Additional Investigations and Reviews

California’s 58 District Attorneys are the front-line prosecutors who review, charge, and prosecute the majority of criminal violations of the law on behalf of the people of the State of California. Where appropriate, those efforts may include the investigation and review of officer-involved shootings or other critical incidents involving peace officers. District Attorneys are directly elected and resourced by their local jurisdictions to handle such matters.

However, under certain, exceptional circumstances, the Office of the Attorney General may be required to step in to fulfill the role of the duly elected District Attorney. Generally, with limited exceptions, this may arise where there is a conflict of interest preventing local authorities from handling a matter. In such instances, the California Department of Justice takes on the role of the District Attorney and serves as an independent prosecutor to investigate and review these difficult matters. It is important to note that this work is separate from the Attorney General's role under Assembly Bill 1506 or general authority to conduct an abuse of discretion review, which is a review of a District Attorney's charging decision in cases where local authorities decline to file charges.

When an officer-involved shooting or other critical incident occurs, transparent and open communication is critical to maintain public trust. Accordingly, separate from investigations and reviews conducted under Assembly Bill 1506 or abuse of discretion reviews, this page is meant to provide members of the public with information on the results of any other completed reviews of officer-involved shootings or critical incidents handled by the Office of the Attorney General. The information available on this page pertains to investigations and reviews where the California Department of Justice takes over the role of the District Attorney to investigate and review critical incidents involving peace officers outside of Assembly Bill 1506 and abuse of discretion reviews. Information regarding the outcomes of specific cases is available below.