On January 23, 2013, the San Francisco Police Commission held a public hearing to discuss the city’s arrest data. The result was a refreshing openness to examining the city’s arrest trends for racial disparities and a willingness to work with independent researchers in the community.
With the City of Oakland now bringing in a big name lawman to help fight crime — we have a look at his track record.
Jan 26, 2013
Realignment’s effect should be revealed
Gov. Jerry Brown’s “realignment” of the state’s penal system is a year old and he claims it’s been so successful in reducing prison overcrowding that federal judges should butt out, even though it hasn’t reached the mandated level of 137.5% of prison design capacity.
Jan 25, 2013
For Real Prison Reform, Longer is Not Always Better
Last week, while defiantly declaring the end of California’s prison crisis, Gov. Jerry Brown insisted further reductions in prison overcrowding “cannot be achieved without the early release of inmates serving time for serious or violent felonies”
Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin acknowledges more inmates are released early in the wake of AB-109, but he points to a new report from the center on juvenile and criminal justice. It says FBI statistics show realigning offenders is not connected with increases in crime.