I went with Silicon Valley De-Bug to the State Capitol in Sacramento to continue to pass bill AB 3021. De-Bug is something I have been wanting to get more involved in, when I got the opportunity to tag along with them for this process as a youth I figured it would be a great opportunity. As my cousin, Julianne said, “As a youth it was a very educational and eye opening experience.” We are both generationally affected by police brutality and have grown up in De-Bug. It has opened our eyes to see all the social injustices and everything that goes on in this world. We took this opportunity to learn the process of passing a bill, the education, the experience, and so much more. Knowing our bill is going well and hearing that it passed the Senate Public Safety committee was a very rewarding feeling for the both of us.
Getting a bill successfully passed to become a law has many steps. Our bill started with the Assembly Public Safety, and we hope it goes all the way to the Governor´s Signature. This bill is to protect grieving families from coercive police interrogations and it is being sponsored by Assemblymember Ash Kalra, Silicon Valley De-Bug, and Californians for Safety and Justice.
To go more into depth, AB 3021 is to bring more trust and clarity into the relationship between family members who have had a loved one injured or murdered by police and law enforcement. Police often lack transparency and honesty, they have lied to grieving families saying they will tell them everything and show them their loved one if they go to the police station with them. Some will even tell family members that their loved one has just been arrested when they have actually been murdered. Once they get to the police station they separate them into different rooms and interrogate them with no consent, which can go on for hours while still withholding vital information about their loved one from them. They do this as soon as they can, typically under the 24 hour mark while the family is in shock, distress, confusion, overall a very vulnerable mental state to make it easier to manipulate and trick the family into telling a certain narrative to also use against them when needed.
Rosie Chavez, aunt of Jacob Dominguez & JudyEdens, mother of Jason Alderman.
AB 3021 is to change that system. It will require law enforcement to inform those families of all of their rights as soon as they can. Such as their right to remain silent, ask questions about their loved one, consult with an attorney or trusted support person, and much more. You can find all the rights that are supposed to be told and other information as well as direct quotes from impacted families at the website: protectyourpeoplesj.org.
This police interrogation system is all on purpose, like Ed Little from Californians for Safety and Justice, said at the Senate, ¨This practice is not an accident.¨ It is taught to give 95% of law enforcement agencies ideas and techniques on how to get information out of families. They are trained to withhold information. This is promoted by a private company, LEXIPOL, which is made with the full intent of protecting officers from any and all forms of punishment.
Sam Sullivan was one of our witnesses at the Senate. She told a bit of her story and how this system affected her family in their time of distress. Her brother, David Sullivan was wrongfully murdered by Bobby Colon and Jennifer Tran on the morning of August 19th, 2019. David´s family did not find out he was no longer with them till around 1am that night. Sam shared that her family and herself were interrogated for hours on almost no sleep. They were asked questions with no real importance. They only tried to manipulate her into giving into their made up story that he was suicidal. They asked her questions regarding mental health, if David was bullied and owned a gun. She was tricked into feeding this false narrative that made the whole situation seem like a suicide rather than a murder which was later used against them in court when the prosecution tried to convince the jury that David would have died that day either way. Sam supports AB 3021 because she also believes people need to gather themselves and process everything before being interrogated.
Two people spoke in opposition, one of which was Kristin Schlessel, a Deputy District Attorney representing the California District Attorneys Association. She stated that, ¨Telling a family member that they have the right to remain silent, that anything they say can be used against them in court, that they have the right to refuse to be searched, and that they have the right to legal representation, could carry an implication of guilt...¨ This woman is naming basic human rights that everyone including herself have, shouldn't be shared.
Bill AB 3021 will bring honesty to law enforcement. It will be the start of mending broken trusts and traumas. Families deserve honesty, support, and equal rights. It should allow legal consultation, it will bring accountability to wrongful law enforcement. It provides safety for grieving families.
Listen to the podcast where Jordyn and her cousin Julianne describe going up to Sacramento to support AB 3021 in the Senate Public Safety & Justice Committee
