Cal. MVC § 414

Every officer and enlisted person to whom public property has been issued shall be personally responsible to the state for that property. No one shall be relieved from this responsibility, unless it is shown, to the satisfaction of the Governor, that the loss or destruction of the property was unavoidable and in no way the fault of the person responsible for the loss. In all other cases the value of the property lost or destroyed, in the amount determined by a surveying officer or a board as herein provided, shall be charged against the person at fault or, with the concurrence of the appropriate commanding officer, against the command to or for which it had been issued, and if not relieved from the charge by the Governor, there shall be an indebtedness from that person or command to the state.