Seaside votes against resolution to support state deadly police force bill

UPDATE: The Seaside City council has voted against a resolution to support a State Bill on police use of force. After almost two hours of discussion, the council voted 3 to 2 against the resolution.

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Scenes like the deadly officer-involved shooting in Salinas back in March where a woman was killed is the reason Israel Villa supports Assembly Bill 392.

“They basically have the green light to kill people. There’s little to no accountability, there’s little to no justice when it comes to police homicides,” said Villa, an activist and program coordinator with MILPA.

Salinas Police say officers felt threatened and had to shoot, but Villa believes police should be required to answer for their actions.

“When we pass this bill, and they are now able to be held accountable, I believe that’ll make an officer think twice,” said Villa.

According to the ACLU of Southern California, police officers are currently allowed to use deadly force, even if there are other alternatives available.

But AB 391 changes that: it requires police to exhaust all other options for deadly force to be justified. In other words, deadly force must be a the last possible resort.

But Seaside Police Chief Abdul Pridgen says alternatives could be hard to see during a high-intensity police situation. He fears the bill could expose officers to litigation that considers scenarios after the fact and out of context.

“It would require that someone with 20/20 hindsight is able to, with a great deal of scrutiny, look for every alternative, potentially, that an officer could’ve exercised prior to using force,” said Pridgen.

Pridgen says he understands communities want greater accountability in policing and that questions arise sometimes about why force was used in certain situations.

He believes eventually AB 392 will be merged with another bill: Senate Bill 230, which would lead to greater training and policies for de-escalation. He thinks there is going to be compromise on many points in both bills.

But for Seaside Councilman Jon Wizard, who is proposing the city support AB 392 by passing a resolution, showing support for the bill is appropriate for his community.

“The recognition of the harm that is being done in communities of color when there is a lack of police accountability is something that created the need to bring this
forward,” said Wizard.