Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/category/topics/public-safety/)
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter two months ago called on south county cities to identify and develop additional shelter beds, and gave them until Wednesday to identify locations.
Orange County supervisors moved Tuesday to remove independent oversight of their actions, county finances, and the practices of the Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s Office.
Voters sent mixed messages to Orange County’s scandal-scarred law enforcement agencies Tuesday, with incumbent District Attorney Tony Rackauckas scraping by with a 4 percent lead and a more decisive margin for Undersheriff Donald Barnes, who ended election night more than 20 points ahead in his race to become Sheriff.
Republican Undersheriff Donald Barnes is close to winning the Sheriff’s race outright, ending election night with 50.7 percent of votes, according to results posted by the Registrar of Voters 1 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas will face county Supervisor Todd Spitzer in the November general election, with Rackauckas ending election night with a 4.2 percent lead over his competitor.
Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas may face his strongest election challenge in 20 years as his well-financed former protégé, County Supervisor Todd Spitzer, could block Rackauckas from winning re-election in the June 5 primary and instead force a run-off in November.
The judge, David O. Carter, pointed to Santa Ana and Anaheim residents and businesses who, he said, are grappling with hundreds of homeless people who formerly lived at the Santa Ana riverbed but now are in their cities due to a shelter shortage.
Undersheriff Don Barnes, Aliso Viejo Mayor Dave Harrington and Los Angeles District Attorney detective Duke Nguyen are all vying for the Sheriff’s seat on June 5.
In the days leading up to Danny Pham’s death, jail staff placed him with a man who police say confessed about two months earlier to murdering a homeless man.
The nation’s highest court decided April 16 it would not review the case, rejecting a petition by Westminster to appeal the 2014 decision by a federal court jury that awarded $3.4 million in damages plus attorney fees to Westminster Police Department officers Jose Flores, Ryan Reyes and Brian Perez.