Santa Clara County Crime & Justice Digest

Efforts to increase staffing to the budgeted positions continue to fall short.

A plan by Santa Clara County to acquire a City of San Jose-owned homeless tiny house site to be used for a jail diversion plan was put on hold following strong opposition from nearby residents.

The Sacramento Bee explains Proposition 6, the initiative to ban involuntary servitude.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed bills that aim to make it easier to prosecute retail theft. He’s asking voters to reject a ballot measure that would impose even tougher penalties.

The Sacramento Bee explains Propisition 36, the anti-crime measure on the November Ballot.

The anti-crime Proposition 36 on the November ballot is being backed by San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan.

Legislators are pushing ahead with a retail theft bill package in their continued opposition of Proposition 36 — a November ballot measure backed by law enforcement groups and Republicans (and some Democrats) that would roll back parts of 2014’s Prop. 47.

Over a hundred unregulated group homes in Santa Clara County are housing formerly incarcerated people on parole or those released from mental health or addiction programs, often in overcrowded or unsanitary conditions.

Arson is the suspected cause of four Santa Cruz Mountain fires over 11 days.

“This doesn’t build public trust. Where is the evidence?” said Jeff Wenninger, a former Los Angeles Police lieutenant who oversaw use of force investigations.

California failed to ban private detention centers. Now, it’s focusing on their working conditions, for immigrants who toil for $1 a day.

California State Hospitals can bill patients for the care they receive during confinement. The charges often run in the tens of thousands of dollars, putting vulnerable people in debt for years.

California courts have long upheld below-minimum wage pay for prison inmates working a wide range of jobs. A 2024 ballot measure that would ban forced labor could alter those decisions.

A lawsuit filed by a group of Palo Alto Police Officers claiming harassment over certain images in a Black Lives Matter mural has been dismissed.

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, California’s Democratic leaders moved fast to shore up reproductive rights: They persuaded voters to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution, approved a dozen bills strengthening abortion protections and passed a law in May to enable Arizona doctors to temporarily provide abortion services for their patients in California.

In three rulings the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a body blow to the federal bureaucracy. From healthcare to climate to workers’ rights, California’s rules often go farther.

On July 5, the San Jose Police Department announced a new citywide online crime dashboard, updated monthly.

Patelco Credit Union restored some online services but is still working to unlock customer access to accounts following a crippling ransomeware attack on July 3.

Assemblymember James Gallagher speaks during the floor session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on June 13, 2024. Photo by Cristian Gonzalez for CalMatters

Patelco Credit Union systems were crippled in a ransomware attack and unable to resume banking operations.

The ruling by the conservative court majority means cities no longer are prohibited from punishing homeless people for camping if they have nowhere else to go.

The Supreme Court 6-3 ruling in the City of Grants Pass v. Johnson case found that the fining and arresting of homeless people does not violate Eighth Amendment rights.

EdSource reports that police are dispatched thousands of times per school day across California.

City of Los Altos native Saskia Lagergren was hired as the new chief of police.

In its May 28 meeting, the Mountain View City Council unanimously approved a pilot program to install automatic license plate cameras throughout the city.

California lawmakers voted to offer an official apology for the state’s role in supporting slavery and moved several reparations bills but let others die.

Pending legislation would lift requirements for California’s doctors to report all domestic abuse cases to police. The Assembly’s three physicians had different opinions.

At many universities across the country, graduation for the Class of 2024 will feel more like making it through airport security than a procession through a free-flowing campus green or a cheering stadium crowd.

A new license plate reader has been installed in East San Jose at the intersection of King Road and Wilshire Boulevard.

License plate readers have been placed and active in Los Altos since March 1 as an assistance in solving crimes.

A new police chief has been selected for the City of Los Altos and is undergoing vetting and background checks before being named.

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has charged three East Bay police officers with involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 death of 26-year-old Mario Gonzalez.