Criminal Justice Reporting Bill Awaits Governor's Signature

A bill requiring California police departments to report officer-involved shootings to the state is awaiting approval from Governor Brown. 

Under the bill, AB 71, agencies would have to produce an annual report to the California Department of Justice of incidents where an officer’s use of force results in injury or death.

The reports would include race, gender and other details of the encounter.

The California Police Chiefs Association supports the bill. Here's Chula Vista Police Chief David Bejarano.

"The more data that becomes available to our community, it improves or enhances transparency," he says.

Calls for more police accountability are growing louder. But most experts say there isn’t enough consistent data to assess these incidents.

Meredith Gamson-Smiedt heads UCLA’s Center for Policing Equity.

"Individual agencies are pretty much on their own in terms of how they collect data, how they store data and what they do with it," she says.

Supporters say more information could help police develop better practices.