Police Practices Section

Ensuring fair, effective, and constitutional policing to enhance public safety for all Californians.

The Police Practices Section provides law enforcement agencies statewide with the tools to create a safer and more equitable California and, through its work, it hopes to provide a model to other states to embrace that same commitment.

Under the California Constitution, the California Attorney General is the "chief law officer of the State" with "direct supervision over every district attorney and sheriff and over such other law enforcement officers as may be designated by law, in all matters pertaining to the duties of their respective offices." The Attorney General also has authority to ensure that the laws of the State are being adequately enforced.

The Attorney General is authorized to investigate matters within the California Department of Justice's jurisdiction. The Attorney General may then bring a civil action to eliminate "a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers that deprives any person of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States or by the Constitution or laws of California."

The Police Practices Section conducts investigations into potential patterns or practices of unlawful or unconstitutional conduct by law enforcement agencies. The Police Practices Section does not conduct criminal investigations or investigate individual officers' conduct; however, evidence of potential criminal activity by personnel or individual officers' conduct may be evaluated to the extent it reflects systemic issues within the agency and a pattern or practice of unlawful conduct.

The Police Practices Section employs a variety of investigatory tools, including issuing formal subpoenas, gathering and evaluating publicly available information and data, conducting interviews of personnel, community members, and other stakeholders, and observing agency trainings, briefings, and other practices. The Police Practices Section also analyzes data reported by law enforcement agencies to our office, including RIPA stop data and use of force incident data. The Police Practices Section may look at a number of issue areas during the course of its investigations, including use of force; stops, searches and seizures; transparency and community engagement; and management and accountability.

Following an investigation, if the Police Practices Section finds that there is a pattern or practice of unlawful conduct, it may initiate a civil action against the agency or negotiate with the agency to agree to implement reforms that will address the Police Practices Section's findings. Negotiations with the agency may lead to a settlement agreement or a stipulated judgment whereby the agency agrees to implement reforms during a certain time frame.

Following a signed settlement agreement or the entry of a stipulated judgment, the Police Practices Section will oversee the agency's progress in implementing agreed upon reforms. In most cases, the agency will hire an external expert in police practices to serve as a monitor. The monitor will provide technical assistance to the agency and ongoing assessments of the agency's progress to the Police Practices Section and the public. The Police Practices Section plays an active role along with the monitor in providing technical assistance and evaluating implementation of reforms, including reviewing and revising policies, training curricula, and developing protocols for various processes. All of this is to ensure transparency, accountability, and procedural justice.

Examples of the Police Practices Section’s Oversight, Accountability, and Reform work include:

• Lawsuit Against Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Over Inhumane Conditions at County Jails
• Lawsuit Against El Cajon for Illegally Sharing License Plate Data with Out-of-State Law Enforcement
• Civil Rights Investigation into Antioch Police Department
• Civil Rights Investigation into Riverside County Sheriff’s Department
• Civil Rights Investigation into Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office
• Civil Rights Investigation into Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
• Stipulated Judgement with Bakersfield Police Department to Strengthen Policing Policies and Practices
• Stipulated Judgment with Kern County Sheriff’s Office to Strengthen Policies and Practices
• Reform of Maywood Police Department after Investigation Uncovers Gross Misconduct
• Conclusion of Court-Enforced State Monitoring of Riverside Police Department

The Police Practices Section has pioneered new and innovative approaches to police reform that involve working with law enforcement agencies to improve their policies and practices, strengthen trust between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve, and keep communities and police officers safe.

Unlike a pattern or practice investigation, the Police Practices Section’s collaborative work with an agency is oftentimes initiated by the agency itself, seeking to affirmatively better its policies and practices and to demonstrate to its community that it is proactive, rather than reactive, in engaging in reform. This proactive approach may increase the likelihood of buy-in among personnel if reform is driven from within. Collaborative engagement can also be initiated by the Police Practices Section as another tool to engage law enforcement agencies in reforms without requiring a court order or stipulated judgment.

The scope and nature of the Police Practices Section’s collaborative work with an agency depends on the needs of the agency. For some agencies, the Police Practices Section has assessed the agency’s policies and practices in a wide range of issue areas and provided public reports that includes findings and recommendations to address any concerning policies or practices. As with its investigations, the Police Practices Section uses a wide range of tools to make its assessment, including interviews, observations, and review of policies.

For other agencies, the Police Practices Section and the agency may enter into a formal settlement agreement or memorandum of understanding (MOU) that identifies what reforms will be implemented and gives the Police Practices Section the ability to obtain and evaluate information from the agency. The identified reforms may come from the Police Practices Section’s own assessment as described above, from another external agency, or during the course of negotiating the settlement agreement or MOU.

The Police Practices Section will then oversee the agency’s implementation of reforms, in a similar vein as its monitoring of an agency’s reforms following the completion of an investigation. The Police Practices Section and the agency work together to implement reforms, with an expert consultant providing technical assistance on the implementation of the reforms. The Police Practices Section serves as an independent evaluator regarding whether the reforms have been sufficiently implemented and, along with the expert consultant, reports on a periodic basis on the progress the agency has made with reform.

Examples of the Police Practices Section's collaborative work include:

• Enforceable Agreement with Torrance Police Department to Strengthen Community Trust, Improve Policing Policies and Practices
• Settlement Agreement with Vallejo Police Department and City of Vallejo to Institute Reforms, and Strengthen Accountability, Police Policies and Practices
• San Francisco Police Department Reaches Milestone in Reform Process, Achieves Substantial Compliance with Recommendations
• Collaborative Reform Effort with Sacramento Police Department

Under Assembly Bill (AB) 1506, the investigation of shootings by an officer which results in the death of an unarmed person was shifted from local law enforcement to the California Department of Justice.

Following the completion of the criminal investigation of this type of shooting by the Department of Justice's Criminal Division, the Department of Justice may prepare a report on its findings and its analyses and conclusions for each investigative issue. The Police Practices Section plays a critical role in this report by providing, to the extent applicable, recommendations for the subject agency to modify its policies and practices. PPS reviews the evidence of the incident including policies and training records and many other materials, to make final recommendations to the subject agency.

For more information, including published reports and pending investigations, see AB 1506: Fatal Shootings of Unarmed Individuals.

The Attorney General is required to collect and review state and local law enforcement agencies’ formal hate crimes policies and brochures. These materials are reviewed by the Police Practices Section to ensure that they meet the requirements under the law for the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes and hate-related incidents. If a submission does not meet the requirements, then the law enforcement agency is directed to revise and resubmit a complaint policy and/or brochure.

Law enforcement agencies are required to submit their hate crime policies and brochure to the Attorney General every four years. Law enforcement agencies are divided into four waves, starting with the first wave of submissions beginning January 1, 2025. For more information on the review process, please see Information Bulletin 2025-DLE-04.

The Police Practices Section also draws on other resources from other entities within the California Department of Justice and external agencies, including:

• The Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015 (RIPA) Reports - Assembly Bill (AB) 953, signed into law in 2015 and effective as of 2018, prohibits racial and identity profiling by law enforcement and requires every law enforcement agency to annually report to the Attorney General data on all stops conducted by the agency's peace officers. The Racial and Identity Advisory Board, comprised of community advocates, academics, and law enforcement, among others, prepares an annual report analyzing the prior year's stop data and providing policy recommendations to law enforcement and other stakeholders.
• OpenJustice - The Department of Justice's portal that stores criminal justice data gathered by and collected from law enforcement agencies, including complaints against officers, deaths in custody and arrest-related deaths, hate crimes, officers killed or assaulted, RIPA stop data, and use of force incident reporting.
• POST - The Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) - sets minimum selection and training standards for California law enforcement.

The Police Practices Section has volunteer internship opportunities available for law students. Information about the internships and how to apply can be found here.

Contact the Police Practices Section: police-practices@doj.ca.gov

If you have a complaint against an individual police officer or sheriff’s deputy, you should first direct your complaint to the local law enforcement agency. If these agencies do not act on your complaint within a reasonable period of time, you may file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office. For information on how to file a complaint: Local Law Enforcement Agency Complaints. If you are seeking legal advice, assistance to reverse a conviction or in an appeal, or because you would like to pursue a claim or seek relief related to a particular incident, we are unable to provide you with that advice or represent you. We recommend that you consult with an attorney who can provide you with legal advice and/or pursue a claim or action on your behalf.