On this week's episode of Issues & Ideas, major newspapers and public radio stations across California—including KCBX—are collaborating on a statewide project to look at personnel records from local enforcement agencies.
On New Year's Day, 2019, a new state law went into effect. SB 1421 insists that California police departments let the public see formerly-confidential misconduct records. Since then, more than 35 California newspapers and public radio stations—including KCBX—have joined forces to request those records.
These are just some of the revelations made public in the first months of a new state of police transparency in California. A new state law, Senate Bill 1421, broke down a wall of secrecy built up since the 1970s that blocked public access to the most serious police misconduct and deadly use-of-force information.
