Category: Public Safety

  • The Cost of Violating Curfew

    By Keegan Kyle I appeared on three local news programs Tuesday to talk about my investigation of San Diego’s curfew sweeps and to my surprise, each program grilled me on a question I wasn’t entirely sure how to answer. They asked me to describe the possible fine for violating San Diego’s curfew law, which prohibits minors from…

  • Video: Are Curfew Sweeps the Right Intervention for At-Risk Youth?

    Above, Speak City Heights video journalist Brian Myers shares the scene of a recent curfew sweep. He talks to volunteers and some of the teens they helped arrest Feb. 24. Most of those interviewed said the program is good for the community. But some interviews revealed teens are often arrested on their way home, sometimes…

  • Letter: Too Many Kids in Handcuffs

    By Diana Ross, Mid-City CAN Diana Ross is the collaborative director for the Mid-City Community Advocacy Network. You can reach her at dross@midcitycan.org. The data in Keegan Kyle’s curfew sweep story, “Hundreds of Kids Arrested on an Unproven Hunch,” raise two troubling issues. The first is a purely practical one: Why is San Diego spending…

  • Hundreds of Kids Arrested on an Unproven Hunch

    In March 2010, as teenagers roamed City Heights’ streets, a swarm of cops gathered at a nearby elementary school, checked their watches and prepared to strike. At 10 p.m., the cops spilled across the neighborhood and arrested every minor violating the city’s curfew law. When they ran out of handcuffs, police used plastic twisty ties. Police…

  • City Heights Sees Few Ex-Offenders Under Realignment

    By Megan Burks The San Diego County Probation Department is dealing with more former prison inmates than it expected to under realignment, the state’s effort to limit prison overcrowding by shifting some offenders into local custody. Under the new strategy, parolees who would have been supervised by the state are being watched by county probation…