https://californiaglobe.com/legislature/police-use-of-force-bill-is-epitome-of-second-guessing-by-lawmakers/AB 392, titled the “California Act to Save Lives” would require police officers to go through a mental checklist before using deadly force against suspects.
“This is moving the standard from objective reasonable deadly force to subjective,” attorney Kathleen Mastagni Storm said in an interview following the hearing. Mastagni Storm said this is just a second guessing opportunity by anyone looking atvideo or body camera footage following a shooting. “AB 392 criminalizes police use of force, and tips the balance, unnecessarily jeopardizing public safety,” Mastagni Storm said. “This proposed law is based on a false narrative that the use of deadly force in situations is not necessary.”
Mastagni Storm said courts have long held that police officers may use necessary force, “but AB 392 seeks to redefine ‘necessary,’ such that there is no reasonable alternative to the use of deadly force. ‘Necessary’ has always been the standard.”
According to attorney Mastagni Storm, AB 392 would override the United States Supreme Court’s objective standard of “necessary,” with a new “subjective” standard for determining necessity. “‘Necessity’ would be officers’ denial of their self-defense rights,” she added. “It creates an impossible standard and is the epitome of second guessing.”
“Real world split decisions don’t have time, tranquility and hindsight,” she added. “Hindsight analysis has been expressly rejected by the courts.”
All Californians have the constitutional right of self defense, Mastagni Storm explained. “This bill proposes an inferior right of self defense for law enforcement officers, violating the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Mastagni Storm said this is whittling away at what police can do, and jeopardizing public safety.
