On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed numerous police reform bills passed by the state legislature, including one to ban the use of certain chokeholds, as well as one to require the state attorney general to open an investigation into any killing of an unarmed civilian by a police officer. However, despite his support for these bills, calling them "long overdue," the governor also vetoed a handful of other bills relating to this issue, including Assembly Bill 2054, also known as the Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems (CRISES) Act. Introduced in January by Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles), the bill "would have established a pilot program for community groups to respond to mental health crises, domestic violence and other situations instead of law enforcement," Alexei Koseff of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. "Newsom said in his veto message that the 'underlying goal of this legislation is important,' but should be done through the budget process."
Activists did not hide their disappointment with the governor for vetoing the bill; Anti Police-Terror Project co-founder Cat Brooks was "shocked" that he did so, as she believed the CRISES Act was a "no-brainer," along with many of the other bills Newsom vetoed. She believes that she and many other activists "had an opportunity to make transformative and substantive change, and I feel like a lot of our lawmakers here in Sacramento ignored us." As Koseff goes on to explain:
"Legislators introduced a flurry of measures this summer after [George] Floyd, a Black man, was killed in May when a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Activists hoped the national outcry would propel change in California, which, despite its liberal reputation, has historically been deferential to law enforcement and passed some of the strongest protections for officers in the country.
"But the most far-reaching bills snagged on opposition from police groups, which expressed general approval for some of the ideas but urged lawmakers to delay action during the pandemic-shortened session and wait until next year, when there would be more time to deal with their objections."
As a matter of fact, during his 2018 gubernatorial campaign, Newsom took $157,650 from police unions and associations. While that is only a mere 1.53% of the total amount of money they contributed that election cycle to candidates at the federal, state, and local levels ($10,321,270), it was still the third-largest amount these groups contributed to any one candidate, behind only Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, both of New York. In addition, DiNapoli, Cuomo, and Newsom were the only candidates at any level of government to receive at least $100,000 from them. The police groups in particular that gave to Newsom throughout 2018 included the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association ($58,400), the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs ($30,200), as well as the California Association of Highway Patrolmen and the Peace Officers Research Association of California ($27,200 each).
Marc Philpart also stated his belief that state politicians' campaign contributions from police unions and associations played a significant role in what he called a "disheartening" year for police reform overall. Philpart, as stated by Koseff, is the "managing director for PolicyLink, an advocacy group for racial and economic equality."
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