The Fresno City College task force that's reviewing the Police Academy curriculum will look at how future officers are instructed on the use of force when they next meet, said Robert Pimentel, Fresno City College vice president of Educational Services & Institutional Effectiveness and the task force chairman. At its...
US Legislatures Slow to Pass Laws Limiting Use of Force
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A wave of police killings of young black men in 2014 prompted 24 states to quickly pass some type of law enforcement reform, but many declined to address the most glaring issue: police use of force. Six years later, only about a third of states have passed...
How to Help Small Business Owners Afford Health Care
Alma Beltran owns a successful small business, but that doesn’t mean she can afford health care for herself and her family. In fact, the Chula Vista entrepreneur, who is president of Graphic Image Label Inc., is facing a hard choice between the health of her loved ones and the health...
My Turn: We Need a Bold Vision for Juvenile Justice. Newsom’s Plan Falls Short
Over the past two decades, California’s Division of Juvenile Justice’s inmate population has fallen from 10,000 to around 660. Its annual budget is down 70 percent. Eight of its 11 detention facilities have closed. The division now spends $300,000 per year per inmate, yet three-fourths of those who are released recidivate within three years....
My Turn: A California Solution to Immigration Policy
Have we had enough of the Washington gridlock on immigration issues? When our elected federal leaders find themselves incapable of fixing a decades-old problem, California not only has the right but the obligation to act in its own interests. Virtually all Americans agree that our immigration system is broken. If...
Walters: State Tax Reforms or State Tax Increases?
There is a substantial list of governance issues that former Gov. Jerry Brown said were important, but that he left on his desk for successor Gavin Newsom. For instance, although he and the Legislature enacted a very modest reform of public employee pensions, he repeatedly said it was only a...
Immigration Raids Can Rip Apart Communities
U.S. immigration agents raided an Ohio gardening company on June 5, arresting 114 suspected undocumented workers. This followed other large workplace raids, including a raid on a rural Tennessee meat-processing plant in April. The raids suggest the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is returning to sweeping immigration enforcement tactics not...
How State Superintendent Candidates Differ on the Issues
The state superintendent of public instruction plays a big role in the education of millions of children and young adults. And in Tuesday's primary election, voters will cast votes for the successor to Tom Torlakson, who is termed out. Tuck vs. Thurmond The two leading candidates are school reform/charter schools...
Congress, Can You Hear Us? Please Pass Immigration Reform Now.
Two weeks ago, after millions of Americans righteously voiced their frustration with Congress, our nation's lawmakers ended the three-day government shutdown and promised to work on two important issues: a permanent federal spending bill and immigration issues. What have they done since then? Nothing ... yet. And now, right here...
Congress, Can You Hear Us? Please Pass Immigration Reform Now.
Two weeks ago, after millions of Americans righteously voiced their frustration with Congress, our nation's lawmakers ended the three-day government shutdown and promised to work on two important issues: a permanent federal spending bill and immigration issues. What have they done since then? Nothing ... yet. And now, right here...