Monterey County Local News: Crime & Justice

06/23/2021
For the first time in eight years, the King City courthouse will begin offering limited court services to South County residents starting on July 13. For years, Monterey County supervisors Chris Lopez and Luis Alejo have pushed for a new courthouse in the region.

06/13/2021
A new California civil service rule limits the use of urine cannabis tests in disciplining state workers, finding that samples do not accurately reflect whether an employee is intoxicated at work by a drug voters legalized.

06/10/2021
City Manager Steve Adams swore in Chief of Police Keith Boyd at an event that marked ]the first time certain ceremonies had been conducted before the public since the pandemic began.

06/09/2021
There came a moment that Councilmember Steve McShane sounded almost hopeful that the vote to fully fund the police department would be a unanimous one. And then the moment passed.

06/08/2021
Last month, Monterey County, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and other state and local agencies conducted cannabis enforcement operations targeting unlicensed cultivators in South Monterey County.

06/07/2021
Mayor Lance Walker said the city of Greenfield should budget three new police officer positions after the council listened to a presentation from Chief of Police Gregory Allen.

06/03/2021
Thanks to a multi-agency task force, King City Police has announced the arrest of three suspects in the 2016 murder of Martin Heredia and the 2017 murder of Hipolito Carreno.

06/02/2021
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted to censure Sheriff Steve Bernal for “allowing inappropriate expenditures of County funds during the 2019 California State Sheriff’s Association convention in Monterey County.”

06/01/2021
In a written statement, the Monterey County supervisor said, “I made a poor decision that I truly regret and will never make again. I sincerely apologize to my constituents and the people of Monterey County.”

05/03/2021
California is moving to strengthen its power over how county sheriffs are running their local jails, amid a national debate over accountability for law enforcement and ending ‘inhumane’ conditions in lockups around the state.

04/28/2021
Charles Kenneth Lafferty, accused of terrorizing drivers on a section of Highway's 101 and 156 for a year with a slingshot and marbles, has pleaded guilty to 30 counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

04/27/2021
Salinas Police Chief Adele Fresé announced her retirement, and the city named Roberto Filice as interim chief.

04/14/2021
The city is asking a judge to declare the measure as legally approved so it can collect revenue from its 0.5 percent sales tax increase, approved by nearly 60 percent of voters.

04/13/2021
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has announced that the South Facility at Correctional Training Facility in Soledad will close by July 2022 due to a drop in the minimum-security inmate population.

04/07/2021
Councilmember Tyller Williamson, who sponsored the resolution, said it’s important for a city with strong Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage to oppose “hate and bigotry.”

03/21/2021
The officer’s suit centered on one question: Did the city of Monterey retaliate after he complained about a purported quota system? The jury said no.

03/15/2021
A Monterey County Superior Court judge turned off the lights at Aloha Coffee & Cafe, demanding that owner Richard Dunnuck secure a new health permit before utilities would be restored. The anti-masker defiantly said, “I’m getting a generator.”

03/14/2021
Bo, a black Labrador retriever, hits the streets of Soledad on Friday to sniff out narcotics.