Press Release

Senator Aisha Wahab’s Police Transparency Bill Passes Senate with Bipartisan Support

Sacramento, CA —During a Senate floor vote on Monday afternoon, Senator Aisha Wahab’s SB 400, Peace Office Termination Disclosures, passed with a vote of 33 to 0 with bipartisan support. The bill would allow for law enforcement agencies to announce that a peace officer or custodial officer was terminated for cause. SB 400 also empowers agencies with the choice to disclose the specifics of an officer's termination directly to the public.

Of the successful vote, Senator Wahab said “In this session I am very proud to push laws that reform and support our efforts for transparency and accountability in law enforcement, and appreciate the support from law enforcement groups.”

SB 400 was developed in collaboration with the San Jose Police Department in response to a highly scrutinized situation in which they terminated an officer for engaging in an inappropriate sexual act while on the job. Despite the sexual act falling into 1 of the 8 existing disclosable incidents of misconduct, the police department was not able to publicly confirm the reason for the termination until a public records act request was initiated, even though the department was willing to share the information as to why such a decision was made.

SB 400 is sponsored by San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata and supported by a number of organizations including California Public Defenders Association, National Policy Accountability Project, San Francisco Public Defender, and Smart Justice California.

SB 400 is now headed to the Assembly, and must make its way through committees and a floor vote before it reaches Governor Newsom’s desk.

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Senator Aisha Wahab represents the 10th Senate District, which includes the cities of Fremont, Hayward, Newark, Union City, Milpitas, San Jose, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale; as well as unincorporated communities of Alameda and Santa Clara counties including Fairview, Alum Rock, East Foothills. Senator Wahab lives in Hayward. Website of Senator Aisha Wahab