AP16:043
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2016
CONTACT: Sam Mahood
(916) 653-6575
Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation
Law Enforcement. Use Of Excessive Force. Discrimination. Initiative Statute.
SACRAMENTO – Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the proponents of a new initiative were cleared to begin collecting petition signatures today.
The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides calendar deadlines to the proponent and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:
LAW ENFORCEMENT. USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE. DISCRIMINATION. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Establishes court process for designating a state or local law enforcement agency as an “over-policed jurisdiction” when the agency has shown a pattern of using excessive force or discrimination for at least twelve months. Subjects such agency to increased auditing, reporting, and drug testing requirements, monitoring by volunteer observers, loss of equipment, potential loss of State funding, mandatory use of body cameras, and other remedies ordered by court. Permits agency to petition court to remove designation after compliance with court order for at least one year. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Potential state court costs that could range in the millions of dollars annually related to hearing and processing cases filed under the measure and oversight of law enforcement agencies found to be over-policing. Potential state and local law enforcement costs that could be in the tens of millions of dollars annually primarily related to compliance with requirements placed on agencies found to be over-policing. (15-0124.)
The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 1783 and the Attorney General’s tracking number is 15-0124.
The proponents of the measure, Glen Shaffer and Lisa Freedman Shaffer, must collect the signatures of 365,880 registered voters (five percent of the total votes cast for Governor in the November 2014 general election) in order to qualify it for the ballot. The proponents have 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials by August 30, 2016. The proponents can be reached c/o Jeff Moore at (408) 295-3394 and info@sanjosenaacp.org.
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