Justin Tackett’s disturbing history of warrantless searches, false reports and insubordination

as deputy sheriff in Imperial County

eventually prompted the sheriff to initiate termination proceedings against him. But Tackett resigned when he learned of the department’s intentions and got a job with the

US

Border Patrol, his peace officer certificate is still intact. It was in his capacity as a federal agent that in 2012 Tackett shot and killed Valeria Tachiquin Alvarado, a mother of five who tried to drive away from him.

Tackett’s disturbing example is not as extraordinary as it should be. A California commission with new police licensing powers recently estimated it could be on the verge of denying thousands of officers access to law enforcement by stripping them of their credentials.

For decades, California police officers who committed serious crimes or engaged in serious misconduct were allowed to avoid discharge by quietly quitting and seeking employment with other departments. They were able to do that because California had one of the strongest legal protections for law enforcement in the country.

That began to change this year when California became the 47th state

to acquire

the power to decertify police officers. Legislation that went into effect Jan. 1 allows the state Commission on Standards and Training of Peace Officers to revoke officers’ certification, disqualifying them from law enforcement across California.

Before the legislature passed and the governor signed Senate Bill 2 in 2021, the Commission had the power to certify police officers and revoke certificates obtained by mistake or fraudulently. But it couldn’t decertify officers for inappropriate or criminal behavior.

A bill to remedy death in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in the State Assembly in 2020 amid a massive campaign of misinformation and fear-mongering by police unions, insurers and municipalities. Opponents falsely claimed that Senator Steven Bradford’s (Gardena, D) legislation would have a chilling effect on law enforcement and that officers could lose their licenses for minor offenses like jaywalking.

But the repeal bill, which specified only serious misconduct as justification for the sentence, received strong support from community groups, families affected by police misconduct, and civil rights groups and activists. Hundreds of music, entertainment and sports figures signed an open letter urging the governor and lawmakers to pass the bill. One of the proponents’ most powerful arguments was that California was one of only four states without such a mechanism to hold bad cops accountable and prevent future abuses.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly a quarter of the US workforce, comprising some 39 million Americans, is regulated by certification or licensing. Not just lawyers and doctors

So

plumbers and makeup artists are regulated and scrutinized by government agencies that oversee their licensing. But in California, until this year, estheticians armed with cuticle scissors were more vulnerable to delicensing than police officers who could use deadly force.

That is no longer the case, thanks to a successful push for similar legislation the following year. As a result, the newly mandated Police Standards Commission recently estimated it could decertify or suspend up to 3,500 police officers each year for serious misconduct. According to a budget request from the commission, about 4% of the approximately 90,000 officers working in California are expected to be decertified or suspended for serious misconduct, such as assault, excessive force and perjury.

The commission’s remarkable forecast highlights the degree of accountability that is sorely lacking in California law enforcement. It suggests that local governments and police unions balked at withdrawing, knowing that thousands of officers had engaged in serious crimes and misconduct.

Victims of police misconduct and their families have been sounding the alarm for decades; to them and others in the communities most affected by the problem, these numbers are not surprising. Police departments are unable to monitor themselves effectively, and the thousands of misconduct complaints the commission has already filed speak to law enforcement’s epic failure to curb abuse within its own chains of command.

In the future, true accountability will require transparency. The public led this fight and our communities deserve the truth. That’s why it’s so disappointing that Gov. Gavin Newsom tried to make it more difficult for the public to access information about the commission’s investigations into abusive and unqualified officers.

California, which was already almost the last state to hold our law enforcement officers accountable, should stop participating in this race to the bottom. Failing to keep an eye on those who control us only further erodes public confidence as it casts a shadow over the vast majority of peace officers who serve the public with courage, honor and respect.

Julia Yoo is a San Diego-based civil rights attorney and the president of the National Police Accountability Project.