California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation Thursday that creates a system for decertifying police officers for serious misconduct and will increase the transparency of misconduct records.

Police misconduct has increasingly been scrutinized in California, as well as throughout the US. In January, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the launch of a civil rights investigation into an alleged pattern of unconstitutional policing conducted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD). In August, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ordered the city of Oakland, California, and its police department to release thousands of documents on police misconduct. 

The legislation signed Thursday is supposed to improve police responsibility and accountability guidelines, raise the age for eligibility and ban harmful restraint techniques. Senate Bill 2 creates a system for investigation of and revocation or suspension of police officer certification in instances of serious misconduct, while Senate Bill 16 increases the transparency of misconduct records.

Governor Newsom also signed several other bills into law, including Assembly Bill 26, which creates guidelines for officers to intercede and report other officers; Assembly Bill 89, which raises the minimum age at which someone is eligible to become an officer to 21 and increases education requirements; and Assembly Bill 490, which bans techniques involving the risk of positional asphyxia.

On signing these new bills, Governor Newsom said:

Today marks another step toward healing and justice for all. Too many lives have been lost due to racial profiling and excessive use of force. We cannot change what is past, but we can build accountability, root out racial injustice and fight systemic racism.