Law & Order

On November 7th, California voters will be asked to weigh in on the emotionally and politically charged issue of how to manage sex offenders.

Among the thousands who cross the U.S. border illegally are children sent alone to reunite with their families. Tijuana’s Help Center for Deported Minors is a safe-house for children caught sneaking into the United States without their parents.

California Connected talks to national security expert Amy Zegart, UCLA associate professor of public affairs at UCLA’s school of public policy. Her analysis: It’s tough as there are still many areas in which the intelligence community must do a better job.

USC Annenberg School of Journalism students profile 4 Iranian brothers who spent 3 years in detention, suspected but never charged with being terrorists. The story raises the question, in a post-9/11 world, has our government gone too far?

Six of the top ten stolen car hotspots are in California. California Connected goes on the spot to investigate what’s behind these high theft rates. We look at the role that the hotrod culture, and also methamphetamine, plays in the crimes.

San Bernardino and Maywood find themselves on opposite sides of the heated immigration debate. Earlier this year, Maywood became the first municipality in the state to declare itself a “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants, while San Bernardino recently considered a tough measure that would ban the undocumented from renting property and punish those who hire them.

Producer Joseph Angier and Associate Producer Matthew Chin discuss the making of “Wild Profits,” California Connected’s story on illegal animal poaching.

Animal poaching – the illegal taking of wildlife – is an estimated $100 million business in California. The most sought-after animals? Abalone and caviar-producing sturgeon. We follow California’s Department of Fish and Game on a statewide take-down of suspected poachers.

John Ridley comments on the new and distracting gadgets being added to our cars.

Executive Producer Bret Marcus joins Producer Coll Metcalfe, and Associate Producer Anne Lilburn to discuss Deadly Pursuit and Cut to the Chase, two segments examining the California car chase.

In 2005, California logged more than 7,700 police pursuits in which 16 people died and 1,351 were injured. Though legislators last year passed a law that may or may not curb the number of pursuits, this explosive debate is far from over.

Lisa McRee tries out the PIT (Pursuit Intervention Technique) maneuver at the LAPD’s training center.

Los Angeles is the car-chase capital of the world. More pursuits happen here than anywhere else on the planet. So what is it about Los Angelinos that leads them to run? And why do Los Angelinos love to watch?

Firefighters call it the “Big Screen”: the front door to Los Angeles Fire Station #9, through which firemen have watched a human tragedy unfold for years. Station #9 sits in the middle of the country’s gravest homeless problem—Los Angeles’ skid row.

Judy Muller interviews KROQ’s Kevin & Bean - live on their morning radio show - to find out why Southern Californians are so fascinated with the car chase.

Executive Producer Bret Marcus joins Producer Joseph Angier and Associate Producer Matthew Chin to discuss Who’s Minding Our Ports?

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach together comprise the busiest port complex in the United States. Just a single attack on this port complex could send our economy into a tailspin.

What is it actually like to live in America as an undocumented immigrant? Meet three immigrants who share their experiences “getting by” on the fringes of California society.

We sit down with Chris Bertelli, deputy director of the California Office of Homeland Security, for a “reality check” on California’s state security challenges.

Since 2001, the federal government has more than tripled spending on non-military, homeland security. How quickly is that money being spent?

The California population now stands at around 37 million. How many are Latino?

Jeanne Woodford, the new undersecretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, reflects on the changes she’s seen over the last 30 years and what we can expect from the state’s newly reorganized prison system.

Professor Shankar Sastry discusses the need and efforts to secure America’s data networks from acts of sabotague and terrorism as well as criminal exploitation.

Michael Nacht, Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, discusses how California is preparing for — and working to prevent — a terrorist attack.

The regulation of abortion is undeniably one of the most, if not the most, controversial political questions in contemporary America. Prop. 73 tackles just one facet of this political and, to many, moral debate: the role of parents and doctors in the reproductive rights of teenaged girls.

What happens to a community when its streets and schools become crime scenes and what, if anything, can be done to reverse a violent tide?

The City of West Hollywood was on the cutting edge a few years ago when it deemed all pet owners to be pet guardians. But a measure to ban the declawing of cats is raising hackles among some pet guardians and veterinarians alike.

A team of neuroscientists at UCLA are using cutting-edge neuroimaging technology to read the minds of voters. But could this technology be used to make us a marketing offer we can’t refuse?

Commentator Cris Franco takes a humorous look at distracted drivers.

If neuroimaging technology hits the market, and mind readers become as commonplace as phones, will anyone still want to play charades? We look at three scenarios in a world where we know what you’re thinking right now…

It is estimated that as many as nine out of every ten minors in California’s detention system have a mental disorder. In the past, few have received the care they need. But an innovative program in Eureka could change all that by combining the efforts of the probation department, county mental health, and local schools.

Two decades after losing much of its timber industry, Humboldt County is reckoning with the results of a burgeoning drug trade.

Does it take a family or a village to raise a (troubled) child?

The Legislature is considering a law that would make California the second state in the nation to allow doctors to prescribe fatal doses of medication to terminally ill patients with less than six months to live. Rob Nelson takes to the streets to debate the issue with fellow Californians.

Meet Andy Ramirez, the man behind California’s own Minuteman-like volunteer border patrol group.

The border fence between California and Mexico has its own repairmen. Meet U.S. Border Patrol technician Albert Garcia.

High school debaters tackle Prop. 66 which would amend the “Three Strikes Law” to exclude non-violent offenders.

High schoolers debate whether or not the state should be able to extract DNA samples from suspects not convincted of any crime.

A Youth Radio report on Oakland’s illegal, late-night street parties known as “Sideshows.”

What comes next for those men and women wrongly incarcerated once they are exonerated?

A provocative and emotional documentary explores the lives of teen-agers sentenced as adults to life in prison.

A triple fence to separate Mexicans from San Diego, U.S.A., runs into trouble when it hits a nature preserve.

An online discussion on the future of prisons in California with Richard Steffen, Margot Bach, Prof. Craig Haney and Lenore Anderson.

An interview with SF Mayor Gavin Newsom on his plans for the future and the controversial topic of gay marriage.

Why are so many mentally ill Californians treated merely with incarceration?

An online discussion on the origins and goals of the nascent Native American legal movement.

How American Indians are fusing U.S. and native values to create their own legal mechanisms and protections.

A new state prison program tries to foster cohesive families by allowing inmate mothers to remain with their children in an alternative facility.

Two filmmakers team up with high school students to make a “real” drug prevention movie about crystal meth.

An online discussion regarding the myths and realities of immigration in California with Prof. Michael P. Smith and Belinda Reyes.

Donna Tisdale, who owns a ranch 1.5 miles from border, has experienced firsthand the effects of Operation GateKeeper.

Helicopter border patrol agent Elizabeth Ebisuzaki takes us on a tour of her daily work.

Banafsheh Akhlaghi gave up her career as a law professor to provide legal aid to Muslim immigrants inadvertantly caught in a post-9/11 dragnet.

A pilot program allows DUI offenders to be tried at high school assemblies.

Two commuters use their web site to expose carpool lane offenders in the San Jose area.

A look at the challenges confronting the newly appointed head of the state’s prison system.

How did a law designed to identify, isolate and rehabilitate serial rapists become so expensive and, possibly, inefficient?

Read an interactive copy of the RJ Reynolds and Lorillard tobacco companies’ lawsuit against the California Department of Health Services.

If pornography is now accepted by the mainstream, will government efforts to tax the industry be successful? A look at one failed effort to do so and its implications for future legislation.

As the cost of staying alive increases for California’s aging residents, some seniors are crossing the border into Mexico to buy low-cost prescription drugs.

In the hopes of moving forward, we take a step back and ask the big questions: What is it, what cause it and what can be done to solve it?

Why is Santa Monica getting a bad rap for its treatment of the homeless after decades as a haven for California’s dispossed? Hear from more than both sides of this hotly contested issue.

Can playing baseball help reform and rehabilitate prisoners? Meet the volunteer coaches and community-based fundraisers who think the answer is most definitely “Y-e-s-s-s-s.”

Follow the paper trail as we document the Humboldt County DA’s lawsuit, Pacific Lumber’s response and background materials in the ongoing Headwaters Forest saga.

Speed limits are hated by some and championed by others. Find out what the web has to say on the hotly disputed link between fatal car accidents and speeding.

Find out how a university professor, grieving parents and a San Diego City Attorney are attempting to save lives by channeling the “need for speed” onto sanctioned raceways.

Why are thousands of Californians putting their own lives at risk by buying prescription medicine from illicit vendors? A look at the roots of this growing concern and what Los Angeles County is doing to prevent its spread.

Why did the DEA shut down a Santa Cruz “medical marijuana” facility against the will of local residents and law enforcement agencies?

We got a letter from the government the other day. A closer look at the the war of words between the federal DEA and our state’s Attorney General office.

California uses a national database to keep guns out of the hands of convicted criminals. So why does U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft disapprove of this preemptive research?

The Silicon Valley city of of San José has spent the last six years been preparing for an emergency by training its public safety agencies—and many of it citizens.

Should the state accept proof of identity other than social security numbers in order to license these defacto drivers while forcing them to buy insurance policies?

A campaign to alter the requirements for obtaining a driver’s license by undocumented immigrants is being hotly debated by public safety advocates.

As thousands perish trying to cross the U.S./Mexico border, two brothers take seemingly opposite sides of a deadly border control policy.

Should the state force persons with a mental illness to undergo involuntary outpatient treatment if their relatives or roommates believe that these persons are potential threats to themselves or others?

Too little too late? Lack of adequate early care for mentally ill patients pushes many into the criminal justice system, but is the current focus on involuntary treatment the answer?

California leads the nation in the production of crystal methamphetamine, also known as “crank.” California Connected follows the story of how the brewing meth disaster impacts our children, the environment and law enforcement.

California leads the nation in truck related fatalities and has the country’s most dangerous trucking corridor. Is commerce making our roads more dangerous?

In the absence of ‘compassionate release’ for terminally ill, non-violent patients, prisoners tend to their own in their last days.

An ex-con who rescues parolees from the mean streets.

Fighting fires in SF’s Chinatown by educating residents. A look at single room occupancy hotels in San Francisco.

Exploring the impact of Proposition 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000 (SACPA), an initiative aimed at rehabilitating rather than incarcerating non-violent drug possession offenders.

To save money, the Governor wants to move prisoners from private institutions to state penitentiaries. Is it good planning or a payback to the state prison guard’s union?

Private prisons are closing as part of Governor Davis’ effort to reduce the budget deficit—and not everyone is celebrating.

Should the state use force to extract DNA from prisoners that could be used to investigate crimes for which they were not tried or convicted?

Will the state allow the use of “reasonable force” to obtain DNA from unwilling prisoners for the purpose of investigating any unsolved crime?

Have you heard about the “Safe Haven” Law? What many don’t know could continue a tragic legacy for abandoned newborns.