Category: Public Safety

  • Gang Notification Letters Are a Win for Transparency — and So Far Not Much Else

    In the past, parents might not learn their children are documented gang members until they’re summoned to court for the child’s arraignment. Now, under a new state law, parents will discover police believe their children are gang members in a letter instead of in court. Speak City Heights reporter Megan Burks says the letters are…

  • Cops to Change Tactics That Upset Minority Communities

    An SDPD officer makes a stop along Euclid Avenue in Valencia Park. | Photo Credit: Sam Hodgson By Liam Dillon The San Diego Police Department is attempting to deal with two major community complaints: People don’t like to be made to sit on the curb while officers question them, nor do they like to be…

  • Three Takeaways on the Future of SDPD

    By Liam Dillon Tuesday night in City Heights we had a great panel discussion on the future of the San Diego Police Department. Here are three things we learned: SDPD is at the bottom of the transparency pack. Jim Hererra, vice chairman of the Citizens’ Review Board on Police Practices, said he wished SDPD would…

  • Mid-City Schools Adopt Curriculum to Encourage Street Art, Discourage Tagging

    Graffiti Artist Ryan Hoppe, who goes by Hasler One, works on a collaborative mural during the Underground Art in the Underground event in the parking structure of Westfield Mission Valley Mall on March 22, 2014. The event was an initiative by the San Diego Cultural Arts Alliance, whose primary focus is to teach youth how…

  • County Responds to Growing Links Between Childhood Trauma and Health

    By Megan Burks San Diego County Health and Human Services Director Nick Macchione sent a letter to his department last week detailing a sweep of training and programmatic tweaks to get his entire staff, and the services they offer, trauma-informed. Put simply, he wants the people who provide food stamp, unemployment, mental health, Medi-Cal and…