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In a recent slate of bill signings by the governor, Californians will no longer have a system of cash bail as collateral to get out of jail while awaiting trial. The passage of the bill is probably one of the top three criminal justice topics of the year. California is the first state to abolish…

As Jerry Brown wraps up his tenure as governor of California, his last legislative signing session included some new criminal laws. These new criminal laws will have an impact on those who get arrested, on young offenders, those charged with murder, and those charged with marijuana offenses before marijuana was legalized. Perhaps the most widely…

The nature and severity of different kinds of sex crimes in California varies with the individual crime, but every charge of a sex offense is a very serious one. In addition to jail time, conviction often requires registration as a sex offender for at least 10 years or up to for your entire life. And,…

Cyber bullying is frequently in the headlines these days. Young people being harassed in social media, sometimes with tragic results. Tech companies being urged by physicians and policy makers to come up with methods to ensure children are safe from bullying while online. And, research reports that reveal statistics on bullying in schools. We tend…

Police cars, malls, street lights, overpasses, and signs all over Orange County are equipped with license plate readers, recording billions of car trips in and around the county each year. These devices are known as automatic license plate recorders or ALPRs. You may also hear them referred to as AVI (Automatic Vehicle Identification) LPR (License…

This post is a little summer sidebar. If you’ve spent your spare time reading every book you can about mysteries, murders, messed-up investigations or mayhem, perhaps it’s time to look to a podcast or two so you can multitask while you are indulging in your crime story passion. Crime podcasts have exploded wherever you listen…

Recent news stories about Orange County Sheriff and Los Angeles PD are using techniques to “stop crime before it happens” has people asking about the tech wonder known as predictive policing: what is it, how is it being used in California and what it means for criminal investigations. Let’s take a look. Predictive policing may…

Each year nearly 400,000 youth find themselves within the juvenile justice system. While juvenile arrests and detentions are trending downward, California’s rate of juvenile arrest and detention exceed those overall in the U.S. More than 86,000 juveniles are arrested in California each year. Transforming Juvenile Probation: Getting It Right A new report from the Annie…

A search warrant allows law enforcement to search you, your home or your business. Search warrants can be issued for a person, a residence, a business or almost any other type of location, such as a car, yard or outbuilding. No one is prepared for an onslaught of police officers showing up at your home…

If you have been served a restraining order in Orange County, you have legal rights and options to fight the restraining order and the allegations against you, and to present your side of the story. Restraining orders, also called protective orders, can be unfairly or not legally issued, or you may be falsely accused of…