Peace officers: law enforcement gangs.

Existing laws defines those persons who are peace officers, the entities authorized to appoint them, and the scope of their authority. Existing law prescribes certain minimum standards for a person to be appointed as a peace officer, including training requirements, moral character, and physical and mental condition, and certain disqualifying factors for a person to be employed as a peace officer, including a felony conviction. Existing law requires a department or agency that employs peace officers to establish a procedure to investigate complaints by members of the public against those officers. This bill would define a law enforcement gang, a group of law enforcement officers within an agency that engages in a pattern of specified unlawful or unethical on-duty behavior, and would require law enforcement agencies to have a policy prohibiting law enforcement gangs and making participation, as specified, in a law enforcement gang grounds for termination. The bill would require an agency to disclose an officer's termination for involvement in a law enforcement gang to another law enforcement agency conducting a preemployment background investigation of that officer, as specified. By requiring local law enforcement agencies to adopt new policies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.