Placer County Local News: Crime & Justice


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

Image caption: The California mental health crisis is tied to both homelessness and rising crime.
UPDATE: California’s Mental Health Crisis: How We Got Here

How the California mental health crisis emerged out of the state’s history of deinstitutionalization and laws designed to protect the mentally ill, as well as the communities around them.

Image caption: The California Supreme Court has defined the state’s legal and political agenda for more than 170 years.
How the California Supreme Court Blazes Legal Trails

The California Supreme Court has kept the state at the forefront of legal issues surrounding abortion, the death penalty and same-sex marriage, starting in its earliest days in the Gold Rush era.

Image caption: The cycle of crime and homelessness is escalating, but it doesn't have to be that way.
Homelessness and Crime in California: Even More Complex Than You Think

The links between homelessness and crime are complex, and the idea that unhoused individuals present a danger to their community seems to be exaggerated.

Image caption: Access to abortion in California is limited in many areas, though state laws protect a woman’s right to choose.
Abortion Rights in California, Explained

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.

Image caption: California cities switch to more inclusive, district-based elections system.
Voting Rights...the Final Frontier

Pushed by activists, cities move from at-large elections to district races.

The Roseville Press Tribune logo From The Roseville Press Tribune...

03/20/2025
Image for display with article titled City of Roseville to Turbo-Charge 36 Police Cruisers

The Roseville City Council was scheduled this week to spend $240,000 to equip 36 new gas-powered police interceptor utility vehicles. The "Ecoboost" engine option is $5,000 per vehicle, according to the report.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

03/17/2025
Ruby Marichalar couldn’t get an in-person meeting after California’s crime victim compensation fund denied her claim. She wasn’t the only one.

Auburn Journal logo From Auburn Journal...

03/07/2025
Image for display with article titled County Promotes From Within to Replace Retiring Chief

Placer County’s Assistant Chief Probation Officer Brian Passenheim has been promoted to probation chief, announced Tuesday ahead of the retirement next week of Chief Probation Officer Marshall Hopper.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

03/06/2025
Los Angeles Assemblymember Rick Zbur says he wants to narrow the standards for justifiable homicide. Critics say he wants to make self-defense illegal.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

03/05/2025
The Fremont city council has revised a new city camping ordinance, removing what had become a controversial clause — first reported on by CalMatters — that could have punished those  “aiding and abetting” encampments.

Auburn Journal logo From Auburn Journal...

03/04/2025
Image for display with article titled New Backup Generator in Place at Auburn Police Department

A new replacement backup generator is now in place at the Auburn Police Department.
The Auburn City Council on Feb. 24 voted unanimously to replace the previous generator that was in use for almost a decade. According to Auburn City Manager Sean Rabé, the new standby generator came out to $57,436.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

03/04/2025
This appears to be the first such injunction since the U.S. Supreme Court let cities crack down on homeless encampments in California and beyond.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

02/25/2025
California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 36, a new law that stiffened penalties for certain drug and theft charges, and pledged to provide “mass treatment” for those facing drug charges. But since the law took effect, some counties have been scrambling to implement the measure without new funding or, according to people involved in enforcing the law, sufficient resources.

California Local Pin Marker From Los Angeles Times...

02/20/2025
Read on to learn more about the package of 15 bills proposed by the California Legislative Black Caucus to correct the discrimination and harm to descendants of the enslaved in California.

Auburn Journal logo From Auburn Journal...

02/14/2025
Image for display with article titled Morrison Seeks to Continue Building as Police Chief

In front of several family members, friends and colleagues, Bryan Morrison was officially sworn in as the new chief of the Auburn Police Department on the morning of February 11 at City Hall.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

02/12/2025
Californians rejected the anti-slavery ballot measure Proposition 6, which would have forbid forced prison labor. Reparations advocates want to try again in 2026.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

02/12/2025
After a 2022 CalMatters series documenting long waits and low payouts for workers who claim their employers have shorted them on wages, California lawmakers have now proposed bills to try to ease the backlogs.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

02/12/2025
A California appeals court rules a baker can’t refuse to sell a generic cake to a lesbian couple. It’s part of a series of cases shaping the debate over free speech and anti-discrimination laws.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

02/10/2025
Interviews suggest some people swept up in Trump’s immigration crackdown are dedicated to their families and communities — not hardened criminals.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

01/27/2025
One of President Trump’s first executive orders threatened to withhold federal funding from so-called sanctuary jurisdictions. California is one of them.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

01/09/2025
State prisoners have long been a part of California’s firefighting force. Hundreds of them now are deployed in Los Angeles County.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

01/06/2025
After two reparations bills stalled in the final day of session last year, reparation advocates are campaigned at the state Capitol to drum up support for the same measures.

Auburn Journal logo From Auburn Journal...

01/03/2025
Image for display with article titled Auburn Names New Chief of Police

Pending approval of the Auburn City Council, Lieutenant Bryan Morrison has been announced as the new Chief of Police.

California Local Pin Marker From Local News Matters...

01/03/2025
While cities in California continue to pass ordinances to combat illegal sideshows, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several laws that go into effect this year statewide to give municipalities more legal tools to address them.Â