,” said Stanford Professor Jennifer Eberhardt. “Our aim is to improve the ability of law enforcement executives across the state to recognize and address common implicit biases – biases that can be barriers to neutral policing.”

“The experience of police departments across the country, backed up by extensive research, is that procedural justice interventions are among the most effective tools available to police for strengthening trust and communication with communities,” said Stewart Wakeling, Executive Director of the California Partnership for Safer Communities.  “We have worked with the Stockton and Oakland Police Departments, with community leaders and officers as key partners, to bring procedural justice training to their officers, and are excited to add Implicit Bias to the curriculum and make it available to agencies statewide.”

The course will total eight hours of training and participants will receive a certificate and be required to complete a pre- and post- survey of the course.  Stanford University will be compiling the survey results to conduct an evaluation of the course. More than 90 applicants from 30 agencies applied for the course.

“I commend Attorney General Harris and these partners for playing a leadership role in advancing 21st Century Policing at the state level.  The President’s Task Force specifically identifies procedural justice and addressing implicit bias as cornerstones of 21st Century Policing.  General Harris is leading the nation in her support for law enforcement agencies across California to understand and apply these concepts,” said Tracey Meares, Walton Hale Hamilton Professor at Yale Law School and Member of President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.

The following law enforcement agencies have enrolled in the first courses: 

• Berkeley Police Department
• California Department of Justice
• California Highway Patrol
• El Cerrito Police Department
• Elk Grove Police Department
• Fremont Police Department
• Fresno Police Department
• Indio Police Department
• Lassen County Sheriff’s Department
• Long Beach Police Department
• Los Angeles Airport Police Department
• Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
• Los Angeles Police Department
• Modesto Police Department
• Newport Beach Police Department
• Orange County Sheriff’s Department
• Oxnard Police Department
• Rancho Cordova Police Department
• Richmond Police Department
• Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department
• Sacramento Police Department
• San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department
• San Diego County District Attorney’s Office
• San Diego Police Department
• San Francisco Police Department
• San Jose Police Department
• Simi Valley Police Department
• Ventura Police Department

POST was formed by the California State Legislature to enforce minimum training and selection standards in order to increase the professionalism of California law enforcement.  

This training was developed as part of the California Department of Justice’s 90-Day Review of its own special agent training programs on implicit bias and use of force which were announced in April 2015.

Since January 2015, Attorney General Harris has taken several steps to strengthen the trust between law enforcement and California communities.  These actions include:

• Directing the Department of Justice’s Division of Law Enforcement to conduct a 90-Day Review of its special agent trainings on implicit bias and use of force.
• Instituting a body camera policy for all DOJ special agent personnel conducting field operations.
• Convening law enforcement, youth and community organizations.
• Creating the 21st Century Policing Working Group to foster discussion regarding implicit bias and building community trust.
• Launching OpenJustice, a first-of-its-kind criminal justice open data initiative that will release unprecedented data while being interactive and easy to use.  The tool spotlights key criminal justice indicators and embraces transparency in the criminal justice system to strengthen trust, enhance government accountability, and inform public policy.
• Creating a POST Certified Training on Implicit Bias and Procedural Justice

Last month, Attorney General Harris launched OpenJustice, a first-of-its-kind criminal justice open data initiative that will release unprecedented data while being interactive and easy to use.  The tool consists of two components: a Dashboard that spotlights key criminal justice indicators with user-friendly visualization tools and an Open Data Portal that publishes raw data from the California Department of Justice’s statewide repository of criminal justice datasets.  OpenJustice (openjustice.doj.ca.gov) embraces transparency in the criminal justice system to strengthen trust, enhance government accountability, and inform public policy.

SACRAMENTO - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that the California Department of Justice and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department have completed a multi-day operation to remove firearms from individuals legally barred from possessing them, including persons determined to be mentally unstable and those with active restraining orders against them. The joint operation resulted in 150 investigations and the seizure of 82 firearms and 10 arrests, targeting individuals on the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS).

This operation, as well as ongoing and day-to-day investigations, reduced the number of individuals in APPS to a historic low. As of November 4, 2015, the number of individuals on the APPS list is 13,918, the lowest it’s been since January 2009.

“Removing firearms from dangerous and violent individuals who pose a threat to themselves and the public is a top priority for the California Department of Justice,” said Attorney General Harris. “I thank our Department of Justice Bureau of Firearms Special Agents and the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department for their bravery in carrying out these dangerous investigations and their commitment to keeping our communities safe.”

The three-day operation, conducted the week of October 26, included 27 California Department of Justice Special Agents and 20 Sacramento County Sheriff’s Deputies.

Over the last two years, the California Department of Justice has doubled the average number of guns seized per year and increased the number of investigations per month by nearly 300%, enabling special agents to conduct 17,465 investigations as of October 30, 2015.

In May, California Department of Justice Special Agents and Los Angeles County local law enforcement partners conducted an APPS operation that resulted in the seizure of 254 firearms, 48,000 rounds of ammunition, and 18 illegal high capacity magazines. The L.A. County operation also resulted in the arrest of 26 individuals.

APPS works to identify individuals who previously purchased firearms, but later became prohibited from legally owning them because they were convicted of a felony or a violent misdemeanor, placed under a domestic violence restraining order, or suffer from serious mental illness. The database was completed in November 2006, and instantly created a queue of thousands of investigations.

In 2011, Attorney General Harris sponsored SB 819 (Leno) to allow the Department of Justice to use existing regulatory fees collected by gun dealers (“DROS fees”) for purposes of regulatory and enforcement activities related to firearms, including management of APPS.  This went into effect January 2012.  In 2013, Attorney General Harris sponsored SB 140 (Leno) to appropriate $24 million in funding from the DROS Account to help support the APPS program; this urgency legislation went into effect immediately in May 2013.

California is the first and only state in the nation to establish an automated system for tracking handgun and assault weapon owners who might fall into a prohibited status.

LOS ANGELES - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today issued an information bulletin to California law enforcement agencies detailing new responsibilities under state law to assist immigrant crime victims in applying for U visas, a form of immigration relief specifically set aside for victims of crime who lack authorized immigration status.

California’s Immigrant Victims of Crime Equity Act (SB 674, De León), which takes effect on January 1, 2016, will require state and local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, judges, and other specified officials to certify the helpfulness of immigrant crime victims of specified qualifying crimes on a federal U Nonimmigrant Status Certification, also known as a “U visa certification.”  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services considers these certifications in determining whether to grant a qualifying immigrant a U visa.

“Protecting victims of crime and encouraging their cooperation in criminal investigations and prosecutions keeps our communities safe,” said Attorney General Harris. “This information bulletin provides state and local law enforcement with clear direction to comply with the new U visa requirements, which will help prosecutors obtain convictions while strengthening the relationship of trust between law enforcement and immigrant communities.”

The new law (Penal Code Section 679.10) mandates that certain state and local law enforcement agencies and other specified officials complete U visa certifications, upon request, for immigrant crime victims who have been helpful, are being helpful, or are likely to be helpful in the detection, investigation, or prosecution of specified qualifying crimes. The new law also requires certifying entities to complete the certification within 90 days of the request, except in cases where the applicant is in immigration removal proceedings, in which case the certification must be completed within 14 days of the request

In addition to providing guidance on the new state law, the Attorney General’s bulletin summarizes existing federal law governing U visas, answers relevant questions regarding U visa eligibility, and encourages state and local law enforcement agencies and officers to be vigilant in identifying and supporting immigrant crime victims who may be eligible for U visas. 

U Visas are federal immigration visas designed only for victims of crime who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse because of criminal activity, and who are willing to assist federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies or government officials in the investigation of that criminal activity.

Attorney General Harris previously issued two information bulletins regarding immigration issues to local law enforcement agencies.  A bulletin in 2012 advised that local law enforcement had the discretion not to enforce Secure Communities detainer requests and in 2014, the second bulletin provided local law enforcement with updated guidance based on the state’s TRUST Act, which was passed to promote community policing and trust between law enforcement and communities.

Earlier this month, Attorney General Harris sent a letter to U.S. Senate Leaders opposing S. 2146, legislation that would withhold federal funding from California law enforcement agencies that comply with the TRUST Act. 

A copy of the bulletin is attached to the online version of this news release at www.oag.ca.gov/news.

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced a new partnership between the California Department of Justice and the White House Police Data Initiative, following the recent launch of OpenJustice (openjustice.doj.ca.gov), a first-of-its-kind criminal justice open data initiative launched by the California Department of Justice. 

The White House Police Data Initiative announced the partnership through a blog post as President Barack Obama addressed attendees at the 122nd annual conference of the Internal Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). The blog post is available here.

The new collaborative effort will encourage law enforcement agencies across California to adopt open data policies and provide tools and resources to empower those agencies to better utilize their data to enhance public safety.

“Open data increases transparency and accountability in policing, which strengthens trust between law enforcement and the communities we are sworn to protect,” said Attorney General Harris.  “I thank the White House Police Data Initiative for their partnership, and I encourage law enforcement agencies around the country to modernize their data collection practices and to share this valuable information with their communities..”

The California Department of Justice’s new OpenJustice initiative, announced in September 2015, released unprecedented data in an interactive, easy-to-use format. The initiative consists of two components: a Justice Dashboard highlighting key criminal justice indicators with user-friendly visualization tools, and an Open Data Portal publishing criminal justice data sets from the California Department of Justice’s statewide repository.

Initial datasets published include (1) Law Enforcement Officers Killed or Assaulted in the Line of Duty; (2) Deaths in Custody, including arrest-related deaths; and (3) Arrests and Bookings.  For each metric, the Dashboard features interactive web tools that allow the public to explore these key criminal justice indicators over time and across jurisdictions. Additional datasets that touch on aspects of the criminal justice system and new functionality will be added to the site over the next several months.

The White House Police Data Initiative has partnered with community organizations, technologists, and police associations to encourage greater transparency in criminal justice and use data and technology in ways that build community trust and reduce unnecessary uses of force.  This new partnership with California marks the first state partnership with the White House Police Data Initiative.  

The California Department of Justice and the White House Police Data Initiative are offering technical assistance, tools, and resources to local law enforcement agencies interested in building greater community trust and pursuing more effective policing through technology and open data. Code for America and CI Technologies are working with the initiative to build an open source software tool to assist law enforcement agencies in reporting data and public and private-sector partners are developing cutting-edge mapping and visualizations to make the data accessible and easily understood.

LOS ANGELES - Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today sent a letter to United States Senators opposing S. 2146, the Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act, legislation proposed by Senator David Vitter (R- Louisiana), which would potentially withhold federal funding from California law enforcement agencies who comply with the state Transparency and Responsibility Using State Tool Act (TRUST Act). 

In the letter, Attorney General Harris expresses concerns over this effort to undermine the delicate balance struck in California to protect public safety and strengthen the relationship of trust between law enforcement and communities. 

“I strongly believe that serious and violent criminals—whether undocumented or not—should be held accountable for their crimes.  But when local law enforcement officials are seen as de facto immigration agents, it erodes the trust between our peace officers and the communities we are sworn to serve,” Attorney General Harris stated in the letter.  “Criminal justice policy should not be conflated with national immigration policy.”

In June 2014, Attorney General Harris sent a bulletin to law enforcement agencies in California, outlining their responsibilities and potential liability for complying with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) federal detainer requests for undocumented immigrants.

The letter makes clear that California local law enforcement agencies are always able to notify ICE about serious criminals or those who pose a threat to public safety or national security.  The TRUST Act allows local law enforcement to notify ICE about serious criminals, while requiring that local agencies analyze public safety risks posed by an individual, including a review of the arrest offense and criminal history, before deciding whether to devote local resources to hold an undocumented immigrant on behalf of the federal government. 

The letter to the Senate is attached to the online version of this release at www.oag.ca.gov/news.

The law enforcement bulletin is available online here: http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/law_enforcement/14-01_le_info_bulletin.pdf.