Local police-related ballot measures following the killing of and protests about George Floyd (November 2020)

Responses and reactions to the death of George Floyd

• Events following the death of George Floyd

• Derek Chauvin trial, 2021

• Changes to policing policy in the states and 100 largest cities, 2020

• Local police-related ballot measures

• Largest cities in the United States by population

• List of current mayors of the top 100 cities in the United States

• Federal policy on crime and justice, 2017-2020

• Federal politics

• State politics

In the weeks after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020, nationwide events were held calling for changes to policing. Officials responded by issuing executive orders and passing legislation to eliminate certain policing tactics, such as chokeholds, and implement new community policing strategies.

This page tracks police-related local ballot measures proposed in the wake of Floyd's death that make changes related to the following policy areas:

• police oversight;
• the powers and structure of oversight commissions;
• police practices;
• law enforcement department structure and administration;
• reductions in or restrictions on law enforcement budgets;
• law enforcement training requirements; and
• body and dashboard camera footage.

This page was last updated on November 8, 2020, and contains the following:

• summaries and links for police-related ballot measures on November ballots
• summaries and links for police-related ballot measures proposed that did not make or were removed from the ballot
• additional context on Georg Floyd's death and policy changes that followed

Click here to read about 2021 local police-related ballot measures.

HIGHLIGHTS

Ballotpedia identified 20 local police-related ballot measures on the ballot for November 3, 2020, that qualified following the death of George Floyd.

All 20 measures were approved, but at least two were overturned after the election.

Local ballot measures were on the ballot in 10 cities and four counties within seven states. Cities and counties that voted on these police-related issues in November included:

○ Los Angeles County, California
○ Oakland, California
○ San Diego, California
○ San Francisco, California
○ San Jose, California

○ Sonoma County, California
○ DuPage County, Illinois
○ Akron, Ohio
○ Columbus, Ohio
○ Portland, Oregon

○ Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
○ Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
○ Kyle, Texas
○ King County, Washington

Think something is missing? Please email us at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Local ballot measures

On the ballot

The following chart contains the name and a description of each measure on the ballot.

State	Jurisdiction	Title	Description	Result
California	Los Angeles County	Measure J	Requires that no less than 10% of the county's general fund be appropriated to community programs and alternatives to incarceration	a
California	Oakland	Measure S1	Changes the powers, duties, and staffing of the Oakland Police Commission and creates the Office of Inspector General	a
California	San Diego	Measure B	Replaces the Community Review Board on Police Practices with the Commission on Police Practices that would be appointed by the city council to conduct investigations and subpoena witnesses and documents related to deaths resulting from police interactions and complaints made against police officers	a
California	San Francisco	Proposition D	Creates the Sheriff's Department Oversight Board and the Sheriff's Department Office of Inspector General	a
California	San Francisco	Proposition E	Removes the mandatory police staffing level from the city's charter	a
California	San Jose	Measure G	Authorizes the independent police auditor to review reports and records related to officer-involved shootings and uses of force	a
California	Sonoma County	Measure P	Makes changes to the powers and duties of the Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach (IOLERO)	a/ot
Illinois	DuPage County	Law Enforcement Budget Advisory Referendum	Advises the county to continue to consider law enforcement and public safety as its top budgeting priority	a
Illinois	DuPage County	Law Enforcement Injury Risk Training Advisory Referendum	Advises the county to continue to fund and support law enforcement training methods that decrease the risk of injury to officers and suspects	a
Ohio	Akron	Release of Recordings from Police Body and Dashboard Cameras after Use of Force Charter Amendment	Requires recordings from police body and dashboard cameras documenting police use of force that results in death or serious injury to be released to the public	a
Ohio	Columbus	Issue 2	Creates the Civilian Police Review Board to investigate alleged police misconduct, subpoena testimony and evidence during the investigations, make recommendations to the Division of Police, and appoint and manage the new position of Inspector General for the Division of Police	a
Oregon	Portland	Measure 26-217	Establishes a new police oversight board in the city's charter	a
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	Question 1	Adds language to the Philadelphia City Charter calling on the police department to "eliminate the practice of unconstitutional stop and frisk, consistent with judicial precedent"	a
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	Question 3	Creates a Citizens Police Oversight Commission to replace the Police Advisory Commission	a
Pennsylvania	Pittsburgh	Independent Citizen Police Review Board Charter Amendment	Requires police officers to cooperate with investigations conducted by the Independent Citizen Police Review Board	a
Texas	Kyle	Proposition F	Amends the city charter to authorize the city council to adopt procedures and a committee to review the police department	a
Washington	King County	Charter Amendment 1	Requires investigations into all police-related deaths and to provide public attorneys to represent the decedent's family in the investigation	a
Washington	King County	Charter Amendment 4	Amends the county charter to authorize the Office of Law Enforcement Oversight (OLEO) to subpoena witnesses, documents, and other evidence in its investigations of law enforcement personnel	a
Washington	King County	Charter Amendment 5	Returns the office of the sheriff from an elected position to an appointed position that is appointed by the county executive and confirmed by the county council	a
Washington	King County	Charter Amendment 6	Gives the county council the authority to specify the duties of the sheriff	a

Other local measures in 2020 were designed to authorize tax increases or renewals to fund law enforcement services. For a list of all local law enforcement-related measures in 2020, including proposed tax measures, click here.

Not on the ballot

The following chart shows the name, description, and status for local ballot measures that were proposed but did not make it on the ballot:

State	Jurisdiction	Title	Description	Status
Georgia	Glynn County	Abolish County Police Department Measure	Abolishes county police department
Minnesota	Minneapolis	Remove Minimum Police Department Funding Requirement from the Charter Amendment	Removes a minimum funding requirement for the police department from the reference to the police department from the city charter
Minnesota	Minneapolis	Replace Police Department with the Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention Charter Amendment	Removes reference to the police department from the city charter and adds the Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention

Background

George Floyd death and responses

See also: Events following the death of George Floyd and responses in select cities from May 29-31, 2020

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officers arrested George Floyd, a black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, a White officer, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs. Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident. The medical examiner's report, prepared by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, said that it was "not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process."

Floyd's death was filmed and shared widely, leading to events and activity regarding racism, civil rights, and police use of force. The first events took place in Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 26. An event in Chicago organized by Chance the Rapper and Rev. Michael Pfleger took place the same day, making it the first major city outside of Minneapolis to see activity in response to Floyd's death.

State responses

See also: Changes to policing policy in the states and 100 largest cities, 2020

For a full list of policy changes made in response to the killing of George Floyd and subsequent events, click here.

See also

• Changes to policing policy in the states and 100 largest cities, 2020
• Events following the death of George Floyd and responses in select cities from May 29-31, 2020
• Local law enforcement on the ballot
• Notable local police-related ballot measures (2021)