San Joaquin County Crime & Justice Digest

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

Because the April 29 Stockton City Council meeting went long, the item to consider the use of military equipment by the Stockton Police Department has been moved to the next meeting.

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

‘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.

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

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?

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

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.

Officials at the City of Manteca have come to a decision to build the next police station, at a cost of up to %56 million, at 680 South Main Street.

Almost everyone gets nervous during a traffic stop, but people with disabilities also worry about whether an officer understands their condition or could misinterpret their symptoms.

A new countywide cold case task force has been approved by the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors to work on taking on the 600 unsolved unsolved cases of various crimes including homicide.

In their April 1 meeting, the Tracy City Council heard from the Chief of police that the newly installed red light cameras at two intersections had issued 498 warnings in their first month, more cameras in process of deployment across a total of 15 intersections.

And that was just for two intersections. As new red light cameras are installed at more intersections, Manteca Police expect even more tickets to be delivered in the mail as the city works to end rampant red light running.

After controversial sweeps in Kern County and a CalMatters investigation, the federal government will train agents on when they can stop and arrest people.

Contrary to its public narrative, the agency cast a wide net in its California immigration raid, setting the stage for a legal battle over how the government carries out mass deportations.

Californians accused of crimes have the right to an appointed defense attorney if they can’t afford to hire their own. In that way they are just like criminal defendants in every other state — protected, at least in theory, by the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel.

A grant for $82,461 will fund the purchase of eight e-bikes by the Manteca Police Department.

In a recently published "Chief's Corner", Lathrop Police Chief Stephen Sealy shared how his department has steadily improved incident response times.

Mateca Police Priority One call response times dropped by 56 seconds in 2024.

Read on for details about the two new substations the Stockton Police Department plans to open in South Stockton.

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.

With a force currently consisting of 80 officers, Manteca Police Chief Stephen Schluer makes the case for hiring six more by mid-2026. Read on to learn more.

Courtesy notifications will be going out in the mail to a whopping 688 Manteca red light runners. Read on to see when offenders will start to get automated tickets at $490 a pop.

Read on for more information about the recent homeless sweep which resulted in 15 arrests by City of Manteca Police.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

Almost $380,000 in seized drug money has been determined by a jury to be forfeit. Read on to learn how the ill-gotten gains will be used in San Joaquin County.

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.

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