Sacramento 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.

Folsom Telegraph logo From Folsom Telegraph...

05/15/2025
Image for display with article titled Folsom City Council Approves Purchase of New Building for Growing Police Department

Faced with a growing staff and an eviction notice at the annex building, the Folsom Police Department wants to buy a $2.7 million building at nearby 1 Natoma Street, and the City Council unanimously approved the purchase Tuesday evening.

California Local Pin Marker From The Sacramento Bee...

05/15/2025
Sacramento County is setting aside 70 homeless shelter beds to assist people who have recently been released from county jail.

Folsom Times logo From Folsom Times...

05/14/2025
Image for display with article titled City of Folsom Approves Fee Hikes for Various Police Services

The City of Folsom will move forward with a new schedule of increased fees for police-related services following a unanimous vote by the Folsom City Council Tuesday night.

California Local Pin Marker From The Sacramento Bee...

05/14/2025
The California Highway Patrol is introducing "discreet" Dodge Durangos into their fleet of patrol vehicles.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

05/14/2025
California’s falling incarcerated population has allowed Gov. Gavin Newsom to close four state prisons. Now he’s calling for a fifth.

California Local Pin Marker From The Sacramento Bee...

05/09/2025
A motel on Stockton Boulevard in Sacramento is being converted to housing for formerly incarcerated adults by nonprofit Hope Cooperative.

Sacramento News and Review logo From Sacramento News and Review...

05/08/2025
Image for display with article titled Sacramento Is Seeing Extremely Violent Offenders Get Early Parole: A New Bill Supports Prison Officials Releasing More of Them

In late March, Nicole Wines couldn’t get her mind off the upcoming parole hearing: Every time Wines is notified that her sibling’s killer is being considered for release, it forces her to re-imagine the unimaginable.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

05/08/2025
Earthquakes, wildfires and floods all could cause problems for California prisons. A new audit says they aren’t ready to quickly evacuate prisoners.

Gold River Messenger logo From Gold River Messenger...

05/06/2025
Image for display with article titled Annual Outstanding Citizen Awards Ceremony Honors 13 Citizens

Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho presented the Outstanding Citizen Award to 13 victims and witnesses who have shown uncommon courage by participating in the criminal justice process under extraordinarily challenging circumstances.

California Local Pin Marker From The Sacramento Bee...

05/06/2025
A spotlight on the annual Sacramento Police overtime cost as it tops $15 million annually, with no audit or oversight.

Sacramento News and Review logo From Sacramento News and Review...

05/02/2025
Image for display with article titled Clearing Pathways: Partnerships Helps Formerly Incarcerated Individuals Find Their Footing in the Sacramento Region

In wildfire country, every home needs a buffer zone: a landscaped perimeter created to keep blazes from encroaching on neighborhoods.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

05/02/2025
California Republicans are increasingly pushing Democrats on child sex crimes bills. The supermajority is growing more divided about it.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

04/29/2025
‘You just can’t walk up to people with brown skin and say give me your papers,’ a federal judge told Border Patrol attorneys at a hearing challenging recent immigration sweeps.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

04/29/2025
A California law empowers state investigators to check on conditions at ICE detention centers. A new report raises concerns about health care inside them.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

04/28/2025
Groups that support California crime victims and attempt to reduce gun violence lost millions of dollars in grants when the Trump administration pulled funding.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

04/27/2025
Police agencies — under scrutiny and worried about their own liability — increasingly won’t respond to someone in a mental health crisis unless that person is committing a crime. So who will transport people in psychosis to get help? And who will keep those around them safe?

Folsom Times logo From Folsom Times...

04/23/2025
Image for display with article titled Sac County Arrests 97, Assists Dozens in Homeless Camp Sweep

A recent four-day sweep by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) across unincorporated areas Sacramento County led to the identification of 45 encampments, the arrest of 97 individuals—including 22 for felony offenses—and the provision of vital services to dozens of unhoused individuals.

Sacramento News and Review logo From Sacramento News and Review...

04/23/2025
Image for display with article titled As Sacramento County Is Hit With Waves of Mail Theft, Audit Reveals Lax Security Practices at Three of Its Post Offices

On April 4, US Representative Ami Bera stood behind a podium in front of a cluster mailbox on Alderberry Way in North Natomas. He was there with Rancho Cordova City Councilmember Linda Budge and Sacramento City Councilmember Lisa Kaplan to discuss cluster mailbox break-ins and the results of a recent audit on master-key security practices at three Sacramento post offices.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

04/17/2025
Wickey Two Hands was supposed to be the first person tried for camping in Fresno. Instead, after the city and county poured resources into his case, it was dismissed at the last minute.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

04/17/2025
A California Republican state senator finds his crime bills getting a warmer welcome this year. Democrats say they’re just responding to their voters.