Monterey County Crime & Justice Articles

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 …

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. Ten years and a handful…

How a controversial U.S. Supreme Court ruling created a national, legal sports gambling industry which now sees California as its own 'Holy Grail.'

In 2022, California voters may see as many as four ballot initiatives to make betting on sporting events legal. Here’s how they would change sports gambling, and who's behind each separate measure.

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…

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…

Sheriffs in some California counties and across the USA are engaging a dangerous movement toward right-wing extremism. What does this mean for local law enforcement?

California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, 45, reported to be high on Pres. Joe Biden’s list for a U.S. Supreme Court nomination, is known for her cautious, moderate legal opinions.

Members of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors and the sheriff are all elected officers, accountable directly to county voters; however, after a rough year between the board and current Sheriff Steve Bernal, supervisors are exploring new options available to…

Though they are elected officials, county sheriffs have less accountability than any other law enforcement officials. Here's why, and what California is doing about it.

California homicide spiked by 31 percent in 2020. The shocking increase has continued into 2021. Here are several theories that attempt to explain the state’s suddenly rising murder rate.

It's been nearly three months since students and parents, overwhelmed in the wake of revelations around racist treatment of a baby Black doll by Salinas High School students, flooded a board meeting of the Salinas Union High School District to…

California has historically been ahead of the rest of the country in expanding the legal right to abortion services. Here’s what state laws say today, and how we got here.

It's now been four years since federal immigration officials had a desk to call their own in Monterey County Jail. With less coordination between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and the Monterey County Sheriff's Office, which manages the…

When people of color vanish, only one-fifth of the cases receive media coverage. These activists want to change that.

Sam Quinones, whose last book dealt with the opioid epidemic, talks to the LA Times about his new work on the twin perils of fentanyl and meth.

The case remains stalled against the suspect behind the 2020 Dolan Fire, which scorched 125,000 acres of the Los Padres National Forest.

The new chief of the Salinas Police Department, Roberto Filice, is not new to the department—he’s worked at SPD since 2017, and has served as acting chief for the past few months while a search was underway.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and California’s Democratic legislators have enacted a sweeping new package of police reform legislation. Here’s what the new laws will accomplish, and why.

AB 1185, authorizing civilian sheriff's oversight bodies, was one of the few law enforcement reform bills to pass in the wake of the George Floyd protests. What does the law accomplish, and will it make a difference?