Topic
Recent public-safety coverage from The Sidekick network, including local decisions, public meetings, and civic updates.
The council introduced and waived first reading of an ordinance designating Fire Hazard Severity Zones within the city during its Feb. 24 meeting.
The city approved an application for state grant funding to support DUI and drug-impaired driving enforcement, training, prevention and equipment, with no local match required.
The board’s June 2 meeting turned into a public debate over privacy, data retention and oversight of the county’s automated license plate reader program.
At a May 18 budget hearing, Assembly members questioned why CDCR’s Boston Consulting Group-linked savings fell from $635 million ongoing to $116 million ongoing and asked for the underlying recommendations.
AB 2274 cleared the Assembly 64-0 after being described on the floor as closing an “Epstein loophole.”
A joint Assembly oversight hearing raised questions about whether California’s crisis line system is fully meeting its promise, while DHCS disclosed more than 74,000 988 contacts in March and said unanswered contacts go to out-of-state backup centers.
The board’s May 12 packet includes a code enforcement overhaul study session, a sharp special-events fee increase, budget adjustments, a sheriff vehicle transaction and a renewed economic-development contract.
Council introduced Ordinance No. 1584 after staff said the committee has not met since April 2023 and all seven community seats are vacant.
AB 2753 cleared the Assembly Elections Committee and would block registered sex offenders from running for or holding local or state office.
AB 2230 moved out of the Assembly Human Services Committee, alongside AB 2379, which would require notice and training for family child care providers on constitutional protections during immigration-enforcement encounters.
AB 1974 cleared the Assembly on a 65-0 vote, advancing a proposal that would let local law enforcement agencies offer temporary firearm storage programs.
An April 20 committee packet lays out a July 1, 2026 transition from the NET5 narcotics task force to a new Special Investigations Unit involving four agencies.
The Assembly budget subcommittee heard testimony on a proposed three-year account shift for DOJ tribal public-safety work, along with funding for firearms IT modernization and SB 704 implementation, while the LAO recommended narrowing part of the plan.