Crime
Blog
The Dead Do Tell a Tale.
For years, criminal-justice reformers treated fewer arrests, prosecutions and people behind bars as measures of success. Proposition 47 embodied that philosophy. Drug possession and some theft felonies became misdemeanors. Incarceration fell. State savings were supposed to fund treatment, mental-health services and other programs. But there was always a question hiding ...
Blog
The Evidence We Leave Behind
On November 13, 2022, my daughter and I had breakfast in Moscow, Idaho, a Dad’s Weekend tradition from her years at Washington State University. We drove through the University of Idaho campus before returning to Pullman. Less than an hour later, a 911 call brought Moscow police to a house ...
Blog
As Other Crimes Decline in California, Why Do Rape Cases Remain So High?
Recently, California has had some genuinely good crime news. In 2025, violent crime declined 10.2 percent. Homicides fell from 1,666 to 1,374, robberies dropped nearly 20 percent, and property crime continued downward. But one violent crime has proved remarkably resistant to the trend. Rape has settled into a stubborn plateau. ...
Blog
Murder by the Numbers and Data Journalists Who Ignore the Data
Chammah and Castelleno then paint a grim picture of the state of the death penalty in California. They portray the 570 inmates as the victims of a racist system that is continually fed by prosecutors who insist on continuing to seek the death penalty. It’s a portrayal so lopsided that ...
Blog
The High Cost of Doing the Right Thing – What a Trip to the Dump Has in Common with the DMV
Oakland has become one of America’s most visible symbols of illegal dumping. Discarded mattresses line neighborhood streets. Sofas, refrigerators, tires, construction debris and bags of household garbage accumulate beneath freeway overpasses, in vacant lots and along roadsides. The consequences extend well beyond appearance. Illegal dumping attracts rodents, creates fire hazards, ...
Crime
Watch PRI’s Steve Smith on ABC 7 discussing falling Bay Area crime rates
Watch as PRI’s Steve Smith talks with ABC 7 News’ Cameron Bopp about the latest data showing violent crime rates are falling in the Bay Area and nationally.
Blog
Homicides Fall to Record Lows
During the same period, the number of Black Californians killed by homicide fell from 690 to 372—a reduction of 318 victims, or 46 percent. Among Black men, the demographic group at greatest risk of homicide victimization, the number fell from 613 to 310, a decline of 303 victims, or nearly ...
Blog
California’s Missing Report: Why the State Needs an Annual State of the Criminal Justice System Report
Every year, state agencies, universities, advocacy organizations, and think tanks—including the Pacific Research Institute—publish valuable analyses of crime, courts, corrections, sentencing, policing, and public safety. Those reports shape legislation, influence budgets, and inform public debate. Yet despite this steady stream of research, California continues to revisit many of the same ...
Blog
California Leads the Nation in Attacks on Its Own Communications Networks. Sacramento Should Act Like It.
California likes to lead. On this one, leading is nothing to brag about. New industry data released this summer counted 18,327 nationwide intentional attacks on communications networks, the cables, fiber lines, and towers that keep phones and internet working, in 2025. That’s a whopping 59 percent increase over the prior ...
Blog
From Sarajevo to the World Cup: Why Alliances Still Matter
That transformation also raises an important question as Americans reconsider our nation’s role in the world. In 1984, Sarajevo welcomed the world as host of the Winter Olympics. Back then the city represented a modern, multicultural Yugoslavia and an optimistic future. John Denver was there as part of the US ...
The Dead Do Tell a Tale.
For years, criminal-justice reformers treated fewer arrests, prosecutions and people behind bars as measures of success. Proposition 47 embodied that philosophy. Drug possession and some theft felonies became misdemeanors. Incarceration fell. State savings were supposed to fund treatment, mental-health services and other programs. But there was always a question hiding ...
The Evidence We Leave Behind
On November 13, 2022, my daughter and I had breakfast in Moscow, Idaho, a Dad’s Weekend tradition from her years at Washington State University. We drove through the University of Idaho campus before returning to Pullman. Less than an hour later, a 911 call brought Moscow police to a house ...
As Other Crimes Decline in California, Why Do Rape Cases Remain So High?
Recently, California has had some genuinely good crime news. In 2025, violent crime declined 10.2 percent. Homicides fell from 1,666 to 1,374, robberies dropped nearly 20 percent, and property crime continued downward. But one violent crime has proved remarkably resistant to the trend. Rape has settled into a stubborn plateau. ...
Murder by the Numbers and Data Journalists Who Ignore the Data
Chammah and Castelleno then paint a grim picture of the state of the death penalty in California. They portray the 570 inmates as the victims of a racist system that is continually fed by prosecutors who insist on continuing to seek the death penalty. It’s a portrayal so lopsided that ...
The High Cost of Doing the Right Thing – What a Trip to the Dump Has in Common with the DMV
Oakland has become one of America’s most visible symbols of illegal dumping. Discarded mattresses line neighborhood streets. Sofas, refrigerators, tires, construction debris and bags of household garbage accumulate beneath freeway overpasses, in vacant lots and along roadsides. The consequences extend well beyond appearance. Illegal dumping attracts rodents, creates fire hazards, ...
Watch PRI’s Steve Smith on ABC 7 discussing falling Bay Area crime rates
Watch as PRI’s Steve Smith talks with ABC 7 News’ Cameron Bopp about the latest data showing violent crime rates are falling in the Bay Area and nationally.
Homicides Fall to Record Lows
During the same period, the number of Black Californians killed by homicide fell from 690 to 372—a reduction of 318 victims, or 46 percent. Among Black men, the demographic group at greatest risk of homicide victimization, the number fell from 613 to 310, a decline of 303 victims, or nearly ...
California’s Missing Report: Why the State Needs an Annual State of the Criminal Justice System Report
Every year, state agencies, universities, advocacy organizations, and think tanks—including the Pacific Research Institute—publish valuable analyses of crime, courts, corrections, sentencing, policing, and public safety. Those reports shape legislation, influence budgets, and inform public debate. Yet despite this steady stream of research, California continues to revisit many of the same ...
California Leads the Nation in Attacks on Its Own Communications Networks. Sacramento Should Act Like It.
California likes to lead. On this one, leading is nothing to brag about. New industry data released this summer counted 18,327 nationwide intentional attacks on communications networks, the cables, fiber lines, and towers that keep phones and internet working, in 2025. That’s a whopping 59 percent increase over the prior ...
From Sarajevo to the World Cup: Why Alliances Still Matter
That transformation also raises an important question as Americans reconsider our nation’s role in the world. In 1984, Sarajevo welcomed the world as host of the Winter Olympics. Back then the city represented a modern, multicultural Yugoslavia and an optimistic future. John Denver was there as part of the US ...