Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has unexpectedly parted ways with his well-regarded...
Op-Ed: 30-Year Veteran LA Probation Officer Says Department Reform Is Urgent—And Must Be Youth Focused
Several dozen probation officers cheered in support of an individual who called black and Latino...
Op-ED: 1872 Law Gives Police a License to Kill
By Dan Walters, CALmatters Penal Code Section 196, enacted in 1872 when California was the...
California Looks to Lead Nation in Unraveling Childhood Trauma
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester, Kaiser Health News Imagine identifying a toxin so potent it could...
Supervisor Hilda Solis Says Secret Deputy Cliques Have Plagued the LA County Sheriff’s Department For Decades
The result is "a hostile environment at the station that leads to deputies fearing their fellow...
Report Reveals Millions of Kids Go to School With Campus Police, But No Counselors, Nurses, or Social Workers
According to the School Social Work Association of America, schools should have a counselor-student...
Automating the Expungement Process to Free Californians From Their “Paper Prisons”
Approximately two million Californians are eligible to have old arrests and certain crimes cleared...
Amendment on the Way for Bill to Shield From Criminalization Sex Workers Who Report Violent Crimes
Last week, WitnessLA wrote about SB 233, a new bill from Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco)...
LA Board Supervisors to Vote on Motion Questioning Legality of Sheriff’s Controversial Practice of “Unilaterally” Reinstating Fired Deputies
At around 2:30 p.m. at the Tuesday, March 5, meeting of the Los Angeles County Board of...
LA County Supervisors Take Sheriff Alex Villanueva to Court Over Mandoyan Case
The County of Los Angeles and the LA County Board of Supervisors have filed what is called a...
Bad Numbers: Inspector General Says “Little to No Confidence” in LA Probation’s Stats Claiming Soaring Assaults By Kids
On Wednesday, February 27, the Los Angeles Times published an article describing a sharp increase...
Carl Mandoyan, the Deputy Rehired by LA County Sheriff Villanueva, Is Ordered to Turn in His Badge and Gun
In a hand-delivered letter from LA County Auditor-Controller John Naimo, former LASD deputy Carl...
For Inmates Serving Life Terms, USC’s Post-Conviction Justice Project Sparks Hope Where None Existed
By Gilien Silsby, USC News The inmates at the maximum-security Pelican Bay State Prison in Northern...
Opening up New Avenues for Formerly Incarcerated Californians Who Served in Fire Camps to Get Jobs as Firefighters After Prison
A new California bill aims to make it possible for formerly incarcerated individuals, thousands of...
Under New CA Bill, 911 Dispatchers Would Be Trained to Identify and De-escalate Mental Health Crises
A new California bill, AB 680, aims to reduce the criminalization of people suffering from mental...
California Must Double-down On Prison Rehabilitation
During my stay in maximum security prisons, my cellmate and I would put quotes, definitions and...
The Sudden Death of Near-Legendary San Francisco Public Defender, Jeff Adachi, Stuns Bay Area Leaders & the Many Ordinary People Whom He Championed
When the news flew around the state that San Francisco Public Defender, Jeff Adachi, 59, had died...
Foster Parents Have Become Professionals in Some States
By Teresa Wiltz, Stateline Foster parents, tasked with the 24-7 care of often-traumatized children...