Earlier this year, journalists at the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley and its production arm, Investigative Studios, filed public records requests to a state commission and received a database of thousands of police officers and applicants for law enforcement jobs convicted of crimes in the last decade. The data was released by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, known as POST, which determines whether officers and applicants have been convicted of crimes that would disqualify them from serving.

…The letter from Becerra’s office clearly [states] that the reporters could face consequences: “If you do not intend to comply with our request, the Department can take legal action to ensure that the spreadsheets are properly deleted and not disseminated,” the letter states.

The Berkeley-based journalists said Friday that they intend to continue reporting stories based on the database and rejected Becerra’s request to destroy it.

…A new law that went into effect this year mandated the disclosure of some police misconduct records, but some law enforcement agencies around the state have argued that the statute shouldn’t apply retroactively. The attorney general’s office is currently being sued by an open government group for not releasing its own retroactive records.

…“The law is quite clear that a reporter or a journalist can’t be charged with the crime they’re citing,” he said. “That’s clear in the statute itself, and it’s clear under the First Amendment.”

Becerra doesn’t rule out legal action against journalists

If law enforcement does not want to be compared to thugs they shouldn’t use organized crime tactics like intimidation and shake-downs.