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State Sen. Steven Bradford likened the movement to “a tidal wave.” | Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP
California's police reform push remains challenging despite leftward shift
But they still have a tough road ahead.
An early legislative battle between Democrats offered a reminder of the issue’s thorny politics, even in a deep-blue state — and cast a shadow on other policing bills, from a new duty-to-intercede standard to expanded misconduct disclosure requirements.
Moderate Democrats nearly blocked a closely watched officer decertification bill in a committee hearing last month, an open display of the power struggle between progressives and law enforcement-aligned moderate Democrats. That bill and nearly a dozen other reform proposals will test the power of a national reckoning that has gained momentum in the wake of George Floyd’s death last summer at the hands of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of murder in April.