Eureka Police Chief condemns Police Accountability and Community Protection Act

EUREKA, Calif. (KIEM) – Eureka Police Chief Steve Watson disagrees strongly with a bill moving through the state legislature.

AB-931, otherwise known as the Police Accountability and Community Protection Act, was written in response to recent and ongoing officer-involved shootings, specifically the killing of Stephon Clark in Sacramento in March.

The bill would add language to current rules, which would “require peace officers to attempt to control an incident by using time, distance, communications, and available resources in an effort to deescalate a situation whenever it is safe and reasonable to do so.”

You can read more extensively about the bill, here.

Chief Steve Watson took to Facebook on Thursday to share his opinion on the bill, saying, “AB 931 is a TERRIBLE bill that needs to be stopped in its current form. This dangerous, reactionary legislation is filled with fatal, uninformed flaws and is strongly opposed by law enforcement organizations, agencies, and our supporters across the state. I urge you to contact your legislators to voice your opposition.”