A former state senator is calling on lawmakers to change the law and make police departments transparent.

By Stephen Stock, Kevin Nious, Jeremy Carrol and Scott Pham | Tuesday, Apr 29, 2014 | NBC

When compared to other states, Police Departments in California are among the least transparent in the country. When citizens complain about the conduct of sworn police officers, those complaints might go away and are never heard of again. In the last five years alone, the Investigative Unit discovered 17.916 citizen's complaints filed against the four major law enforcement agencies in the Bay Area, in addition to California's Highway Patrol.

Yet, a state law called the Police Officer’s Bill of Rights protects police from those who allege misconduct.

>> READ MORE AT NBC BAY AREA