Op-ed: Protect grieving families from coercive police interrogations

We strongly urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to pass Assembly Bill 572, a bill to protect grieving families from coercive interrogations by law enforcement, after the violent police killing of a family member.

As sisters who lost our father to law enforcement — and experienced the coercion ourselves — this bill is deeply personal to us. Our story is one of too many across California.

Our father, Rudy Cardenas, was killed on Feb. 17, 2004. He was killed in what could only be described as a “botched stakeout” that our dad had nothing to do with. He was unarmed and shot in the back while fleeing from a plain clothed undercover officer, who thought they were chasing another person.

The day our dad was unjustly murdered, we were together and received a call from a family member saying they heard our dad was killed by a cop. Having someone call you and say something like that is so surreal. We had no idea what to do or who to call. We went to the area where we were told he was murdered, but we weren’t able to get any answers. We called hospitals, no information. We called the coroner’s office, no information. Lastly, we called the police.

We were 19 and 25 years old, and instead of police sharing information with us, we were subjected to coercive police interrogations. We were vulnerable, emotional, distraught and agreed to cooperate with this practice in order to gain clarity on what had occurred. We had no concrete answers, was our father shot, was he alive, what had transpired that day?  In these unsure moments you feel a sense of urgency and desperation to get answers, unaware of what is unfolding.

At the police station we were separated. My sister and I were placed in interrogation rooms alone. We didn’t realize this was a tactic. We were questioned repeatedly about our father’s mental health and possible drug use. The focus shifted to our father’s character rather than factual information of that day. These officers just kept asking if he was depressed or sad. That’s all they focused on.

We were asked the same questions 20 different ways just to see if eventually they could arrive at the answers they needed to build their case. In the end, we learned our father was shot and killed by law enforcement, but no further details could be given to us. This practice left us with unnecessary pain and trauma.

Years later, after talking with families in San Jose who also lost loved ones to police, we learned that this was a common, even trained, manipulation practice designed to place the blame of the death on the person who died, and justify the actions of the officers. It is why we united with others families across the state and Assemblymember Ash Kalra to write this bill.

AB 572 would, after the police killing of a loved one, require law enforcement to inform the family of their loved one’s status, the nature of the investigation, and if they chose to participate in an interview, they could have a trusted support person with them.

The way they manipulate emotionally distraught families during such a confusing and painful time is simply inhumane. We have met so many more families that have gone through the same exact interrogation process as we did, where they try to make you more broken than you already are.

AB 572 has passed the Assembly and the Senate, and is now waiting on Gov.Newsom’s signature. It’s time for change, to let us process our grief without adding more pain.

Corina Cardenas and Regina Cardenas are Silicon Valley De-Bug community organizers. De-Bug is a sponsor of Assembly Bill 572.