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National Night Out is an annual community event that strengthens police-community partnerships. Neighborhoods host festivals, parades, and other events while police officers demonstrate safety procedures.

California Local Pin Marker Local Public Safety Digest

Two Rare Tornadoes Seen in Central California

03/02/2024

A tornado stuck Kings county briefly, and another touched down in Madera county, as favorable conditions came together during a powerful winter storm which swept the region.

Study Finds Almost 50% of San Francisco Drug Users Not Residents

03/01/2024

A report of a 12 month study which ended in February indicates almost half of those cited for drug usage were not residents of the city, leading to questions about city approaches to drug addiction.

California Local Pin Marker Recent Articles

Image caption: In the 1975 film ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ the hero Randle Patrick McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) feigns insanity and is involuntarily committed to a state hospital ward dominated by a sadistic nurse.
Prop 1: ‘Compassionate Coercion’ or Return to the Cuckoo's Nest?

Prop 1 is clearly designed to help unhoused people get off the streets by forcing them to get into treatment. That’s one reason it faced such a difficult fight.

Image caption: Inadvertently, the beloved Muppet Elmo called attention to the mental health dangers of being too heavily online.
Lawmakers Now Calling for Regulation of Social Media

Lawmakers in California and other states are now making attempts to prevent the reported harms to children caused by social media platforms. The U.S. Senate got into the act as well, at a dramatic Jan. 31 hearing.

Image caption: A new law seeks to prevent cars from speeding, which causes about one of every three traffic fatalities.
If Drivers Won’t Slow Down, Proposed Law Requires Cars Do It for Them

“Intelligent” speed-limiting technology will be required in all new California cars starting in 2027, if a new law authored by San Francisco Senator Scott Wiener passes.

Image caption: Under a new law, homeless people in San Mateo County can be criminally charged for refusing to move to a shelter.
Should Homelessness be a Crime? New San Mateo County Law Allows Charges

In San Mateo County, a new law allows police to charge homeless people with criminal offenses if they don’t accept shelter. SCOTUS will soon weigh in with a potential landmark decision in an Oregon case.

Image caption: Los Angeles voters can take a step toward reducing traffic violence with a measure on the March ballot.
Can Traffic Deaths in Los Angeles be Reduced With a Ballot Measure?

With traffic deaths now regularly topping 300 per year, Measure HLA on the March 5 ballot gives Los Angeles voters the opportunity to force their reluctant city to implement new traffic safety measures.

Image caption: California traffic deaths dropped by 12 percent in the first three months of 2023, but road fatalities remain at crisis levels.
Death on the Roads: Traffic Fatality Crisis Far From Over

As the COVID pandemic eased, so did the epidemic of death on the road. Somewhat. But the ongoing crisis of traffic fatalities remains at high levels with early numbers form 2023 appearing to top 4,000 in California.

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Beware the Killer Dogs of Riverside County

The Los Angeles Times reports on the havoc wrought by feral dogs in a remote desert town.

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Golden Gate Bridge Gets Suicide Prevention Barrier

The number of deaths by suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge has already begun to fall with the installation of protective, 20-foot-wide mesh nets on either side.

Image caption: Climate change has stressed the Peninsula’s forested areas, including the iconic Monterey cypress.
Stormy Weather Ahead for Monterey’s Trees

Hundreds of trees fell in the Monterey area last winter. This winter might pose problems as well.

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Oakland Faces Tough Times

San Francisco can sometimes be a punching bag for conservatives, but its neighbor to the east also has its issues, from crime to homelessness.

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View of the flooded San Lorenzo River Park Benchlands in Santa Cruz, California on New Year's Eve 2022.
Communicating During Disaster and Crisis
Recent lessons learned over days of local disaster.
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