For decades, police agencies in California have hidden evidence that officers engaged in misconduct and criminality – even paying the officers six-figure settlements to leave without a fight and then lying in reference checks when the officers apply for jobs in other places – according to an investigation by Katey Rusch and Casey Smith for UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program, with support from the Fund. Rush and Smith’s investigation, published in the San Francisco Chronicle, obtained documents showing that 297 officers from 163 police agencies in California have executed separation agreements concealing allegations of misconduct. The true number is likely much higher because one-third of police agencies refused to release agreements, citing privacy laws. The investigation found that those whose conduct was hidden by these deals – also known as “clean-record agreements” – include a deputy accused of groping a woman held in a county jail, an officer who investigators determined falsified a report to link a man to a crime, and a deputy who was found to have violated department policy when he fatally shot a teenager as he lay wounded. At least one of the officers whose case was featured in the story was suspended after the reporters contacted his new employer and shared details about his background, and the story was picked up nationally by PBS NewsHour and other outlets.
Grantees uncover secret system that covers up police misconduct – and ensures problematic officers can get hired again
