Crime
Blog
Crimes, Punishment, and Parole – Mass Releases and Mass Victimization
The use of the term “mass incarceration” is widely accepted to define the United States rate of incarceration in comparison to other countries. According to prisonpolicy.org, the US rate of incarceration is 664 per 100,000 population. In California, the rate was 549/100,000, which ranks 33 out of the 50 states. ...
Steve Smith
July 25, 2023
Blog
The Starbucks Index Shows California’s Growing Urban Crime Problem
For anyone who’s visited or lived in the American South, the much-loved Waffle House is everywhere. Open 24 hours, the Waffle House is known for its good service and consistent if not perhaps gourmet offerings. Of course, breakfast is served all day (and night). There are 1,981 Waffle Houses in ...
Steve Smith
July 18, 2023
Blog
Learn about CA's retail theft problem
Rampant Thefts – The New Normal
Calvin McDonald, the CEO of Lululemon, the athletic wear brand, took fire recently for terminating two employees who intervened in an organized shoplifting snatch and grab. Known as “educators,” sales staff in Lululemon stores are told not to intervene during a shoplifting incident. In store video footage, the educators are ...
Steve Smith
July 3, 2023
Blog
The Fentanyl Resurgimiento— A Drug Like No Other
On January 11, 2023, Dr. Rahul Gupta, the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) declared a small victory. He reported new figures from the Center for Disease Control estimating that nationally there was a 2.57 percent decrease in the number of fatal drug overdoses for ...
Steve Smith
June 14, 2023
Blog
Juvenile Justice – A Crisis in the Making
On July 1, California will close its three remaining juvenile justice facilities. Located in Stockton and Ventura, the three facilities house just 300 juvenile offenders – down from a system high of 8000 ten years ago. Once closed, the 300 inmates will be returned to the county from which they ...
Steve Smith
June 6, 2023
Blog
Read latest on CARE Courts
AB 1708 and Care Courts – A Step in the Right Direction
In the mid 1980s, I lived in Traverse City, Michigan, where I was a student at Great Lakes Maritime Academy. In the downtown, there was a diner eponymously named for its proprietor, head waitress, hostess, and friend to everyone, Stacy. Like a thousand diners in a thousand small towns, ...
Steve Smith
May 22, 2023
Blog
Has Criminal Justice Reform Gone Too Far?
Why is California experiencing more crime victimization?
The latest California crime trends in California are not encouraging. In 2022, Los Angeles had a sobering 2,106 more aggravated assaults compared to 2021, 41 percent of which were committed with weapons – for a total crime increase of over 11 percent. Police in the San Francisco Bay Area’s 15 most ...
Steve Smith
May 16, 2023
Blog
Read the latest on the Chinese Communist Party
The People’s Republic of China “Police Stations” a Gulag of Transnational Repression
International police cooperation is a vital component of the rule of law. International organizations like INTERPOL, bilateral prisoner transfer treaties and international law enforcement cooperation help ensure that transnational criminals and fugitives can find no safe haven almost anywhere in the world. In addition to treaty signatories, it is common ...
Steve Smith
May 9, 2023
Blog
Read about the latest Calfiornia crime nightmare
The Firearms Enforcement Debacle – Res non Verba
Background The Attorney General’s office is tasked with enforcing the Armed and Prohibited Persons System known as APPS which is designed to track firearms transactions in California. Unfortunately, it has been widely regarded as a failure as the list grew and grew without abate. Shoddy reporting and record keeping ...
Steve Smith
April 17, 2023
Blog
CA has over one million victims...
The Mythical Crime Reduction Dividend
This week in the opinion pages of the Orange County Register, UC Santa Cruz Professor Craig Haney and Prosecutors Alliance of California founder Christine DeBerry made the case for further closings in California’s prison system. Using the tired trope of “mass incarceration,” they declare that California has been squandering the ...
Steve Smith
April 3, 2023
Crimes, Punishment, and Parole – Mass Releases and Mass Victimization
The use of the term “mass incarceration” is widely accepted to define the United States rate of incarceration in comparison to other countries. According to prisonpolicy.org, the US rate of incarceration is 664 per 100,000 population. In California, the rate was 549/100,000, which ranks 33 out of the 50 states. ...
The Starbucks Index Shows California’s Growing Urban Crime Problem
For anyone who’s visited or lived in the American South, the much-loved Waffle House is everywhere. Open 24 hours, the Waffle House is known for its good service and consistent if not perhaps gourmet offerings. Of course, breakfast is served all day (and night). There are 1,981 Waffle Houses in ...
Learn about CA's retail theft problem
Rampant Thefts – The New Normal
Calvin McDonald, the CEO of Lululemon, the athletic wear brand, took fire recently for terminating two employees who intervened in an organized shoplifting snatch and grab. Known as “educators,” sales staff in Lululemon stores are told not to intervene during a shoplifting incident. In store video footage, the educators are ...
The Fentanyl Resurgimiento— A Drug Like No Other
On January 11, 2023, Dr. Rahul Gupta, the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) declared a small victory. He reported new figures from the Center for Disease Control estimating that nationally there was a 2.57 percent decrease in the number of fatal drug overdoses for ...
Juvenile Justice – A Crisis in the Making
On July 1, California will close its three remaining juvenile justice facilities. Located in Stockton and Ventura, the three facilities house just 300 juvenile offenders – down from a system high of 8000 ten years ago. Once closed, the 300 inmates will be returned to the county from which they ...
Read latest on CARE Courts
AB 1708 and Care Courts – A Step in the Right Direction
In the mid 1980s, I lived in Traverse City, Michigan, where I was a student at Great Lakes Maritime Academy. In the downtown, there was a diner eponymously named for its proprietor, head waitress, hostess, and friend to everyone, Stacy. Like a thousand diners in a thousand small towns, ...
Has Criminal Justice Reform Gone Too Far?
Why is California experiencing more crime victimization?
The latest California crime trends in California are not encouraging. In 2022, Los Angeles had a sobering 2,106 more aggravated assaults compared to 2021, 41 percent of which were committed with weapons – for a total crime increase of over 11 percent. Police in the San Francisco Bay Area’s 15 most ...
Read the latest on the Chinese Communist Party
The People’s Republic of China “Police Stations” a Gulag of Transnational Repression
International police cooperation is a vital component of the rule of law. International organizations like INTERPOL, bilateral prisoner transfer treaties and international law enforcement cooperation help ensure that transnational criminals and fugitives can find no safe haven almost anywhere in the world. In addition to treaty signatories, it is common ...
Read about the latest Calfiornia crime nightmare
The Firearms Enforcement Debacle – Res non Verba
Background The Attorney General’s office is tasked with enforcing the Armed and Prohibited Persons System known as APPS which is designed to track firearms transactions in California. Unfortunately, it has been widely regarded as a failure as the list grew and grew without abate. Shoddy reporting and record keeping ...
CA has over one million victims...
The Mythical Crime Reduction Dividend
This week in the opinion pages of the Orange County Register, UC Santa Cruz Professor Craig Haney and Prosecutors Alliance of California founder Christine DeBerry made the case for further closings in California’s prison system. Using the tired trope of “mass incarceration,” they declare that California has been squandering the ...