Larry sits down with experts to debate two proposed California bills intended to increase transparency in officer shooting investigations and decrease use of force. We also check in with California’s ‘pot czar’ four months after the legalization of recreational cannabis took effect; 50 years later, what are your memories of MLK’s assassination?: and more.
After YouTube shooting, police science and workplace security experts answer questions about campus access and vetting police tips
After yesterday’s shooting on YouTube’s San Bruno campus that left three people injured and the shooter dead, we’re learning more about the woman who is suspected of carrying out the attack and why she might have done it.
San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini says the YouTube shooter was angry about the policies and practices of the company and had visited a gun range before she drove to the company's headquarters near San Francisco. He says 39-year-old Nasim Najafi Aghdam got into the building through a parking garage.
Barberini said Wednesday that investigators are in the process of executing search warrants at two properties. He also said that the gun used in the shooting was a legally purchased 9mm handgun, and that Aghdam had gone to a gun range before carrying out the shooting.
We’re also learning that at least one family member had reportedly contacted police with concerns that Aghdam “might do something,” though he apparently did not specify what that “something” might be.
We’ll get the latest from a reporter who has been covering the story, talk with a workplace security expert about how she was able to walk onto YouTube’s campus to carry out the shooting, and hear from an expert in police tactics on how law enforcement vets and triages tips from people who believe a family member may be a danger to themselves or others.
Guests:
Trisha Thadani, business reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle; she has been covering the story since it broke Tuesday afternoon
Maria Haberfeld, professor of police science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice; she specializes in police training
Steve Albrecht, threat assessment expert and consultant who has put together threat assessment teams and security trainings for workplaces and schools for over 25 years; he was formerly a police officer in San Diego
AirTalk debates: CA measures that seek to increase police accountability, change use-of-force standards
In an effort to decrease law enforcement’s fatal use of force and to create more transparency in shooting investigations, California lawmakers are introducing two pieces of legislation: The Police Accountability and Community Protection Act and Senate Bill 1421.
The Police Accountability Act, introduced by Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), would establish that officers can only use deadly force if necessary to prevent imminent injury or death, given that there was no other alternative available, including verbal warning on nonlethal de-escalation. It would also establish that an officer-involved fatality is not justifiable if the officer’s behavior made the subsequent use of force necessary.
SB 1421, introduced by Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), would give the public access to police records that pertain to serious use-of-force investigations, such as police shootings, and complaints against officers for professional dishonesty, such as sexual assault or planting evidence.
Law enforcement has argued that those records should remain private to uphold the integrity of investigations and to protect officers’ privacy. But advocates say the public deserves to know how law enforcement disciplines its officers in cases of misconduct, and points to the fact that California has some of the toughest laws against disclosing police records in the U.S.
Annie Gilbertson, KPCC’s investigative reporter, encountered many of California’s information roadblocks when reporting on the shooting of Tennell Billups by L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Gonzalo Inzunza, for her podcast “Repeat.” Like many California Sheriff’s Departments, the L.A. County Sheriffs Dept. investigate its own officers’ shootings, with no outside oversight. As Gilbertson found in her reporting, the records on those investigations are not accessible – but if SB 1421 passed, those records would be available to the public.
Larry Mantle talks with Annie Gilberston about her process of reporting “Repeat” and trying to get information from L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. Plus, we debate the two pieces of legislation.
Guests:
Annie Gilbertson, investigative reporter at KPCC; host of the KPCC podcast, Repeat
Peter Bibring, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Southern California and director of police practices for the ACLU of California; the organization is a sponsor of both bills
Ed Fishman, legal defense administrator with the Peace Officers Research Association of California, which represents over 70,000 public safety members and over 930 law enforcement-related associations
California’s 'pot czar' checks in 4 months into legal recreational cannabis
Cannabis and California have been two seeds in a bud for decades, but it was just months ago that the Golden State passed Prop 64, the Adult Use of Marijuana Act.
Legal recreational dispensaries began opening in some cities after the turn of the new year and have continued to pop up in recent months, and meanwhile state officials have been tackling challenges both foreseen, such as police enforcing DUI laws for stoned drivers, and the unforeseen, like whether to allow some marijuana growers and product manufacturers to move to tribal lands.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There have also been questions about financing the marijuana industry, since federally-chartered banks want nothing to do with cannabis money because pot is still illegal at the federal level, as well as issues with licensing that include some unlicensed shops being advertised online. Tax revenue was one of the main reasons behind the push to legalize cannabis, and the state says it is considering lowering taxes to help the burgeoning industry compete with the established black market. And there’s the issue of cities and municipalities making their own rules and regulations for marijuana activity within their jurisdiction.
Today on AirTalk, Larry Mantle checks in with Lori Ajax, who heads up California’s Bureau of Cannabis Control, to talk about how legalization is going so far, some of the challenges her office is facing, and what she hopes to accomplish in the months to come.
Guest:
Lori Ajax, chief of the state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control
ACLU sues Orange County Sheriff Department over controversial jail informant techniques
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens and District Attorney Tony Rackauckas accusing them of running an illegal jail informant program that violates the rights of defendants.
The jailhouse snitch scandal has led to the unraveling of nearly 20 high-profile cases. The civil rights group is seeking a permanent injunction to force OCSD and OC District Attorney to stop what they described as violating the U.S. Constitution’s due process clause.
Guest:
Andre Mouchard, assistant managing editor for the OC Register who oversees the paper’s ongoing look into the OC jail informant scandal
Your memories of MLK’s death, 50 years after his assassination
Fifty years ago today, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.
He had traveled there in support of a strike by sanitation workers. He held a nonviolent demonstration on April 3, where he delivered what turned out to be his last speech, now known as “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.”
Whether you were a child or an adult, we want to hear your memories or stories about this momentous day. How did you learn the news? How did it impact you or your family?
Here's how CBS News' Walter Kronkite reported Dr. King's death 50 years ago today.
Larry Mantle shared his own memory of finding out about Dr. King's death, and said it still impacts him emotionally to this day.
We also heard from AirTalk listeners who shared their own powerful memories of how they found out about Dr. King's death. Alona says she called her mom immediately after hearing the news.
Louise says she was 12 years old growing up on Chicago's South Side when Dr. King was killed and remembers how she found out.
For Martellus in Pasadena, Dr. King was a symbol of peaceful progress.
Anthony says he was only 7 when Dr. King died, but he remembers feeling something was amiss by the way his mother reacted to a phone call.