California legislators begin battling Tuesday over how to cut down on police shootings as they consider two radically different proposals that have stirred an emotional debate over the safety of officers and those they’re tasked with protecting in the nation’s most populous state, the Associated Press reports. A legislative committee is expected to advance a first-in-the-nation measure restricting when police can use deadly force. The bill prompted by last year’s shooting of unarmed Sacramento vandalism suspect Stephon Clark would allow police to kill only if there is no reasonable alternative, such as verbal persuasion or other non-lethal methods of resolution or de-escalation. “It calls for them not to use lethal force unless it is absolutely necessary, that someone’s life is in imminent danger,” said Assemblywoman Shirley Weber of San Diego, who wrote the bill that advocates hope will be a model for other states.
It faces intense opposition from law enforcement groups, which are urging a different plan requiring that every department have policies on when officers should use de-escalation tactics and other alternatives to deadly force. The law enforcement bill enshrines current court standards in state law, allowing officers to use deadly force when they have a reasonable fear of being harmed. The standard has made it rare for officers to be charged after a shooting and rarer still for them to be convicted. California Police Chiefs Association president Ron Lawrence said law enforcement will back amendments “to ensure that we are truly putting forward the most comprehensive legislative solution to effectively reduce the use of force in our state.” Chanting supporters of Weber’s bill marched to the Capitol on Monday, wearing American Civil Liberties Union t-shirts and backed by a brass band. Supporters held three American flags listing the names of dozens of people killed in police shootings.