Court Cases

In 2018, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 1421, landmark legislation that made serious uses of force and officer misconduct available to the public through California Public Record Act (“CPRA”) requests. However, right before this new law could take effect, the City of Inglewood and the Inglewood Police Department destroyed decades of police use of force and misconduct records—forever shielding these records from public view. Three years later, after the passage of follow-up legislation (Senate Bill 16) that expanded the categories of records that would be disclosable to the public, the Inglewood City Council once again authorized the destruction of decades of police use of force and misconduct records. This time, the records slated for destruction included those responsive to the ACLU of Southern California’s CPRA request for police misconduct and use of force records, as well as a pending CPRA request from Ms. Trisha Shanklin concerning the Inglewood Police Department’s killing of her sister, Ms. Kisha Michael. In response, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California filed suit and was granted a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction enjoining the City of Inglewood and Inglewood Police Department (“Defendants”) from destroying records responsive to the ACLU request during the pendency of litigation. The case was ultimately successful in its simultaneously filed complaint and petition for writ of mandate for declaratory and injunctive relief. On July 21, 2023, the court granted our petition for writ of mandate and compelled Defendants to produce responsive police misconduct and use of force records. On November 20, 2025, the court resolved the remaining claim in our complaint by granting our motion for summary judgment. The Court found that Defendants have engaged in a pattern and practice of failing to comply with the CPRA’s requirements and deadlines and ordered them to affirmatively post all SB 1421 and SB 16 records on their website for the next three years without the public having to submit a request.