California Department of Justice

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California’s murder rate drops

barjack

Earlier this week, the California Department of Justice released its annual report, “Homicide in California.” This most recent report, a good barometer for the state of violent crime, shows the homicide rate, now at 4.7 per 100,000 people, dropping for a fifth consecutive year to reach its lowest point since 1966. Other interesting facts from the report include:

  • While Monterey and Merced counties had some of the highest homicide rates in the state, the Bay Area’s rates also remained above average: Alameda County registered a 8.3 homicide rate and  San Francisco 5.6.
  • The most deadly days of the week in California are Saturdays and Sundays.
  • Of those deaths where a cause was identifiable, 71.2 percent of homicides were caused by a firearm.
  • The vast majority (87.7 percent) of those arrested for homicide in 2010 were male.
  • Almost half (48.7 percent) of homicide arrestees were Hispanic, while 25.3 percent were Black, and 17.9 percent were White.
  • Meanwhile, of those convicted of homicide in California in 2010, 34 were sent to Death Row, brining the condemned population in California to 709. Ten of those sentenced to death this year came from Los Angeles County.

Find the full report here.

13 CA cities call for help tackling gang violence

Ali Winston

Clockwise: Santa Rosa Mayor Ernesto Olivares, Oxnard Mayor Thomas Holden, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue and Oakland Mayor Jean Quan at a gang prevention conference on Sept. 19, 2011.

Looking out across the San Francisco Bay from the top of the Downtown Oakland Marriott, dozens of California law enforcement officers and public officials kicked off a two-day conference on gang prevention strategies during an era of shrinking budgets and police departments.

The adage “do more with less” was invoked time and time again, particularly by Attorney General Kamala Harris in her keynote address. A combination of budget cuts to the state Department of Justice, as well as realignment – or the shifting responsibility for thousands of offenders to county jails and probation departments – mean that cities across the state will experience a significant influx of probationers and parolees into their streets and jails, taxing police, corrections and social services. The state, Harris said is “on the verge of bankruptcy” and is not in a position to provide sufficient fiscal or institutional support for countries.

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Hate crimes against Latinos, LGBTs rising in Calif.

Attorney General Kamala Harris' most recent report on hate crimes found attacks on Latinos and LGBT people were on the rise in California

The recent attention given to anti-gay hate crimes that took place in San Francisco and Oxnard recently coincide with Attorney General Kamala Harris’ release of the Department of Justice’s annual report on hate crimes. Coincidentally, the Attorney General’s report lists offenses with sexual orientation as the motivation for the attack as the second most frequent type of hate crime in California.

1,425 hate crimes were reported to California law enforcement in 2010, two fewer incidents than the previous year. 358 incidents were due to the victim’s sexual orientation. While assaults on Latinos rose 47 percent, from 81 in 2009 to 119 last year, blacks were the group most likely to be targeted in a hate crime. 324 such assaults were committed against blacks in California in 2010, which was actually less than the 376 hate crimes involving black victims committed in 2009. Continue reading

Monitoring protests: normal policing or something deeper?

Ali Winston

Two unidentified officers monitor and record demonstrators in Downtown Oakland on July 8th, 2010

So we now know that personnel from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Secret Service and the California Department of Justice helped gather intelligence during various Oscar Grant protests in 2009 and 2010. The authorities say the assistance of a few dozen federal and state agents amongst the approximately 800 law enforcement officers who turned out for Operation Verdict was not a significant departure from routine police work.

The Bureau has also been actively involved in monitoring demonstrators in other states: In Illinois and Minnesota, a number of antiwar and pro-Palestinian activists have had their houses raided or received subpoenas for records relating to their political views and actions. The FBI’s search warrants indicate they are searching for ties between the activists and groups in Colombia and the Middle East such as the FARC and Hamas.

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Police files reveal Federal interest in Oscar Grant protests, “Anarchists”

Ali Winston

Two unidentified officers monitor and record demonstrators in Downtown Oakland on July 8th, 2010

Documents recently obtained by The Informant reveal the significant involvement of state and federal law enforcement in monitoring the various Oscar Grant protests in Oakland over the past two years.

According to internal Oakland Police Department documents about the July 8th protests that followed Johannes Mehserle’s involuntary manslaughter conviction, agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Secret Service, and the California Department of Justice were assigned to monitor crowd activities.

Thirty-three federal, state and local officers were assigned to video details posted in buildings surrounding Frank Ogawa Plaza and throughout the crowd of several hundred demonstrators. Among them were personnel from the Secret Service, the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, and Bureau of Investigation and Intelligence who took video of the protest. Some DEA and Oakland Police officers recorded the protest, while others dressed in plainclothes provided intelligence from within the crowd to OPD’s Emergency Operations Command Center at 1605 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

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