SACRAMENTO - (INT) - California will soon have a tougher new legal standard for the use of deadly force by police.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Monday that was inspired by last year’s fatal shooting of a young, unarmed man in Sacramento.

AB 392 will only allow officers use deadly force only when there is an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to themselves or others. The bill also makes clear that officers must use other resources and techniques, whenever safe and feasible, to address threats instead of using deadly force. These changes will be reflected in both law enforcement agency policy and officer training statewide.

Newsom signed the legislation amid unusual fanfare, convening numerous legislators, family members of people who have died in police shootings and advocates including civil-rights leader Dolores Huerta in a courtyard at the Secretary of State’s building used in the past for inaugurations and other formal events.

The governor contends that with a law in place, police will turn increasingly to de-escalation techniques including verbal persuasion, weapons other than guns and other crisis intervention methods.

“I would hope that if AB 392 had been law last year, that our family would not have to be mourning Christopher’s first angelversary today,” Barbara Okamoto said in a statement.

Her grandson, Christopher Okamoto, was killed in Bakersfield last Aug. 19, when police responded to a domestic violence call. He had a pellet gun.

Under the new law, which takes effect January 1, police may use deadly force only when “necessary in defense of human life.”

Story Date: August 25, 2019