Two investigations by alumni of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism’s Investigative Reporting Program have led to the passage of two new California laws addressing police practices. The bills were signed into law last week by Governor Gavin Newsom.
Brian Howey, a 2021 graduate, conducted an investigation titled “We Regret to Inform You,” which was published by Reveal/Mother Jones and the Los Angeles Times in 2023. The report uncovered a pattern in which police officers collected information from family members about their loved ones before informing them that the person had been killed or injured by police. This reporting prompted Assembly Member Ash Kalra to sponsor AB572, a bill that restricts this practice. The new policy will be implemented across California police departments by January 2027.
Another investigation, “Right to Remain Secret,” was carried out by Katey Rusch and Casey Smith, both class of 2020. Published in the San Francisco Chronicle, their work revealed how some police departments used “clean records agreements” to hide misconduct and abuse allegations against officers, allowing them to transfer between departments without full disclosure of their histories. Assembly Member Isaac Bryan introduced AB1388 in response; this law will ban such agreements beginning January 1, 2026.
“These two projects — and the legislation they’ve provoked — are a reminder that powerful investigative reporting doesn’t just illuminate abuses of power but it often spurs reforms aimed at ending those abuses,” said David Barstow, chair of the UC Berkeley Journalism Investigative Reporting Program. “They are also yet another demonstration of the incredible investigative storytelling our Berkeley Journalism students are consistently producing.”
The new laws aim to increase transparency within policing in California.
“What makes this legislation powerful is that it doesn’t just stop the practice going forward — it peels back the curtain on what’s already been done,” said Rusch. She explained that past records of police misconduct or abuse previously sealed will now be accessible through a new police records database developed with help from journalists and data scientists at IRP. “That’s accountability, not just reform.”
In an article for the San Francisco Chronicle about AB1388’s passage, George Parampathu, legislative attorney with the ACLU, stated that the law will put “public safety over the police lobby’s self-interest” and ultimately help protect communities.
Rusch manages public records requests at Berkeley’s IRP and has written multiple stories on clean-records agreements. One recent piece described how an Oakland officer linked to rogue activities decades ago later became an FBI agent involved in a fatal interrogation related to the Boston Marathon bombers.
Rusch commented on long-standing issues: for too long, she said, police departments have “quietly erased misconduct,” damaging trust with communities.
Howey’s investigation focused on deceptive tactics during death notifications by law enforcement officers in California—a practice he found widespread in-state but rare elsewhere. He recounted cases like Diana Showman’s: after her fatal shooting by San Jose Police in 2019, her father was questioned about her mental health without being told she had died hours earlier.
Howey noted that families affected by these tactics see legislative changes as progress but believe more work remains: “For them, it’s just a small drop in a big bucket of injustice, and the fight for police accountability is an uphill battle.”
He added: “the best thing you can possibly hope for out of this work. It beats the hell out of any journalism award.”
Both investigations received recognition; Rusch, Smith and IRP were Pulitzer Prize finalists for “Right to Remain Secret,” while both stories won multiple journalism awards including Polk Awards.
Howey reflected on his motivation: “It’s really easy to feel despair at this moment when the world is going to hell and the journalism industry is falling down around us,” he said. “This is proof that our work is more essential than ever and that it does have an impact.”
