Crime
Blog
The Prop 47 Budgetary Shell Game – Who you Gonna Believe? Them, or your Lying Eyes?
In 2014, Californians voted overwhelmingly to pass Proposition 47, known by its supporters title the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.” Prop 47’s advocates made a strong case, promising that both crime and incarceration rates would decline. At the same time, supporters argued that “massive” savings from ending the practice of ...
Steve Smith
July 26, 2024
Blog
Read about rising juvenile crime rates
California’s Lost Boys – On California’s Juvenile Crime Problem
On May 18, Monterey couple Curt and Shelley Chaffee were visiting San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Shelley is an artist and was taking photographs of the park’s bison when they were robbed at gunpoint of their Nikon camera and cell phones by two male suspects. They were able to locate ...
Steve Smith
July 16, 2024
Blog
Get the scoop on the latest CA crime data
What the New California Crime Stats Show
Among the key findings: Violent Crime: Violent crime increased by 3.3% compared to 2022 levels. Property Crime: Property crime decreased by 1.3%, but thefts and property crimes have actually increased according to victimization surveys and industry reports. Underreported Crime: 28 law enforcement agencies did not report their statistics, potentially leading ...
Steve Smith
July 11, 2024
Blog
Buses should be transportation, not homeless shelters
“At night time, from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., the homeless have nowhere to go,” a man who posted a video of a downtown-to-Santa Monica Metro bus filled with slumbering homeless told the Los Angeles Fox affiliate. “So they all get on the buses and they ride the buses all ...
Kerry Jackson
June 20, 2024
Crime
Watch the latest Free Cities Center video
WATCH: Are Crime and Homelessness Shifting San Francisco Right?
Do recent election results show a rightward shift in San Francisco? Join Free Cities Center’s Steven Greenhut as he visits the City by the Bay and talks with two experts about what’s really going on in the City. They discuss whether things are really as bad as some media outlets ...
Pacific Research Institute
June 17, 2024
Blog
Will lawmakers hinder Prop. 47 reform?
Prop 47 – A Lethal Public Policy Cocktail
Not one of the ten bills pending in the state legislature even mentions dangerous drugs. The CDAA ballot initiative addresses the complexities of prosecuting serial and repeat thieves and refocuses on the root cause – increasing dangerous drug addiction and the systemic, pharmacological, and economically compulsive violence that contribute to ...
Steve Smith
June 17, 2024
Blog
Will lawmakers take action to stop human trafficking in California?
The “Safer Streets for All Act” That Isn’t.
In 2022, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), sex worker groups, and Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) joined forces to pass Senate Bill 357, which effectively decriminalized loitering for the purposes of prostitution. Citing statistics from Los Angeles that showed over 50 percent of suspected prostitutes are black, the ACLU ...
Steve Smith
June 11, 2024
Blog
Read the latest on the effects of Prop 47
Letter Carriers and Your Mail Became Theft Targets After Prop 47
There may be no more venerable American institution than the U.S. Postal Service. Founded by the Continental Congress in 1775, Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first Postmaster General before there was even a United States. While e-mail and commercial package delivery has cut deeply into the Postal Services market share, ...
Steve Smith
May 28, 2024
Blog
Read latest on out of control crime in Oakland
Fear and Loathing in Oakland – the Savage Journey of Pamela Price
Upon assuming office in January 2023, Price established the Public Accountability Unit and reopened cases involving police officers that her predecessor had investigated and declined prosecute – including the Mario Gonzalez case. The three Alameda PD officers (one now works for another agency) attempted to arrest Gonzalez, who had been ...
Steve Smith
April 30, 2024
California
Reforming Criminal Justice Policy to Put Victims First – 2024 PRI Sacramento Conference
With reform legislation being debated to address rising incidents of retail and auto theft and a ballot measure in circulation to repeal the most sweeping provisions of Prop. 47, we present a panel discussion on California’s growing crime problem from PRI’s recent Sacramento conference. Speakers include retired Brigadier Gen. Bob ...
Pacific Research Institute
April 8, 2024
The Prop 47 Budgetary Shell Game – Who you Gonna Believe? Them, or your Lying Eyes?
In 2014, Californians voted overwhelmingly to pass Proposition 47, known by its supporters title the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.” Prop 47’s advocates made a strong case, promising that both crime and incarceration rates would decline. At the same time, supporters argued that “massive” savings from ending the practice of ...
Read about rising juvenile crime rates
California’s Lost Boys – On California’s Juvenile Crime Problem
On May 18, Monterey couple Curt and Shelley Chaffee were visiting San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Shelley is an artist and was taking photographs of the park’s bison when they were robbed at gunpoint of their Nikon camera and cell phones by two male suspects. They were able to locate ...
Get the scoop on the latest CA crime data
What the New California Crime Stats Show
Among the key findings: Violent Crime: Violent crime increased by 3.3% compared to 2022 levels. Property Crime: Property crime decreased by 1.3%, but thefts and property crimes have actually increased according to victimization surveys and industry reports. Underreported Crime: 28 law enforcement agencies did not report their statistics, potentially leading ...
Buses should be transportation, not homeless shelters
“At night time, from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., the homeless have nowhere to go,” a man who posted a video of a downtown-to-Santa Monica Metro bus filled with slumbering homeless told the Los Angeles Fox affiliate. “So they all get on the buses and they ride the buses all ...
Watch the latest Free Cities Center video
WATCH: Are Crime and Homelessness Shifting San Francisco Right?
Do recent election results show a rightward shift in San Francisco? Join Free Cities Center’s Steven Greenhut as he visits the City by the Bay and talks with two experts about what’s really going on in the City. They discuss whether things are really as bad as some media outlets ...
Will lawmakers hinder Prop. 47 reform?
Prop 47 – A Lethal Public Policy Cocktail
Not one of the ten bills pending in the state legislature even mentions dangerous drugs. The CDAA ballot initiative addresses the complexities of prosecuting serial and repeat thieves and refocuses on the root cause – increasing dangerous drug addiction and the systemic, pharmacological, and economically compulsive violence that contribute to ...
Will lawmakers take action to stop human trafficking in California?
The “Safer Streets for All Act” That Isn’t.
In 2022, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), sex worker groups, and Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) joined forces to pass Senate Bill 357, which effectively decriminalized loitering for the purposes of prostitution. Citing statistics from Los Angeles that showed over 50 percent of suspected prostitutes are black, the ACLU ...
Read the latest on the effects of Prop 47
Letter Carriers and Your Mail Became Theft Targets After Prop 47
There may be no more venerable American institution than the U.S. Postal Service. Founded by the Continental Congress in 1775, Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first Postmaster General before there was even a United States. While e-mail and commercial package delivery has cut deeply into the Postal Services market share, ...
Read latest on out of control crime in Oakland
Fear and Loathing in Oakland – the Savage Journey of Pamela Price
Upon assuming office in January 2023, Price established the Public Accountability Unit and reopened cases involving police officers that her predecessor had investigated and declined prosecute – including the Mario Gonzalez case. The three Alameda PD officers (one now works for another agency) attempted to arrest Gonzalez, who had been ...
Reforming Criminal Justice Policy to Put Victims First – 2024 PRI Sacramento Conference
With reform legislation being debated to address rising incidents of retail and auto theft and a ballot measure in circulation to repeal the most sweeping provisions of Prop. 47, we present a panel discussion on California’s growing crime problem from PRI’s recent Sacramento conference. Speakers include retired Brigadier Gen. Bob ...