New surveillance tools allow cops to spy on everyone—including you
Amazon’s Ring may have helped catch a killer. What else does it catch? Homicide detectives Christopher Britton and Courtney Bartilson arrived at the short, gabled…
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Doing time for a murder he didn’t commit
Sacramento judge: ‘When [SB 1437] passed … the first case I thought of was Danny Hampton.’ Danny Lashawn Hampton went along for a robbery and…
As requests to carry concealed firearms soared, Sacramento’s pro-gun sheriff holstered his approval
A vocal 2nd Amendment proponent, Scott Jones chose gun control over gun rights during the pandemic In a year that saw rising gun violence, surging…
911, what’s your emergency?
Editor’s note: Sacramento County joins city in rethinking if armed law enforcement should be answering all emergency calls The city of Sacramento is working toward…
It’s time to redefine public safety
Essay: Youth and violence prevention must be central to any public safety plan By DeAngelo Mack and D’Angelo Smalley The COVID-19 pandemic, plus the racial…
Nowhere near done on police reform
Editor’s note: Sacramento’s citizens commission is working on more proposals to weed out bad cops and hold officers accountable The Sacramento City Council and Police…
Campaign cash and fuzzy math
Editor’s note: Sheriff Scott Jones and D.A. Anne Marie Schubert are losing their fight against strict donation limits for 2022 election Sacramento County Sheriff Scott…
California had a rare opportunity to lead on police reform. Here’s what happened instead.
Despite historic moment, governor and Legislature fail to enact several meaningful police reforms The watch-a-man-be-strangled horror of the George Floyd video. The staggering unfairness of…
The dungeon master
Sacramento’s sheriff logged the most jail deaths the same year he stopped telling the media about them Sacramento’s jail system is supposed to be a…
Decision time for ‘Defund the Police’
Editor’s note: Sacramento City Council and county Board of Supervisors hear proposals to shift funding This is the most important week so far for the…
Peaceful protest
Editor’s note: Mayor Steinberg warns against violence in Jacob Blake marches, while Councilwoman-elect Valenzuela stresses free speech It’s an ongoing tension in America’s debate on…
COVID and crime
Editor’s note: Violence is up during the pandemic and police reform protests America’s cities have been hammered by twin crises—first the COVID-19 pandemic and then…
Creating an alternative to 911
A new Sacramento office is supposed to handle emergency calls instead of police. Bridgette Dean’s job is to make sure it works. Daniel Hahn spoke…
The speech Joe Biden should give
‘I promise to serve only one term and to prepare my running mate, Kamala Harris, to become president. She will be the most powerful vice…
Study finds California’s embattled justice reform measure reduced racial disparities
Prop. 47 has been a political lightning rod, but independent research suggests it’s had a positive effect on at least one ugly legacy of the…
‘Strong mayor’ version 2.0
Editor’s note: Steinberg offers term limits and sunset date to get ‘strong mayor’ on the November ballot Will term limits and a sunset date be…
A close and complicated call
Editor’s note: Steinberg has work to do to get his “strong mayor” plan on the November ballot After the Sacramento City Council discussed the latest…