Non-citizens allowed to be peace officers in California under the new law in 2023

(SAN FRANCISCO) As we head into 2023, there are a number of new laws to be in effect on New Year's Day, including the law to remove the requirement of peace officers in California being U.S. citizens or permanent residents when they apply for the job.

SB 960 was introduced by State Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) to open the law enforcement positions to non-citizens and non-permanent residents. It is expected the new law would help many law enforcement agencies in the state to hire more qualified and bilingual officers.

In recent years, most of the law enforcement agencies across the country are facing the challenges of hiring sworn personnel, because of the police shooting incidents and the Black Lives Matter movement nationwide. Fewer young people are interested in joining the police departments.

Currently the San Francisco Police Department is short 500 police officers. The San Francisco Sheriff's Department has recently launched a campaign to hire 200 deputies. California Highway Patrol (CHP) is recruiting 1,000 patrol officers statewide.

Including CHP, most of the law enforcement agencies in California require applicants to be U.S. citizens when they apply for the job as patrol officers and meet a list of minimum standards. Some agencies require their applicants, if they are permanent residents, to be on the way to file petitions to be naturalized U.S. citizens.

Under SB 960, the requirements of U.S. citizens and permanent residents for being peace officers are removed. But the applicants still need to meet other requirements as peace officers and have legal status living in the United States.

AB 1700 to set up an online reporting system to fight against organized retail crime is going to be in effect in 2023. The bill was introduced by State Assemblymember Brian Maienschein (D-San Diego) to require the Attorney General’s Office to create an online reporting system for users of third-party online marketplaces to report listings of suspected stolen items.

The newly-created online system would be opened for the public to report their stolen items. The reported information would be available to local law enforcement and the CHP’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force to assist with investigations.

AB 2147 which was introduced by San Francisco State Assemblymember Phil Ting would be in effect on New Year Day.

The new law would prohibit peace officers in the state from stopping pedestrians for certain pedestrian-specific violations, such as crossing the road outside of a crosswalk, which is commonly called jaywalking.

The police officers still may issue citations if there is an immediate danger of a crash. The CHP reminds all road users of the responsibility to travel safely and look out for one another.