Steve Smith

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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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
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.
California

New PRI Report Shows State Experiencing ‘Mass Victimization’ After Decade of Sweeping Criminal Justice Policy Changes

In Wake of Selma Tragedy, New PRI Report Shows State Experiencing ‘Mass Victimization’ After Decade of Sweeping Criminal Justice Policy Changes
Blog

Juvenile Justice in California – Nowhere to go

On January 4th 2023, Gavin Boston was shot and killed while working as a security guard at the Japan Center Mall in San Francisco’s Japan Town neighborhood.    Shortly after, San Francisco police department arrested two juveniles aged 14 and 15 as the suspects.   The 15 year-old was identified ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
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.
California

New PRI Report Shows State Experiencing ‘Mass Victimization’ After Decade of Sweeping Criminal Justice Policy Changes

In Wake of Selma Tragedy, New PRI Report Shows State Experiencing ‘Mass Victimization’ After Decade of Sweeping Criminal Justice Policy Changes
Blog

Juvenile Justice in California – Nowhere to go

On January 4th 2023, Gavin Boston was shot and killed while working as a security guard at the Japan Center Mall in San Francisco’s Japan Town neighborhood.    Shortly after, San Francisco police department arrested two juveniles aged 14 and 15 as the suspects.   The 15 year-old was identified ...
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