Police Departments Strained By Law Requiring More Transparency

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Law enforcement agencies are now forced to reveal more details of internal investigations after a new state law, SB 1421, passed last fall.

There are new time constraints associated with their response. The idea is to improve transparency and improve the public's trust, but it has already financially-strapped departments struggling to keep up.

CBS13 spoke with more than a half dozen law enforcement agencies who said they are complying with the new law. It means a heavier workload and keeping up with that comes at a cost.

"Sac Police Dept is committed to remaining transparent to our community," said Marcus Basquez with the Sacramento Police Department.

The Sacramento Police Department says it's complying with new state laws regarding the release of public records. But like most agencies, it's having to ask for extensions.

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Shaun Rundle represents the California Peace Officers Association

"Let's say you have 12 cops respond to an incident. You have 12 different body cam views and that may have multiple hours per person for every hour of footage, it's probably three hours to edit," Rundle said.

Sacramento Police has 700 sworn officers. About half a dozen officers work on these requests, but not full time.

"We are still having to find funding to be in compliance with everything," Basquez said.

And that means some may have to turn to the state for money.

"They are going to have to come up with a way to foot the bill," said Rundle.

Another issue is the way the law is worded.

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"The legislation didn't specify footage on or after Jan. 1, 2019. Basically, the way we read it is any records on file, starting on that date, but it's any records you have on file that depict a critical incident," Rundle said.

That means some agencies are going back a decade.

Rio Vista recently released video files stemming from an internal affairs investigation into police misconduct and excessive use of force. Rundle says in a smaller department like Rio Vista with only 15 officers, taking the time to compile that footage could jeopardize public safety.

"It could mean less officers out proactively policing communities, which had an effect on reducing crime," said Rundle.

The California Peace Officers Association said it will be pushing for an amendment to the bill to clarify time limits to comply and whether the bill would be retroactive.