Board Meeting Update - March 2021
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
Deputy Troy Terbest is deservedly in the SEBA SPOTLIGHT this month. Troy takes pride in his job and dedicates much of his personal time to help his colleagues and the public he serves. Over the holidays, Troy assembled a large doll house to deliver to a deserving family. He also refinished benches in the courthouse and cleaned the carpets with his personal cleaner, to ensure his colleagues had a comfortable place to work. Troy exemplifies pride in service to others and for that, we recognize him in the SEBA Member Spotlight.
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
In this month's President's Message, Grant Ward discusses "Show of Force" requirements, Medical Trust and the winner of the Mobile Messaging raffle.
SHOW OF FORCE UPDATE
The Sheriff’s Department enacted new policies based on POST changes to Use of Force best practices that are impacting the way many of our members on patrol do their job. After the passage of Senate Bill 230 (SB230), which called for uniformed best practices regarding use of force, the POST commission made changes to its policies to include a “show of force” as a reportable action.
The Sheriff’s Department then created policy to address those changes. What has resulted is a show of force policy that still needs fine-tuning. SEBA is committed to working with the Office of the Sheriff to improve the current policy so it stays compliant with POST mandates, while not requiring undo time from our patrol members for incidents that normally would not require documentation.
We know that each minute a patrol deputy spends on mandated reporting, is a minute they are not providing valuable services to the communities they serve. We will update the membership with any progress in our discussions.
SEBA members have been working through the COVID-19 pandemic for nearly a year now and thankfully, it looks as though there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Many of our members have taken advantage of the vaccines being offered, as many are on their second round already.
New cases have also dropped dramatically this past month, with only 15 new cases being reported. Overall, there have been less than 800 total cases, the majority which have been mild cases with full recoveries. Our prayers are still with our members who are still working through serious complications from the virus.
Please continue to keep your health and safety as a top priority. Do not hesitate to contact SEBA if you have any concerns.
SEBA will stop offsetting a $2 PORAC member dues increase, which it has been supplementing for the past seven years. In 2016, PORAC increased its membership rates by $2 per member, per month to collect money to fight against legislative changes to our public pensions. At the time, SEBA members were still underpaid when compared to surrounding agencies, so SEBA chose to absorb the PORAC increase and did not charge the member for the dues increase. The increase was paid for out of SEBA Political Action monies.
In 2020, two critical things have occurred:
1. SEBA members received contracts that made their pay competitive with surrounding counties.
2. Anti-cop campaigns, legislation and political candidates have gained a groundswell of momentum and financial backing in California.
SEBA Political Action monies can no longer be used to offset the increase in PORAC dues, as we must grow these funds to be able to fight harmful legislation and policies. SEBA bylaws call for PORAC dues to be collected from the member, as a straight passthrough cost.
These additional monies do not come to SEBA. All members will be notified via mail prior to this increase taking effect.
LEGISLATIVE ISSUES
There are currently 36 bills SEBA is watching as they make their way through committees in the state legislature. It is still very early in the legislative process, so many bills can still be changed or die for lack of political interest.
The sheer volume of bills introduced that seek to reform law enforcement show the appetite of our state lawmakers. The following is a list of nine bills SEBA is watching with great interest.
SB2 (Bradford) Peace Officers: Certification: Civil Rights – Amend the Tom Bane Civil Rights Act and provide a decertification process for peace officers. This is the reincarnation of a potentially dangerous bill from last session, sponsored by several social justice advocates.
SB16 (Skinner) Peace officers: Release of Records – Would make every incident involving use of force, force that is unreasonable, or excessive force subject to public disclosure.
AB655 (Kalra) – California Law Enforcement Accountability Reform Act – Would require background investigations to include an inquiry into whether the candidate engaged in membership in a hate group, participation in hate group activities, or public expressions of hate, as those terms are defined.
AB17 (Cooper) Peace Officers: Disqualification from Employment
AB60 (Salas) Law Enforcement - Disqualification from Employment
Both of these are similar bills being authored by legislators who are willing to work with law enforcement to create a fair process for decertification, similar to any other licensed profession in the state of California.
AB26 (Holden) Peace Officer: Use of Force – Agencies must maintain a policy that provides a minimum standard on the use of force.
AB89 (Jones-Sawyer) Peace Officers: Minimum Qualifications – Increase minimum age from 18 to 25, or bachelor’s degree if under 25. Those who are already employed as peace officers would be exempt.
SB387 (Portantino) Peace Officers: Certification, Education, and Recruitment – Would require the POST Commission to work with University of California, California State University, and California Community Colleges to develop a list of courses to include as requirements for obtaining a basic POST certificate. SEBA is in support of this legislation, as is PORAC.
SB271 (Wiener) – County Sheriff: Eligibility Requirements – Repeals the current law requiring candidates for county sheriff have an advanced POST certificate or meet combination of educational degree and full-time, salaried law enforcement experience. Allows any member of the public to run for sheriff, regardless of law enforcement experience; similar to what has occurred with George Gascon as Los Angeles District Attorney.