VOSD Podcast: What the Police Shooting Bill Would Change

Assemblywoman Shirley Weber speaks at Voice of San Diego’s One Voice at a Time event. / Photo by Jamie Scott Lytle

It’s a lot of Capitol business this week on the podcast. The San Diego delegation is shaking things up with high-profile bills — and some under-the-radar measures that could nonetheless have an impact here.

AB 5 by Lorena Gonzalez passed the Assembly this week. It would codify rules set by the state Supreme Court that limit who can be considered an independent contractor, and could have an impact

AB 1184 by Assemblyman Todd Gloria would require public agencies to retain emails for a minimum of two years also passed the Assembly, as did Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath bill to restrict vacation rentals in local coastal neighborhoods.

But biggest of all was AB 392 by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber. Last week, police groups dropped their opposition to that bill to clear its path to unanimous approval in the Assembly. It’s been one of the most-watched bills this year, and would change the standards for police use of deadly force.

Hosts Scott Lewis, Andrew Keatts and Sara Libby unpacked Weber’s bill, and the history of the standards currently in place, which were written in 1872 — making this the oldest untouched police use-of-force law in the nation.

Under the measure — which still has to get through the Senate and governor — police may only use deadly force when necessary in defense of human life.

The discussion on that bill starts at 11:45.

School News of the Week

San Diego Unified officials have placed special emphasis on moving students out of English-learner status as quickly as possible. A newly obtained memo shows central office staff pushed principals “to reclassify a minimum of 75%” of eligible English-learners.

District officials said after we asked about the memo that the figure was a target rather than a mandate.

Also, some shocking details have emerged of an alleged charter school scam that netted roughly $50 million in taxpayer money by falsely enrolling thousands of students in summer school, according to an indictment obtained by the Union-Tribune.

Chula Vista’s Staffing Promises

Chula Vista promised it would hire several new firefighters and police officers when it raised sales taxes last year. The money is coming in, but hiring is going slowly.

In an effort to expedite the process, Chula Vista City Councilwoman Jill Galvez fired her only aide, a strange move the U-T broke last week.

After the decision, she clarified that wanted free up money to hire firefighters and police officers. But the money from that staffer’s salary can’t fund even one of those positions. And as Lewis and Voice’s Megan Wood found, money isn’t the issue.

That discussion starts at minute 27.

And Finally …

This is our last podcast during the spring fundraising campaign. If you like the show and want to support it, you can donate and leave us a note here.

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