Assembly committee advances bill requiring officers to disclose status to families after officer-involved injuries or deaths

Assemblymember Colera’s AB 572, which would require peace officers to be transparent with family members about the status of a loved one who has been injured or killed before questioning them, advanced out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee on a roll call vote.

Supporters told the committee that families are often approached while distressed and given misleading information or questioned immediately in ways that can coerce statements. “Soon, this interview turned into an interrogation,” said Diana Sullivan, an impacted family member who testified about the death of her son. “They were asked leading questions about David’s mental health … while we had driven for more than 12 hours with no sleep and little information.”

The bill would require officers who engage with immediate family members of someone seriously injured or killed by a peace officer to clearly identify themselves and to advise the family of the victim’s status and their basic rights before seeking information. Proponents, including Californians for Safety and Justice, Silicon Valley Debug, and several impacted family members, said the change would protect grieving families from being manipulated during interviews.

Ed Little, government affairs manager for Californians for Safety and Justice, said investigative training materials from private vendors can encourage withholding information from families to extract statements and that such practices compound trauma and erode trust. “When family members are finally given the devastating news, nobody should be treated this way in their moments of deepest pain and vulnerability,” Little said.

Multiple impacted family members described being questioned about a deceased relative’s background and mental health very soon after learning of the death. Testimony cited an LA Times investigation as documenting practices across jurisdictions that train officers to withhold information or suggest alternative narratives to family members during early contacts.

Witnesses urged the committee to approve the bill; proponents said the fiscal impact to local agencies would be minimal or absorbable. The committee’s action moved AB 572 out of committee on an Assembly roll call vote. The committee did not record a full roll-call tally in the hearing record available on the committee’s public stream.

AB 572’s supporters asked the Legislature to adopt the measure to ensure grieving families are given accurate information and time to exercise their rights rather than being subjected to what they described as coercive interview tactics.

Looking ahead, AB 572 will proceed to the Assembly for further consideration.