Posts Tagged: crime

CCPOA’s clout high, but profile low

An officer of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association at memorial services for fallen colleagues. (Photo: CCPOA)

by SCOTT SORIANO posted 11.19.2014

The California Correctional Peace Officers Association was once one of the most visible – and powerful – political forces in Sacramento. It thrived with the state’s vast prison expansion and it muscled concessions from Democratic and Republican governors alike. But the CCPOA now is in transition. The 28,500-member union still has the power – but it keeps a far lower profile.

Property theft in California increased in the first year of correctional realignment, according to a new report by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California highlighting the policy’s possible effect on future crime rates. Under realignment, the state shifted responsibilities to the counties — including the incarceration of some state prisoners — and gave them money to cover the costs.

While public attention has focused in recent years on startling changes in California’s prison system, the transformation of the youth correctional system has been even more dramatic.

California, which just a few years ago had 11 state juvenile prisons, now has three. The number of youth offenders sent to state lockups has dropped by 90

In the midst of National Crime Victims Week, the public is rightfully reminded of the toll crime takes on our communities and families.  But what is often overlooked in these observances are the hidden victims — the families of those convicted of crimes.

Many of us — and yes, I am one of this

My awakening from a coma in 2006 was both physical and metaphorical. My eyes opened, over time, to new perspectives on life, including the support survivors of crime need but too often don’t receive.

It started the night of August 24, 2006, while walking from my home in San Leandro to BART. A young

In the wake of the recent tragedy in Vallejo involving a long-ago paroled life term inmate we are again hearing calls for a reduction in the still small number of life-term prisoners who are granted parole.  The usual unfounded accusations and unsubstantiated allegations of continuing danger from all released lifers are again making the rounds. 

After decades of prison planning work in California and around the country, I’ve seen two prevailing assumptions about crime and punishment begin to finally begin to crack after years of real-world testing.

The first is that prisons are the primary way to reduce crime. The second is that law enforcement will not support changes