Santa Clara County Crime & Justice Digest

Santa Clara County jail deaths reached a 20-year high in 2024. Ten people died in the custody of the Sheriff’s Office last year across the main jail, Elmwood Correctional Facility and county hospitals where deputies transported incarcerated people for medical care.

Read on to learn what's behind the delay in the rollout of automatic license plate readers in Monte Sereno.

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

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.

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. 

California legislators want to limit deportation actions at schools, but they can’t ban immigration officials.

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS ARE proving that they play a vital role when it comes to public safety in California. The California Reentry Institute, directed by Collette Carroll to help potential parolees, has graduated more than 230 incarcerated individuals in San Quentin Rehabilitation Center.

Californians accused of certain drug and retail theft crimes may already be facing stiffer penalties under an initiative voters passed this year, alongside related bills Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law. 

Johnene Stebbins, a deputy district attorney in Santa Clara County, has been given an interim appointment as a judge in the Santa Clara County Superior Court by Gov. Gavin Newsom. 

California recorded historically high numbers of deaths in county jails for the past six years. Now, counties expect to house more prisoners as Prop. 36 takes effect.

Learn why the City of Mountain View dissolved the police advisory board just three years after it was formed.

This month, people with non-violent misdemeanor warrants may be able to avoid jail time through a program with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Racial Justice Act into law in September 2020, following the police murder of George Floyd. For the first time, defendants can put bias from any brush with the criminal legal system — from arrest to sentencing — on the stand.

The Sunnyvale Police Officer Union is sounding the alarm about rising crime rates. Find out why.

California wants to protect witnesses in workplace investigations from deportation, but the Biden administration program for undocumented employees is at risk with Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

In an October 29 press conference, Santa Clara County officials announced a Justice-Involved Reentry Initiative to offer health services for Medi-Cal eligible individuals who are 90 days from their release from incarceration.

With proponents of Proposition 36 raising nearly $15 million so far — about three times as much as its opponents — and 71% of likely voters in support, it appears the statewide ballot measure will pass in November.
And that’s exactly what immigrant rights advocates are worried about.

Supporters of a proposition to ban forced labor in California prisons believe they have a strong message centered on rehabilitation. But as Election Day nears, polls show it’s a toss-up or trailing.

The state Labor Commissioner sometimes struggles to get back pay to workers when it reaches wage theft settlements. It tries social media, TV and hotlines. But money owed to employees is still sitting in state accounts.

Following the defeat of their lawsuit over images in a Black Lives Matter mural, a group of Palo Alto Police officers is taking their suit to the California Sixth District Court of Appeals.

The Mercury News guide to the anti-crime and ant-drug dealing measure Proposition 36 on the November ballot.

The UC Regents approved campus requests for more tools for UC police months after campus protesters clashed with law enforcement.

Worries about retail theft and fentanyl deaths shaped a November ballot measure that would toughen some criminal penalties. Here are the facts about California crime trends.

The Mercury News explains the Proposition 6 measure to end involuntary servitude on the November ballot.

For five years, California officials responding to the homelessness crisis had to work around one big restriction imposed by the federal courts: Because they didn’t have enough shelter beds, cities generally couldn’t make homeless camps illegal.

More than two-dozen California cities passed, strengthened or are considering ordinances that penalize people for sleeping outside, after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed cities to crack down.

Following a July 8 summary judgement against their suit claiming a city-commissioned Black Lives Matter mural constituted workplace harassment, six Palo Alto police officers entered a filing on August 20 seeking to overturn the ruling so they could pursue their complaint.

California Highway Patrol officers received historically high raises in 2022 and 2023, but it continues to face a high vacancy rate of 16%.

San Jose City Councilmember Arjun Batra joined in opposition of a planned Santa Clara County purchase of the South San Jose interim housing sites for use in a jail diversion program.

In the final week of session, legislators are debating whether to give more leeway to public school teachers when to report students to law enforcement. Supporters say disabled and students of color are unfairly disciplined, but opponents say school safety is at risk.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has taken to using state resources to fight crime on a local level. Not everyone in the cities he’s taken an interest in is thrilled with the results.

Despite support for Proposition 36 on the November ballot, meant to rollback elements of Proposition 47, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen voiced his support for the 2014 criminal justice reform measure.