Twenty-five years ago, the massive Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which...
Coming on WitnessLA: Campus Kilpatrick and The Woolsey Fire
On Wednesday we’ll begin an important new series about what happened when the most destructive...
The 4th of July, Fireworks….and a Prize for WitnessLA
And while we're celebrating in general, we thought you might want to know that, on Sunday, at the...
California DOJ Data Shows Drop in Police Uses of Force in 2018
Police used force during encounters with civilians significantly fewer times in 2018 than in the...
Any Spike in Repeat Crimes After CA Ramped up Criminal Justice Reforms? New Research Says No
By Ben Christopher, CALmatters When the U.S. Supreme Court ordered California to disgorge tens of...
Illegal Cell Phones & the Need for Contact
I’ve known Ben for about four years now. He’s very social, at times, even a clown. But, for...
Transparency-Forward Police Body Cam Law Goes Into Effect on July 1
On Monday, July 1, a new state law will require law enforcement agencies in California to release...
Far More Women Are Being Sent to Prison for Life Than 10 Years Ago, Especially in California
California has the highest proportion of women serving life (or virtual life) sentences in state...
Probation Chief Terri McDonald Presents Plan to Phase-Out Pepper Spray in Juvenile Lockups
On Tuesday, during the LA County Board of Supervisors meeting, Probation Chief Terri McDonald and...
LA Supes Fund Two-Year Pilot Program to Get Women in Lynwood Jail Ready for Careers on the Outside
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to allocate $2 million to fund a...
Getting to Zero: LA County Probation Chief Presents Her Official Plan to Phase-Out Pepper Spray by End Of 2020
On Tuesday, June 25, at around 11:30 a.m., Chief Terri McDonald, the head of the nation’s...
Los Angeles DA Refuses to Break From Death Penalty Despite CA Moratorium
More than three months after California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a moratorium on the death...
Beneath Their Rival Efforts to Reduce Police Shootings, Two Lawmakers Share One Common Experience as Mothers
By Laurel Rosenhall, CALmatters To reduce the use of force by California police, two Democrats...
SPRAYING GIRLS: New Lawsuit Tells Disturbing Story Of Detention Officers At LA County’s Central Juvenile Hall Repeatedly—& Unnecessarily—Pepper Spraying a 15-Year-Old Girl Without Ever Allowing Her to Properly “Decontaminate”
A new federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed against Los Angeles County Probation alleging...
A Historic Win for Students, Parents, and Advocates: LAUSD Officials Vote to End Random, Ineffective Searches in Schools
In 2011, the Los Angeles Unified School District established a policy requiring schools to subject...
5 Essential Takeaways From the New Oversight Plan for LA County’s Still-Troubled Probation Department
After 14 public listening sessions held all around Los Angeles County—some of the meetings...
90 Percent of Kids In LA County’s Juvenile Halls Have “Open Mental Health Cases.” Supes Call Urgently For Rehabilitative Plan—for Youth & Adults
At Los Angeles County’s Central Juvenile Hall, the largest of the county’s three...
Artificial Intelligence Will Soon Be Responsible for Reducing Implicit Bias in the San Francisco DA’s Office
On July 1, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón will launch a new artificial intelligence...