Assemblymember Holden Reintroduces ‘George Floyd Law’

Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena) has reintroduced his police reform legislation, Assembly Bill 26, which establishes guidelines for police responsibility and accountability when officers witness excessive force being used by another member of law enforcement.

Holden’s bill was previously held up in the Senate Appropriations Committee without reason. AB 26’s first committee hearing will likely be before the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee.

“We are calling for responsibility and accountability,” said Holden, a former Pasadena City Council member, and mayor, in a prepared statement. “Instituting these core values is paramount to building public trust that has eroded between law enforcement and communities across California.”

California law requires police officers to intercede when observing another officer using force that is beyond that which is necessary.

Floyd was killed on May 25 in Minneapolis when a police officer placed his knee on his neck for 7:46 minutes. Other officers at the scene saw what was happening, but did not intervene, even though Floyd said he could not breathe. Floyd’s death set off days of protests in Minneapolis and other American cities, including Pasadena. 

The incident involving Floyd led the Pasadena City Council to approve the formation of a police civilian oversight commission. 

In a case closer to home, officers did not intervene but instead  joined in while Altadena resident Rodney King was brutally beaten by LAPD officers in 1991. The infamous case led to days of rioting in Los Angeles the following year when the officers accused of beating King were acquitted.  

In the case of Floyd, a lawyer for one of the accused junior officers involved in the incident argued that there was intervention because that officer asked his supervising officer whether they should turn Floyd on his side.

Just as in the previous version of the bill, AB 26 provides techniques to establish that an officer had in fact attempted to intercede. The bill also expands on current law to disqualify a person from being a police officer if they used excessive force that resulted in great bodily injury or death during an incident, or failed to intercede in that incident.

Earlier this fall, Gov. Gavin ernor Newsom’s policing advisers released their recommendations which included legislation to “Require officers to intervene to prevent or stop other officers from engaging in excessive force, false arrest, or other inappropriate conduct.”

If AB 26 becomes law, police officers would be required to intercede when witnessing excessive force being used under the updated guidelines and report an incident at the time it occurred to a dispatcher or a watch commander. 

Failure to intercede by a police officer would make them an accessory to any crime committed by an offending officer. The officer’s due process rights would be protected as the employing agency would review the evidence and determine whether the offending officer met the standard for intervention. 

Retaliation against officers who report violations of law or regulations by another officer to a supervisor would be prohibited.

“Given the widespread public outcry for police reforms right now, we have another opportunity for California to lead on this issue,” said Holden.