A state audit paints a “disturbing picture” of bias and discrimination in law enforcement agencies in the state.
The findings of a blistering state audit of law enforcement agencies are reverberating across the state and raising questions about next steps for lawmakers and police officials in California. The report found bias among officers at five agencies and determined the departments had not done enough to prevent it, raising concerns that the state has not provided enough oversight. The auditor found multiple examples of troubling behavior that included social media posts and conversations between officers that mocked transgender people, women, Latinos, Black people and immigrants. “We are getting a disturbing picture of something we’ve been seeing routinely across the country,” said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. The findings, he said, illustrate that discrimination can, and often does, come from more than “just the stereotypical Southern Klan sheriff.” The audit covered the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; the San Bernardino, San Jose and Stockton police departments; and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The auditors made several recommendations, including that the State Legislature create an official definition of biased conduct and that police departments diversify hiring practices and screen applicants’ social media accounts for bias. Ash Kalra, a Democrat assemblyman from San Jose, has a bill in the State Senate that would require police departments to check job candidates for ties to hate groups and would make it easier to fire anyone with such connections. Kalra said he expected the recent audit, which he called for with a group of 16 other legislators, to increase support for his proposal.
