Advocacy

The California Police Chiefs Association advocates to improve the law enforcement profession, promote public safety, and to bring forward the concerns of our 332 Municipal Police Departments in California. Working with our Board of Directors and Legislative Committee, CPCA takes a position on bills impacting public safety and law enforcement. Please see below for more information on our legislative platform and priorities, bill positions, press releases, and legal advocacy efforts. 

2025 Legislative Platform

Social justice and law enforcement reform remain one of the top issue areas for legislation. As such, CPCA continues to lead as a voice for balanced and reasonable policy changes, while rejecting reckless approaches that deteriorate public safety. The outline below builds upon the work accomplished over the last several years, while also elevating emerging issues as priorities for CPCA.

Sponsored Legislation

1. AB 992 (Irwin): Law enforcement education standard – CPCA, in partnership with other statewide law enforcement associations, will sponsor legislation to codify a new education standard for specified peace officers that builds upon previous measures and stakeholder recommendations. The goal is to specify the elevated education requirements for the policing profession in a way that is meaningful and realistic, without negatively impacting recruitment efforts. To do so, there should be multiple pathways for satisfying the new education requirements, which account for established training, prior experiences, and existing infrastructure.

2.  SB 19 (Rubio) / AB 237 (Patel): Criminal threats – Ongoing threats made against schools and religious institutions continue to demand swift law enforcement responses whenever they occur, especially in the face of recurring mass shooting events and rising religious conflicts. However, the California Penal Code does not qualify a threat against a school, building, or a place of worship as a “criminal threat” unless the threat is levied against a specific individual. Therefore, one of CPCA’s priorities is to sponsor legislation similar to SB 796 (Alvarado-Gil, 2024) to make any threat made against a school or places of worship a criminal violation.

3. AB 400 (Pacheco): K-9 Guidelines – Building on our work from last year and the development of new K-9 guidelines by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), the CPCA will sponsor legislation to ensure these guidelines become a standard for all agencies.
4. AB 875 (Muratsuchi): Illegal E-Bike – CPCA will collaborate with CHP and other traffic safety agencies to propose legislation aimed at addressing the illegal use of e-bikes, specifically those that exceed the established speed limit.
5. SB 701 (Wahab): Illegal radio/signal interference devices – Nationwide, the use of illegal radio/signal interference devices has become a significant and growing issue. Handheld signal jammers that disrupt radio communications, WiFi, and alarm systems have been employed in California by organized criminal groups during the commission of major crimes, such as large-scale retail theft and burglary. However, current California law does not provide state and local law enforcement agencies with clear authority to cite or penalize the possession, sale, transfer, or use of these devices, all of which are illegal under federal law. To address these limitations, especially in anticipation of the upcoming worldwide sporting events in California, CPCA will sponsor legislation to empower state and local law enforcement to cite, investigate, and prosecute those who use these devices.
6. AB 1160 (Wilson): Drones – Both state and national legislative bodies have considered, on multiple occasions, the outright ban of certain foreign-made drone systems, including those currently used by a majority of California law enforcement. To address the concerns raised about cybersecurity threats while still protecting the use of vital public safety tools, the CPCA will sponsor legislation to establish specific requirements that must be met prior to the use of certain foreign-made drones.
7. AB 284 (Alanis): Racial Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) – For over a decade, California law enforcement agencies have been required to collect data on the perceived racial identity of every person stopped or detained, which has been reviewed and analyzed by the RIPA Board to address instances of racially biased policing. During this time, the RIPA Board has consistently expanded the reporting requirements and the scope of their work. While CPCA supports efforts to improve policing and directly address the public’s concerns regarding biased policing, we do not believe that the collection and analysis of subjective data is the best and most effective policy solution. Therefore, CPCA will partner with other public safety organizations to sponsor legislation aimed at addressing the various concerns raised over the years related to RIPA data collection and analysis.

General Issues

1. Jail and Prison Capacity – Over a decade has passed since a federal panel of judges mandated California to tackle state prison overcrowding. Since then, our prison population has decreased from nearly 170,000 in 2011 to an estimated 95,000 last year, leading to both permanent and temporary closures of several prison facilities and housing units. Simultaneously, jail capacity has increased, resulting in significant complications statewide, affecting police departments with longer booking times and the release of inmates due to insufficient housing space for offenders. Therefore, CPCA advocates for engaging in discussions with the State and our public safety partners to review the existing policies regulating inmate housing to identify solutions for the issues highlighted by our members.
2. Loitering with intent to commit prostitution – Statewide, law enforcement continues to struggle with the implementation of SB 357 (Weiner, 2022), which removed penalties for loitering with intent to commit prostitution. CPCA has supported efforts to address the consequences of this reform legislation in previous years, and as those efforts continue, we will prioritize those policies. 
3. Human trafficking – Despite significant legislative attention over the past decade, human trafficking continues to be a major concern for public safety and victims’ protection organizations. With California set to host several global sporting events, which often become hotspots for human trafficking, CPCA remains committed to collaborating with strategic partners to focus on targeting those responsible for or facilitating human trafficking.
4. Peace officers’ mental health and wellness – CPCA supports increased funding for programs identified to improve peace officer’s mental health and wellness, and resources to provide regular mental health and wellness checks for peace officers. CPCA also acknowledges the significant trauma experienced by emergency dispatchers and support efforts to provide them with adequate mental health services, as well.
5. Recruitment and retention – Across all regions, recruitment and retention of qualified officers remains a persistent issue. CPCA supports all efforts to develop and recruit diverse police candidates, which includes reforms related to education and training.
6. Law enforcement technology – As emerging technology continues to improve public safety, CPCA will both look to defend the acquisition and use of these new tools and data systems, and also push for more statewide funding for the purchase of such equipment and programs. 
7. Increased penalties for emerging crimes: Similar to the surge in catalytic converter thefts in recent years, law enforcement is encountering alarming trends in other areas that may need legislative support to help combat. These emerging crimes include a rise in vehicle pursuits and failures to yield, as well as the use of vehicles in connection with burglaries.
8. Issues outside of policing with impacts on public safety – A part of ongoing efforts to keep individuals out of the criminal justice system ahead of any police involvement, CPCA continues to support the following:
   1. Support efforts to close educational achievement gaps by increasing resources to areas historically disadvantaged.
   2. Support efforts to increase access to vocational training and job opportunities to those in lower socio-economic demographics.
   3. Improve our response to those in crisis – individuals with severe mental illness and substance abuse disorders. Police are not always the appropriate response, and we should look to our service providers in many of these cases. When police do respond, they should be highly trained co-deployment teams with capabilities that match the need.
   4. Support access to fair housing, which will create core stability for those in need.

CPCA Tracked Bills

View the most current information about the legislation CPCA is tracking at the Capitol.

All Tracked Bills All Supported Bills All Opposed Bills

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