Posts Tagged: officers

News

State ponders prison closures, as inmate population drops.

A dining room at the Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, which closed last year. (Photo: CDCR)

With California’s prison inmate population flatlining, authorities are pondering the closure of three institutions. But many questions remain. The 2022-2023 state budget notes that there is a possibility of three prison closures during 2024 and 2025, based at least in part in the reduction of California’s prison population to about 94,000 in prisons and camps

News

COVID-19 behind bars: Tough indeed on inmates, officers

San Quentin Prison, where a coronavirus outbreak was reported last year. (Photo: Mark R, via Shutterstock)

For Cristina Garcia, there’s something unsettling about the idea that an unvaccinated person, confined to a prison cell, could be exposed to the corona virus because a guard or other state employee had declined an opportunity to be vaccinated.

Opinion

Public safety legislation: Read the fine print carefully

Police officers in Los Angeles observe a public protest. (Photo: Matt Gush, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: As members of our California communities call for reform, our state legislators have proposed almost two dozen bills aimed at fundamentally changing the practice of law enforcement in our state. Unfortunately, many of these bills were developed overnight, in silos and behind closed doors.

News

Health officials to Newsom: Lockdown requires enforcement

The Santa Monica Pier, usually crowded, is closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo: BrittanyNY, via Shutterstock)

But one week into the lockdown, epidemiologists tracking rates of transmission in California and the United States worry that Newsom’s shelter-in-place order will be less effective in controlling new infections without stronger enforcement.

News

Life without parole: Reforms target youthful offenders

Photo illustration: A young woman in custody clings to a chain-link fence. (Shutterstock)

New legislation to overhaul California’s youth criminal justice system includes a key provision that bars life-without-parole sentences for juvenile offenders. Currently, the United States is the only country in the world to impose life-without-parole sentences on minors. Throughout the past decade, the U.S. Supreme Court has handed down decisions that have begun to reverse the trend.

News

The house on F Street

Tour goers flank a mannequin of Dorothea Puente at the house on F Street. (Photo: Steve Martarano)

Reporter’s Notebook: “If you’re interested in bodies,” the watch commander said cryptically, “go out to 14th and F streets.” I pulled up to the curb just a heartbeat ahead of a Channel 40 van. Unbeknownst to me, Sacramento’s most sensational serial murder case had started to unfold. I walked up to the excavated mound of dirt on the side of the yard and the homicide lieutenant there met me, and quickly said police had just found what they had been digging for all day: human remains. The officer pointed to a slab of concrete covering the side yard and said they would start digging it up the next day looking for more bodies.

Opinion

Making the case for ‘open data’

Voluminous data displayed on a computer monitor. (Photo: Dimitri Nikolaev)

“Open Data” is a hot topic in the Capitol, and as legislative deadlines approach, it’s worth updating on where the issue stands, and what to keep in mind as the state considers a path forward. Standardized and freely shared, public data can inform policymakers as well as state residents about the operations and performance of government.

Opinion

Common Core: A critical tool to meet workforce challenges

Youngsters in a California classroom. (Photo: Monkey Business Images, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: The health of California’s evolving and global 21st century economy depends on a skilled workforce. Yet, there are too few qualified applicants to create talent pools for jobs that fuel our economic growth. And while STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) jobs in the state are projected to grow 22 percent by 2020, the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that in 2011, 75 percent of California’s 8th graders were not proficient in national math standards.

News

It’s official: Voter participation hits record low

A Californian casts a ballot. (Photo: Vepar5 via Shutterstock)

The state’s official snapshot of the Nov. 4 general election depicts a politically disengaged populace with marginal interest in deciding who will govern. Less than a third of California’s eligible voters cast ballots on Nov. 4.

News

CCPOA’s clout high, but profile low

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

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.

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