Steve Smith

Blog

Gun Violence Increases in California

The May 15th shooting at the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Hills, where six people were shot and one tragically died, is yet another reminder that California is experiencing an increase in homicides not seen since 1960. Statewide, homicides were up 30 percent in 2020 and, while 2021 crime statistics ...
Blog

National Crime Victims Week 2022

For over 40 years America has recognized the last week of April as National Crime Victims Week.   California honors Crime Victims Week in a variety of ways at the State and Local level. This year, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation adopted a theme of “Rights, Access and Equity” ...
Blog

How Public Safety Policy Mistakes Are Contributing to California’s Unsafe Streets

Last Sunday was a bloody one in Northern California.   In the early morning hours on Sunday April 3rd, as people were leaving a night club in downtown Sacramento, automatic weapons fire rang out sending people fleeing.   When the victims were counted, 18 people were shot and six were dead. Later ...
Agriculture

The Judge – Justice and Compassion in the Salinas Valley

In 1775-1776 the de Anza Expedition traveled from Sinaloa to San Francisco establishing the inland route from Mission San Gabriel to San Francisco. On their way north they camped in Natividad – now Salinas – along what is today Old Stage Road on their way to the site of Mission ...
Blog

The Very Thin Blue Line – Police staffing is down, and homicides are up

In Oakland in 2021, 133 people were killed and another 537 were shot, making Oakland one of California’s most dangerous cities. To put the numbers in perspective, more Oakland residents were killed per capita than the entire fatal casualties experienced by the US Armed Forces in the 1990-1991 Gulf War. ...
Blog

Mainstream Media Fuels False Narrative that SFPD Engages in Bad Conduct

Recently the San Francisco Chronicle again took aim at the SF Police Department accusing them of a litany of inaction, slow response times, and failure to investigate crimes concluding in a recent article: “What is the Police Department doing?  Too often, the answer is not much”. Some answers to their ...
Blog

What Crime Reports and Rates Don’t Tell Us

Last week the San Francisco Police Department issued its crime statistics report for 2021 also known as COMPSTAT.  Modeled on the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and divided into two parts graded by seriousness they give us a picture of reported crime in the City of San Francisco.  Unlike the ...
Blog

Crime Victims Not Persuaded All’s Well in San Francisco

In a recent article – “We fact checked the most common claims about San Francisco crime”, the San Francisco Chronicle outrageously attempted to defend the state of crime in San Francisco as well as the recall facing District Attorney Chesa Boudin.   The Chronicle may feel that while crime is up, ...
Blog

Gun Violence Increases in California

The May 15th shooting at the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Hills, where six people were shot and one tragically died, is yet another reminder that California is experiencing an increase in homicides not seen since 1960. Statewide, homicides were up 30 percent in 2020 and, while 2021 crime statistics ...
Blog

National Crime Victims Week 2022

For over 40 years America has recognized the last week of April as National Crime Victims Week.   California honors Crime Victims Week in a variety of ways at the State and Local level. This year, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation adopted a theme of “Rights, Access and Equity” ...
Blog

How Public Safety Policy Mistakes Are Contributing to California’s Unsafe Streets

Last Sunday was a bloody one in Northern California.   In the early morning hours on Sunday April 3rd, as people were leaving a night club in downtown Sacramento, automatic weapons fire rang out sending people fleeing.   When the victims were counted, 18 people were shot and six were dead. Later ...
Agriculture

The Judge – Justice and Compassion in the Salinas Valley

In 1775-1776 the de Anza Expedition traveled from Sinaloa to San Francisco establishing the inland route from Mission San Gabriel to San Francisco. On their way north they camped in Natividad – now Salinas – along what is today Old Stage Road on their way to the site of Mission ...
Blog

The Very Thin Blue Line – Police staffing is down, and homicides are up

In Oakland in 2021, 133 people were killed and another 537 were shot, making Oakland one of California’s most dangerous cities. To put the numbers in perspective, more Oakland residents were killed per capita than the entire fatal casualties experienced by the US Armed Forces in the 1990-1991 Gulf War. ...
Blog

Mainstream Media Fuels False Narrative that SFPD Engages in Bad Conduct

Recently the San Francisco Chronicle again took aim at the SF Police Department accusing them of a litany of inaction, slow response times, and failure to investigate crimes concluding in a recent article: “What is the Police Department doing?  Too often, the answer is not much”. Some answers to their ...
Blog

What Crime Reports and Rates Don’t Tell Us

Last week the San Francisco Police Department issued its crime statistics report for 2021 also known as COMPSTAT.  Modeled on the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR) and divided into two parts graded by seriousness they give us a picture of reported crime in the City of San Francisco.  Unlike the ...
Blog

Crime Victims Not Persuaded All’s Well in San Francisco

In a recent article – “We fact checked the most common claims about San Francisco crime”, the San Francisco Chronicle outrageously attempted to defend the state of crime in San Francisco as well as the recall facing District Attorney Chesa Boudin.   The Chronicle may feel that while crime is up, ...
Scroll to Top