Monterey County Local News: Crime & Justice


All Local Crime & Justice News articles contributed by our local media allies and other local newsrooms.

Salinas Valley Tribune logo From Salinas Valley Tribune...

03/29/2022
Image for display with article titled Three new officers join Salinas Valley police departments

SALINAS VALLEY — Salinas Valley has gained three new police officers, Ulyses Fierros of Gonzales PD, Gretta Steinbruner of Soledad PD and Nicholas Nuñez of Greenfield PD, all of whom graduated from the South Bay Regional Police Academy on March 11. The officers spent six months together training and learning the basics in criminal law, [...]

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

03/23/2022
Image for display with article titled A whistleblower lawsuit alleges a Salinas ag company illegally dumped chemicals into the sewage system.

What if, instead of properly disposing of hazardous chemicals like pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, one just dumped them down the drain?

California Local Pin Marker From Voices of Monterey Bay...

03/21/2022
Three sheriff’s commanders are still locked in litigation over a four-year-old election. The commanders—Joe Moses, a current candidate for Monterey County sheriff, Mark Caldwell and Archie Warren, since retired—are accused in the civil lawsuit of defaming Sheriff Steve Bernal’s 2018 opponent, Scott Davis.

California Local Pin Marker From Voices of Monterey Bay...

03/16/2022
Katherine Lucero, a daughter of farmworkers and longtime juvenile court judge, is now leading the most populous state toward a future without youth prisons.

Salinas Valley Tribune logo From Salinas Valley Tribune...

03/16/2022
Image for display with article titled Gonzales Police Appoints New Captain

Juan Mendoza has been appointed to the position of police captain with the Gonzales Police Department. Mendoza began his career with Gonzales in 2007 as a patrol officer.

California Local Pin Marker From The Sacramento Bee...

03/15/2022
A Sacramento County Superior Court judge has issued a restraining order against the president of California’s largest state employee union. Judge Steven Gevercer instructed SEIU Local 1000 president Richard Louis Brown to stay out of the union’s headquarters and stop exercising powers of the union presidency.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

03/03/2022
Image for display with article titled 5 New California Laws That Change How Business Does Business

Gov. Newsom signed 770 new laws for 2022. Here are 5 of the most important for business, big and small.

Salinas Valley Tribune logo From Salinas Valley Tribune...

03/02/2022
Image for display with article titled Gonzales welcomes new police officer

GONZALES — Gonzales Police Chief Keith Wise recently swore in Officer Eric Serrano, who joined the department last month. Serrano’s mother Ana pinned the badge for the department’s newest member during the Feb. 4 ceremony. Serrano, who was born and raised in San Jose, joined the U.S. Marine Corps after high school and later attended [...]

California Local Pin Marker From Voices of Monterey Bay...

02/27/2022
Voices of Monterey reports that the common legal procedure has escaped scrutiny partly because its effects are difficult to evaluate.

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

02/18/2022
Image for display with article titled Expansion of the Monterey County Jail Is Finally Complete

Around 2012, the Monterey County Jail in Salinas was hosting 1,150 inmates, with the capacity set at 825. The problem of overcrowding at the time helped the county win grant money for a jail expansion.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

02/17/2022
Image for display with article titled How California Became the ‘Holy Grail’ for the Sports Betting Industry

A Supreme Court decision cleared the way for legal sports betting in the USA

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

02/16/2022
Image for display with article titled California’s Sports Betting Frenzy: Four Separate Initiatives Could Make 2022 Ballot

Gambling on sports has been illegal in California since 1891. That may soon change.

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

02/12/2022
Image for display with article titled The five-way primary election for sheriff is already a $180,000 race, and counting.

With incumbent Sheriff Steve Bernal retiring after his current term ends, there's a five-way contest shaping up for the position of Monterey County sheriff. The field includes a range of experienced law enforcement officers, from both inside of and outside…

California Local Pin Marker From KSBW NBC/ABC...

02/03/2022
Rep. Jordan Cunningham has introduced Assembly Bill 1788, which would allow city and district attorneys to penalize hotel or motel owners if supervisors knew, or should have known, that victims were being trafficked on site.

California Local Pin Marker From Voices of Monterey Bay...

02/03/2022
When young people are accused of gang-related crimes, the specialists who testify almost always come from law enforcement. A new program in California is working to change that.

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

02/02/2022
Image for display with article titled The state Supreme Court will hear the case that overturned Measure Z, the county’s ban on new oil wells.

Measure Z, a 2016 county ballot initiative that sought to ban fracking, wastewater injection and new oil and gas wells in Monterey County, and which 56 percent of voters approved, is not dead yet. On Jan. 26, the California Supreme…

California Local Pin Marker From YubaNet...

02/02/2022
U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, chair of the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship, has introduced H.R. 6577, a bill that transitions the nation’s immigration court system into an independent judiciary.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

01/27/2022
Image for display with article titled The Trouble With Sheriffs Part 2: The Rise of Right-Wing Extremism Among County Sheriffs

This article is the second of a two-part series on the county sheriffs system and how it could be reformed.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

01/27/2022
Image for display with article titled Leondra Kruger of California Supreme Court May Be in Line for Biden SCOTUS Pick

The 45-year-old who has argued a dozen Supreme Court cases as a lawyer is on Biden’s short list.

Monterey County Weekly logo From Monterey County Weekly...

01/20/2022
Image for display with article titled Board of Supervisors Explores a Sheriff Oversight Board

After a rough year between the Monterey County Board of Supervisors and current Sheriff Steve Bernal, supervisors are exploring new options available to them to keep a closer watch over the county’s top cop.