California Police Chief- Fall 2013 CPCA_2018_Winter Magazine-FINAL | Page 10

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Broadening Our
Legislative Tactics
By Corey Sianez, Buena Park Chief of Police
I
alarming concerns with AB 931 through a
series of targeted radio ads. The coalition
put together whole page ads in statewide
newspapers expressing our opposition to
the bill. The Peace Officers Research As-
sociation of California (PORAC) went as
far as buying ad space on Facebook and
Twitter. We participated in virtual town
halls to generate public concern and we
even brought a Force Option Simulator
into the Capitol and held training exercis-
es for Legislators and staff.
This type of effort will be the new norm, and we are
gearing to further expand our modes of advocacy.
In recent years, Cal Chiefs has conducted focus groups
and polling to help us understand how well an issue res-
onates with the public. These tools assist us in crafting an
appropriate and effective message. In the coming months,
Cal Chiefs will be putting together a Communications
Committee which will focus on the best methods to publi-
cize CPCA’s resources. The committee will also assist the
Legislative Team in disseminating our messaging to elected
officials. The programming team also launched a ‘CPCA
app’ which we hope to utilize more aggressively for the
upcoming year and will allow us to inform our member-
ship of legislative alerts and updates on key bills. We plan
on launching a podcast series where chiefs can share their
experiences with issues such as cannabis, transparency
laws, and recruitment.
n our profession we are constantly having to adapt ourselves
to new situations. Changes in technology, demographics, and
political landscapes have compelled us to re-evaluate how we
do our job as peace officers. Equally as evolving, our legislative
process is becoming more susceptible to vocal minorities
pushing agendas inconsistent with what the public supports. To
combat this, our legislative and political tactics have also had to
evolve.
This year we were able to stop one of the most extreme
pieces of legislation against law enforcement to date. As-
sembly Bill 931 by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber would
have dramatically raised the legal standard for prosecuting
officers. AB 931 would have implemented an in-hindsight
standard for evaluating use-of-force incidents that would
have held an officer liable in any hypothetical alternative.
Second guessing deadly force incidents and split-second
decision making would have been incredibly dangerous;
however, with the combined efforts of our law enforcement
coalition, we were able to defeat this measure.
While we were able to stop AB 931, that outcome was
never guaranteed, and our success required extraordinary
effort. Since AB 931 was introduced, we realized this would
be one of the toughest political battles of the year. The pro-
ponents were going to use every resource at their disposal
to help them advance the bill – and that’s exactly what
they did. Our response was simple: expand our tactics and
utilize every resource we could engage.
By uniting our financial resources, we were able to
actively oppose AB 931 across the state. Cal Chief’s very
own President, Chief David Swing, was able to express our
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We cannot rely on old tactics to defeat new
threats. California is constantly changing and
if we want to stay ahead and be effective,
we must continue to adapt as well. ■