Crime
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
Blog
Crime in Oakland – More Mass Victimization
Criminals in Alameda County just caught a break. Newly elected District Attorney Pamela Price has issued a draft memorandum to her staff requiring them to seek probation in nearly all felony cases with the exception of murder and some sex crimes involving children. Further, it requires that more severe ...
Steve Smith
March 20, 2023
California
Fallen Selma officer is California’s criminal justice reform’s latest victim
On the morning of Jan. 31, Officer Gonzalo Carrasco of the Selma Police Department was flagged down by a homeowner reporting a trespasser on her property. Carrasco stopped and approached the suspect, who fired several shots, striking Carrasco and allegedly killing him. Responding to the tragedy, Fresno County District Attorney ...
Steve Smith
March 2, 2023
California
Michael Shellenberger – Sacramento “Ideas in Action” Policy Conference
Our guest this week is best-selling author Michael Shellenberger who gave the closing remarks at this year’s Sacramento policy conference. Michael is the author of San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities and Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All. He is cofounder of the California Peace Coalition, an alliance ...
Pacific Research Institute
February 21, 2023
California
Watch: Videos from 2023 PRI California Ideas in Action Conference
Keynote Speaker: Keith Knopf of Challenges and Opportunities of Doing Business in California Keith Knopf, the president and CEO of The Raley’s Companies, shares how state policies like Prop. 47 and green mandates affect the challenges and opportunities of doing business in California. Success Stories Turning Around Urban Communities Watch ...
Pacific Research Institute
February 20, 2023
California
Steve Smith talks California’s decade of decriminalization and his new study on the Sunrise FM Podcast
The sudden reemergence of widespread crime – from petty to violent – has Californians of all stripes worried. For Steve Smith of the Pacific Research Institute, the genesis of this slide into crime begin with a trio of policies aimed at early release of prisoners and decriminalization of key laws. ...
Steve Smith
February 15, 2023
California
Steve Smith – Paradise Lost: Crime in the Golden State, 2011–2021
Our guest this week is PRI senior fellow in urban studies Steve Smith. Steve is a former police officer, has helped organize peacekeeping forces abroad, and is a retired professor of justice administration.
Steve Smith
February 13, 2023
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 ...
Crime in Oakland – More Mass Victimization
Criminals in Alameda County just caught a break. Newly elected District Attorney Pamela Price has issued a draft memorandum to her staff requiring them to seek probation in nearly all felony cases with the exception of murder and some sex crimes involving children. Further, it requires that more severe ...
Fallen Selma officer is California’s criminal justice reform’s latest victim
On the morning of Jan. 31, Officer Gonzalo Carrasco of the Selma Police Department was flagged down by a homeowner reporting a trespasser on her property. Carrasco stopped and approached the suspect, who fired several shots, striking Carrasco and allegedly killing him. Responding to the tragedy, Fresno County District Attorney ...
Michael Shellenberger – Sacramento “Ideas in Action” Policy Conference
Our guest this week is best-selling author Michael Shellenberger who gave the closing remarks at this year’s Sacramento policy conference. Michael is the author of San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities and Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All. He is cofounder of the California Peace Coalition, an alliance ...
Watch: Videos from 2023 PRI California Ideas in Action Conference
Keynote Speaker: Keith Knopf of Challenges and Opportunities of Doing Business in California Keith Knopf, the president and CEO of The Raley’s Companies, shares how state policies like Prop. 47 and green mandates affect the challenges and opportunities of doing business in California. Success Stories Turning Around Urban Communities Watch ...
Steve Smith talks California’s decade of decriminalization and his new study on the Sunrise FM Podcast
The sudden reemergence of widespread crime – from petty to violent – has Californians of all stripes worried. For Steve Smith of the Pacific Research Institute, the genesis of this slide into crime begin with a trio of policies aimed at early release of prisoners and decriminalization of key laws. ...
Steve Smith – Paradise Lost: Crime in the Golden State, 2011–2021
Our guest this week is PRI senior fellow in urban studies Steve Smith. Steve is a former police officer, has helped organize peacekeeping forces abroad, and is a retired professor of justice administration.