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At this point, California is one of four states in America that does not have a decertification process for police officers. Community organizers, activists and the LeBron James-backed advocacy group, More Than A Vote, are working to change that. According to LZ Granderson of the Los Angeles Times, More Than A Vote is pushing the California Assembly to pass Senate Bill 2, commonly known as the Kenneth Ross Jr. Police Decertification Act.
"More Than a Vote represents many Black athletes who love playing in California. Black athletes who love the culture, the people, and the communities that take them in as their own. That’s why this is so important to an organization like ours. These are the communities that nurtured, protected, and developed the athletes of More Than A Vote and allowed them to live out their dreams," a letter sent to the California Assembly reads, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Senate Bill 2 is named after Kenneth Ross Jr., a 25-year-old who was shot and killed by a police officer in 2018. According to ABC 7 in Los Angeles, Gardena police officer Michael Robbins responded to a call of shots being fired on April 11. When officers arrived, reports allege Ross Jr. failed to follow commands and was running away when Robbins fired multiple shots. Investigators also claim that Ross had a gun at the time he was shot, but his family refutes that claim.
"They said he had a gun. We have the video of when he fell. They then handcuffed him to search him. They do search him. They find nothing," Ross Jr.'s family's attorney Haytham Faraj told ABC 7.
At this point, Robbins has not been criminally charged for shooting Ross Jr. and he was able to continue working.
"California is able to revoke the certification or license of bad doctors, bad lawyers, even bad barbers and cosmetologists - you can even recall an elected official - but is unable to decertify police officers who have broken the law and violated public trust," California Senator Steven Bradford told KSBY.
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