New Laws Highlight Need For Solidarity

FRED ROWBOTHAM
Chairman

Law enforcement in California has taken some substantial legislative hits over the last year. AB 748 and SB 1421 sailed through the Legislature this year and were signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown. Below, you will find a thoughtful explanation of how these new laws will dramatically change our profession.

I have been a police officer in California for just shy of 22 years. Like most of you, I have enjoyed the rights, protections and benefits garnered by the hard-fought legislative battles waged by those who came before us in PORAC. It wasn’t until I became an LDF Trustee eight years ago and interacted with police labor leaders across the country that I truly and fully appreciate what we have as public safety in California. No one in the country has anything that even comes to close to the protections afforded to public safety officers in California.

The legislative losses this year are not insignificant! You will see when you read the legal analyses below that we do not yet know the true ramifications and scope of these laws because further court decisions will be needed to settle the many important issues they bring up.
With all of that said, I can assure you there are many more bills being circulated publicly and whispered about privately in Sacramento that are even more detrimental to public safety. Stay engaged; we owe it not only to ourselves but also to those who come behind us, who will look back in 20 years and judge us on how we left the state of PORAC and the law enforcement profession in California.