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The San Diego Monitor
New Bill Limits When California Police Can Use Deadly Force- Part 2 By Lizzie Buchen, Legislative Advocate, ACLU of Northern California As a nation, we must address the brutal reality and deadly consequences of police violence. We have seen far too many people, particularly Black and brown people, killed by police. We have seen too many families and communities shattered by loss and tragedy. Enough is enough. We must limit when police officers can use deadly force and take someone’s life.
Current laws in California fail to protect against unnecessary killings by police officers. Officers here — and in much of the country — can use deadly force regardless of whether it was necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury. They can kill even when alternatives to deadly force — like issuing a verbal warning, repositioning and calling for backup, or using lower levels of force — are available, safe, and feasible. It is unacceptable that today in California police officers can legally kill someone even when they don’t have to. Preserving and protecting human life must be the top concern for law enforcement officers, and our laws should likewise reflect that.
Unfortunately, that is not the case. According to the California Department of Justice, police officers killed 172 Californians in 2017 alone, and they did so with startling racial disparities. Of the 172 people killed, more than twothirds were people of color. Of those who were completely unarmed when killed by police, three quarters were people of color. California police officers are not only killing people of color at disproportionate rates; they are also killing more people than most departments in the country. California police kill people at a rate 37percent higher than the national per capita average.
The San Diego Monitor
A 2015 report by the Guardian found that police in Kern County killed more people per capita than in any other county in the U.S. The course of action is clear. California lawmakers must start by changing the standard for when police can use deadly force. TAKE ACTION That’s why the ACLU of California affiliates — together with our partner organizations, including those led by people directly impacted by police violence — are supporting AB 392: The California Act to Save Lives. The legislation introduced on Wednesday specifically addresses police violence by updating California’s deadly use-of-force law. AB 392 is a common-sense bill that is modeled after best practices already in place in some departments in the U.S. We know these practices work to reduce killings by police. As with these other bills, AB 392 will clarify that police officers can use deadly force only when there are no alternatives that would prevent death or serious bodily injury. Officers’ conduct leading up to a shooting will also be considered when determining whether deadly force is justified — not just the moment the officer pulls the trigger. The California Department of Justice recently released a report recommending that the Sacramento Police Department update its
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use-of-force guidelines following the shooting death of Stephon Clark in Sacramento. Their guidelines align closely with AB 392. Specifically, they call for Sacramento police to more clearly define when force is authorized, require that officers use deescalation whenever possible, and mandate that officers exhaust all reasonably available alternatives before using deadly force. Research shows that officers at agencies with stricter useof-force policies kill fewer people and are less likely to be killed or seriously injured themselves. After Seattle implemented a new use-of-force policy that contains some of the same key elements that AB 392 does, a study by a federal court monitor showed that the policy significantly reduced mid-level and serious uses of force without any increase in injuries to officers or the crime rate. There is no reason for California lawmakers to shy away from establishing stricter policies on deadly use of force that can prevent unnecessary shootings, keep officers safe, and ensure public safety. AB 392 is urgently needed because every day that goes by without addressing California’s epidemic of police violence is another day that a police officer may violently take another life.
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The San Diego Monitor
The Great Refinery Shutdown Marks the Beginning of Spring in Southern California The wildflowers are blooming and the swallows are returning to Capistrano, but spring isn’t truly here in Southern California until our refineries all mysteriously shut down at the same time: The price of gas in Southern California has climbed rapidly over the last few weeks as oil refineries across the state experience maintenance problems. The average pump price for regular gas in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area stood at $3.946 on Wednesday, up about 22 cents from a week ago and 70 cents, or 17%, from a month ago, according to the American Automobile Assn. NEXT PAGE
The San Diego Monitor
California and It’s GAS Problem The price of gas in Southern California has climbed rapidly over the last few weeks as oil refineries across the state experience maintenance problems. The average pump price for regular gas in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area stood at $3.946 on Wednesday, up about 22 cents from a week ago and 70 cents, or 17%, from a month ago, according to the American Automobile Assn. Prices had been relatively stable the last few months — at $3.25 on Jan. 10 and $3.35 on March 19, said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, which tracks fuel prices. “Since then, prices have soared,” DeHaan said. The six sites undergoing both planned and unplanned maintenance supply the bulk of refined gas for the state, DeHaan said. Four of the outages — including a fire at one refinery — are in Southern California, which is why the L.A. area is seeing a higher average price than San Francisco, he said. The average price for regular gas across the state was $3.874 on Wednesday, up about 10% from $3.526 the same time last year, AAA said. As of last week, operations had not yet recovered from a March 16 fire at a Phillips 66 refinery in Carson, according to AAA. The state’s 10 major refineries produce at least 75,000 barrels of fuel a day on average. California produces the majority of its own gasoline because it uses special blends to reduce smog that other states don’t use, so when refineries have problems, the state has trouble replacing lost production, said Marie Montgomery, a spokeswoman for the Automobile Club of Southern California. Usually, fuel shipped from other countries will bridge that gap, but that costs more. “We’re bearing the brunt of this rapid increase in gas prices,” Montgomery said. Besides significant unplanned refinery maintenance, rising ethanol prices and California’s switch to a more eco-friendly gas blend for the summer months, starting April 1, have contributed to a lower gas supply, DeHaan said. Gas prices in general tend to climb in the spring until early May — due to both the switch and higher demand for gas in warmer seasons — and then start to taper off, Montgomery said. Global factors have also driven prices. Crude oil prices are feeling the effect of a coordinated effort by OPEC to reduce supply, as Saudi Arabia presses to cut back output.
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Political unrest in Libya and turmoil in Venezuela resulting in power blackouts at refineries may also be contributing to a shortfall. The price of West Texas intermediate, the benchmark for domestically produced oil, has risen dramatically to about $64 a barrel on Wednesday, from $43 in December. DeHaan predicted that L.A. gas prices will probably rise to $4 sometime this week — the highest average price since 2015, when a key refinery experienced an explosion and went offline. He expects prices will continue to increase for one or two weeks until refineries are functioning normally or new shipments arrive. “We've had several years now of relative stability in gas prices, so this is unusual for people who aren’t remembering to 2015 and before that,” Montgomery said. Diesel prices have been more stable in the Los AngelesLong Beach area, rising to $3.994 on Wednesday, from $3.808 a month ago, according to AAA. U.S. consumer prices rose 0.4% in March, largely because of climbing prices for gasoline, electricity and shelter. The Associated Press and Bloomberg were used in compiling this report.
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The San Diego Monitor
NOW ON
Editor-In-Chief Cheryl Morrow wants you to share in this discussion on Black Exceptionalism & Immigration. Please comment, sharing your thoughts and this video. Thus, broadening this important conversation. To hear the full SDMN values the discourse and contributions of insightful Black thinkers. Embodying our motto "it's not about the
news, it's about information" or as one engaged reader put it "if you're not informed, news doesn't matter" this audio series intends to provoke progressive thought on cooperative economics, political will & power rooted in logical analysis from an Afro ethos.
The San Diego Monitor
The Supreme Court Made a Death Penalty Decision in the Dead of the Night and Justice Breyer Is Pissed NATHALIE BAPTISTE
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At approximately 3:00 a.m. Friday morning, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling that allows the execution of an Alabama death row inmate to move forward, after a lower court had issued a stay of execution. The order itself was only a paragraph, but Justice Stephen Breyer responded with a six-page dissent that provided a glimpse into just how divided the nation’s highest court has become. “Should anyone doubt that death sentences in the United States can be carried out in an arbitrary way,” Justice Breyer wrote, “let that person review the following circumstances as they have been presented to our Court this evening.” READ MORE SDMONITORNEWS.COM
