SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California has joined the vast majority of states in setting up a way to strip the badges of police officers who act criminally or with bias, a change that was among several criminal justice reforms signed into law Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The nation’s most populous state was one of just four without such a statewide system alongside Hawaii, New Jersey and Rhode Island. California’s reforms also will limit the use of rubber bullets during protests, bar a type of restraint hold that has led to deaths and detail when an officer has a duty to intervene to prevent or report excessive force.