This deep investigative project from two reporters at UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program exposes the widespread use of “clean record agreements”—secret deals that involve concealing or even destroying records of misconduct and criminality of law enforcement officers across California. Typically, these officers then quietly depart from their positions, only to find new jobs at other law enforcement agencies, and more than half of the officers in this investigation also received lump-sum payments as part of their deals, totaling $23.7 million. This system not only moves corrupt officers around the state—it undermines progress in police reform.
In addition to prolonging some officers’ law enforcement careers, clean-record agreements have helped officers secure other sensitive jobs. At least 16 officers identified in this investigation became teachers, including an officer accused of taking out his gun and cursing at an unarmed woman who confronted him outside a courthouse over the arrest of a relative. He now teaches fifth grade in a nearby town.
Another officer, whose department sought to fire him after a string of internal affairs investigations, now teaches at a law enforcement training academy. Another, accused by his Bay Area police force of groping women, was hired as a high school baseball coach. A sheriff’s deputy, fired for lying, went on to testify as an expert witness in drunken driving cases, and recently became an attorney for a firm that regularly negotiates clean-record agreements. Three were elected or appointed to public offices, including mayor and police commissioner.
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