The Right to Know Act (SB1421)
Effective January 1, 2019, California Senate Bill 1421 (SB1421) amended Cal. Penal Code Section 832.7 which generally made all peace and custodial officer personnel records and information confidential and exempt from disclosure, except by motion in a criminal, civil, or administrative action. SB1421 created exceptions from those general confidentiality requirements. Effective January 1, 2022, California Senate Bill 16 (SB16) again amended Cal. Penal Code Section 832.7, which expanded the exceptions to those general confidentiality requirements.
In January of 2019, the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) began a comprehensive review for records subject to disclosure based on the criteria outlined in the California Penal Code Sections updated by SB 1421. Our Department has an incredibly robust history, and we have initiated, modified and utilized multiple records management systems, in addition to multiple records storage methods, for the breadth of records newly categorized as subject to public disclosure. As such, the department’s review of records subject to disclosure under SB 1421 / SB 16 remains ongoing.
These records are now available to the public pursuant to the California Public Records Act. The following items can be searched from this page:
SB 1421 (2019)
- Incident
involving the discharge of a firearm at a person by and Officer.
- Incident
involving use of force against a person by an officer that results in
death or great bodily injury.
- A
sustained finding involving a sexual assault by an officer.
- A
sustained finding involving dishonesty.
SB 16 (2022)
- A
sustained finding involving a complaint that alleges unreasonable or
excessive force.
- A
sustained finding that an officer failed to intervene against another
officer using force that is clearly unreasonable or excessive.
- A
sustained finding involving verbal statements, writings, online posts,
recordings and gestures involving prejudice or discrimination against a
person.
- A sustained finding where an officer made an unlawful arrest or conducted an unlawful search.
Search Parameters
The search allows reviewers to filter by category or category and date. You MUST have at least one category checked for this report to run.
NOTE: All K9 reports are provided here under these code sections regardless of if the injury did not rise to the level of "great bodily injury" requiring a report to the State/Federal Authorities as a 'Use of Force' incident.
All reports are redacted to remove:
- Personal information about the officer, such as home address
- Personally identifying information about complainants and witnesses
As we continue to gather, review and identify records now subject to public disclosure, records responsive to the incidents listed here will be made available, but may not contain all records applicable to SB 1421 /SB 16. If the records you seek are not found on this website, or you would like to inquire about additional information, please contact SMPD the Records Division at 310-458-8431. As custodians of government records that contain a plethora of private and confidential information, SMPD has a duty to thoroughly ensure that confidential or private information of our community members and officers is not inadvertently released. Additional information related to material prohibited or exempted from each individual disclosure is included with each release.
SMPD has created an index of incidents meeting the release criteria specified in SB 1421 / SB 16 found here.