It has always been the position of the VCDSA that we must hold officers accountable when their actions are found to be unlawful and inconsistent with training and best practices in the use of force to gain compliance. With that in mind, we agree with the statement released today from Brian Marvel, President of the Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), that stated:
Today’s guilty verdict should be a wake-up call for the nation. It is time for America to adopt a national use of force standard, to mandate that all peace officers have a duty to intercede, to raise the bar for use of force training standards for all peace officers in every state across this country. We started this process in California by passing SB 230 and AB 392, and now we need to make these changes across the nation.
As law enforcement officers across the nation are working to build trust within their communities, I am hopeful that today’s verdict will be another small step towards mending the divide.
Your VCDSA Board will also continue to work diligently toward achieving the goal of instituting a national use of force standard in the hopes we never again experience an incident that divides the world as we experienced over the past year.
Our hearts are heavy today as they have been every day for nearly a year since the death of George Floyd. Because we believe that most law enforcement officers live up to our oath every day, our hope is that this will now become an opportunity to come together toward reconciliation and healing in our communities for a more united future.