California Attorney General Rob Bonta Dec.8, launched an independent review of the Torrance Police Department or TPD as part of an effort to identify and correct potential systemic failures in the department’s policies and practices.
The review comes amidst deeply concerning allegations of excessive force, racist text messages, and other discriminatory misconduct, and follows a request for assistance by the Torrance Chief of Police. More broadly, the review will aim to promote public safety and rebuild trust between TPD and the community it serves.
The independent review will be conducted by the California Department of Justice or DOJ Civil Rights Enforcement Section with the assistance of DOJ’s Division of Law Enforcement. DOJ attorneys and special agents will work to consider all relevant information, including from community members and organizations, local officials, TPD, individual officers and more.
However, it is important to note that the Office of the Attorney General has made no determinations at this time about specific complaints or allegations against TPD. The Attorney General’s independent review of TPD is separate from ongoing administrative and criminal investigations at the local level. Given that interaction and cooperation with the community is at the core of law enforcement’s work in order to provide public safety and create public trust, the Attorney General encourages anyone with information relevant to this review to contact DOJ’s Civil Rights Enforcement Section at Police-Practices@doj.ca.gov.
In May, Attorney General Bonta launched the Racial Justice Bureau within the Civil Rights Enforcement Section to, among other things, help address issues of implicit and explicit bias in policing. In July, the Attorney General released a full guidance package for the DOJ’s implementation of Assembly 1506, which requires DOJ to investigate all incidents of an officer-involved shooting resulting in the death of an unarmed civilian in the state. He also launched the Office of Community Awareness, Response, and Engagement to directly engage with and respond to the needs of communities and organizations across California. In August, the Attorney General announced the creation of the Tribal Assistance Program to develop guidance for law enforcement on policing on tribal lands. Attorney General Bonta also secured a stipulated judgment involving the Bakersfield Police Department requiring an extensive range of actions to promote public safety and strengthen oversight and accountability systems in Bakersfield.