Public safety is critical to economic, social, and civil stability. As the country faces crippling deficits, independent voters are looking for solutions that combine fiscal discipline with high quality public service. During severe economic downturns, some services must be cut out of necessity, even while crime rises and disasters strike. As a result, creativity, quality, and citizen vigilance must make-up for a decrease in funding public safety services and payrolls.
In a 50-3 vote, California’s lower house has approved a bill that would restrict the way state and local governments use automated traffic enforcement systems, namely the controversial red-light camera.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry recently released a statement calling on Turkey to immediately halt its attacks against Iraqi territory.
In a decision that privacy advocates are hailing as an evolutionary step towards harmonizing the Fourth Amendment with the Digital Age, Eastern District of New York Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled on Monday that the gathering of cell phone users’ location history by government officials without probable cause is unconstitutional.
The much maligned Blackwater International (rebranded as Xe Services after earning public scorn and several lawsuits from its deeds in Iraq) is back in the news.
Protests throughout The Golden State have erupted over a recent string of police violence against unruly homeless men loitering in public areas, with demonstrations last weekend and more scheduled for this coming weekend.
Two Grad rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, striking empty fields within Israel.
“Copper theft is nothing new in the Bay Area,” according to CBS San Francisco, but lately the problem has become so bad, especially in Vallejo where several schools have been stripped of their copper wiring this summer, that it may affect the start of the school year for some students. This is in a city where budget cuts have left the police force struggling to do its job.
