CPRA - Agency Policy Information

Senate Bill 978 - Agency Policies, Procedures, and Training Materials

 In 2018, SB978 was signed into law, taking effect on January 1, 2020. In essence, the law requires “each local law enforcement agency” (State agencies and private presenters are exempt), to conspicuously post on their Internet websites all current standards, policies, operating procedures, and “education and training materials”, if they would otherwise be available to the public if a request were made pursuant to the California Public Records Act (CPRA) Government Code Section 6250 et. seq. If you are interested in accessing the bill, you may click here: Senate Bill 978

Exemptions are codified in Government Code section 6254, Subdivision (f) and (aa). Under these exemptions, the City may withhold documents that reveal law enforcement tactics, materials, security or safety procedures that are not publicly known and should not be disclosed for safety, security, or investigative reasons. Also relevant is Government Code section 6255, which exempts from disclosure any materials for which the interest served in non-disclosure clearly outweighs the public benefit in disclosure.

The Shafter Police Department Policy Manual is generally in flux as new laws or regulations are enacted, or court rulings may impact how agencies are to conduct business as law enforcement professionals. The Policy Manual is a set of policies which cover a variety of task our personnel perform day in and day out. Understand that a policy is generally a guideline whereby members can understand what is expected and how they should conduct their duties. Procedures are considered as a series of steps to be followed as a consistent and repetitive approach to accomplish an end result.

It needs to be understood that no set of rules or regulations can be constructed to include all that a police officer or civilian member of the department must consider before acting in their official capacity. There must be recognition that it may be necessary, at times, to violate a provision of the manual and that reasons for it will be considered when determining official reaction to that violation.

Any procedures, educational or training material will be posted separately on this website. The policy manual may be updated with new material every few months. The agency will strive to update the current policy on this webpage as soon as an update is applied. If you are interested in looking through the current policy manual, it can be accessed here: SHAFTER POLICE DEPARTMENT POLICY MANUAL.

Proposed AB 481 - PUBLIC SAFETY EQUIPMENT Policy

Questions regarding information on this page should be directed to Lieutenant Randy Milligan by phone:(661) 746-8542 or you may email him at: rmilligan@shafter.com