California task force wants to ban police from enforcing public urination laws – Law Officer

Sacramento, California – California’s reparations task force wants state lawmakers to ban the arrest and prosecution of people who violate laws against public urination and other “public disorder offenses,” the task force said in its final report released last week.

The call to end police enforcement of laws, including those that prohibit public urination, is among the official policy recommendations listed in the final report, which contains 40 chapters and runs well over 1,000 pages.

“A signification [sic] proportion of law enforcement contact with the public relates to low-level, non-violent offenses. Thus, for example, law enforcement is frequently tasked with enforcing public disorder offenses, such as illegal camping, public intoxication, disorderly conduct, minor trespass, and public urination. Although the subjects of these contacts are often experiencing homelessness, a mental health crisis, or both, the responding officers typically possess neither training nor expertise in working with these vulnerable populations,” the report charges.

“This disconnect often results in the use of excessive and sometimes fatal force that falls disproportionately on Black individuals. Given the devastating impacts of this kind of over-policing, the Task Force recommends that the Legislature prohibit law enforcement from criminally enforcing public disorder infractions and other low-level crimes,” the report continues.

“Instead, a public health and safety institution, without criminal arrest or prosecution powers, would enforce prohibitions such as sleeping on the sidewalk, fare evasion, and similar transit-related or other public disorder violations that criminalize poverty. People arrested or criminally prosecuted for these administrative violations should be granted a private right of action to sue for damages or should automatically receive a damages payout.”

Fox News reports that the report stops short of giving an exact dollar amount it wants for descendants of slaves who live in the state, though it makes clear the task force thinks the dollar amount should be significant.

It also includes dozens of policy recommendations, including the ban on prosecution of “public disorder offenses.”