California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed a series of laws Wednesday that would ban police use of chokeholds and increase oversight of law enforcement agencies around the state, Politico reports.
Along with banning chokeholds, Newsom signed two other police reform bills. One creates an agency within the state Department of Justice to review every case of a police use of lethal force.
The other provides county officials with more oversight and control of county sheriff’s offices. Many sheriffs hold the opinion that they are unaccountable to state or local officials because they are largely elected officials and, they feel, the only legitimate law enforcement agency in their jurisdiction, a view advocated by many right-wing anti-government groups.
“This has been an effort before George Floyd, but the murder of George Floyd before our eyes put these issues in the spotlight, and it allowed us to get bipartisan support,” Democratic Assemblymember Kevin McCarty of Sacramento said.